Adam Himmelsbach

ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com

On Sunday night I made my way down from the upper reaches of Lucas Oil Stadium to catch the last few minutes of Kentucky's Elite 8 game against Michigan courtside, and I ended up wandering behind UK's bench, because security basically didn't want us anywhere else.

But it turned out to be a fascinating place to be, as the Wildcats defeated the Wolverines 75-72 to advance to the Final Four. At the buzzer, the UK players stormed onto the court, just as you'd expect.

But then one player stormed--er, hopped--onto the court, and it was a player we did not expect. Center Willie Cauley-Stein is sidelined with an ankle injury. He is on crutches and wearing a walking boot and he is not ready to play, or to storm courts.

Yet there he was. He just couldn't help himself. He made one big hop onto the elevated court, then many smaller ones just as quickly as he could. One of his teammates noticed a few hops in and helped him along, and thankfully Willie is a good hopper. Check it out below: