Kyle Tucker

@KyleTucker_CJ

-- This story first published Dec. 29, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Sean Woods clearly doesn't know Jarrod Polson.

Woods obviously hasn't seen the 1996 University of Kentucky basketball team photo and replica NCAA championship banner that have hung in Polson's room back home in Nicholasville the past 16 years.

Woods, a former UK standout and current Morehead State coach, couldn't have known that Polson pretended to be former Wildcats star Anthony Epps as he shot pretend game-winners in the backyard growing up. Woods surely didn't see Polson, wide-eyed and "star struck," when Epps sat down beside him and started a conversation during a recent return of the '96 team to Rupp Arena.

"Just being here is kind of what I always dreamed of as a little kid," said Polson, who turned down a scholarship to play at Liberty for a walk-on invitation at Kentucky in 2010. "I just felt like I should be here. I never really thought that would be an opportunity. Once it presented itself, I don't think I could've turned it down."

Polson is the counterargument to Woods' controversial comments this season when the former Cat said the current players don't know or appreciate the program's history. There was some merit to his point, illustrated by one UK player saying he'd never heard of Christian Laettner's infamous buzzer-beater that cost the Cats a spot in the 1992 Final Four.

UK coach John Calipari recruits mostly one-and-dones, elite players who spend less than a year on campus before bolting to the NBA, and he scours the nation for them. The team's top seven players this year are from seven different states — all outside the Bluegrass. Naturally, they didn't grow up on Wildcats basketball. But Polson did.

His father, George, used four adjectives to describe the family's reaction to Jarrod's unexpected contributions to this year's team: crazy, unbelievable, nuts, surreal.

"I just bleed blue, like a lot of other Kentuckians," the elder Polson said, "and that bred into him. He was a Cat fan way back, so he does have that source of pride of what it means to play for Kentucky that a lot of kids not born here or from here would not and could not even understand — the depth of what Big Blue Nation is."

Polson, now a junior on scholarship, gets it. He sacrificed to be a part of it.

Three years ago, he'd given up on dreams of playing for Kentucky and was set to sign with Liberty. Then he scored 71 combined points in the regional semifinals and finals to get West Jessamine High School into the Sweet 16 — at Rupp — and attention picked up.

Polson was offered a chance to walk on with the Wildcats. The decision was an agonizing one, at least until the morning it was made.

Said George: "I woke him up and he's like, 'I don't know what to do.' I said, 'Just follow your heart.' He looked up and said, 'I guess I'm going to Kentucky.'"

He arrived with eyes wide open. His father had warned him: this decision likely means little playing time but a lifetime of job opportunities in this Cats-crazy state.

"So he came in realistically knowing he may not get many minutes but also fully expecting to try to earn as many as he could," George Polson said. "He was not content in just sitting on the bench, just coming in to be a Kentucky boy on the team."

And yet, for two years he toiled. He played a total of 62 minutes his freshman and sophomore seasons. He did go to two Final Fours and pick up a national championship ring last year, but Polson wanted more. The beginning of this season, then, provided the perfect storm.

The Cats lost six players to the NBA draft and just before the season opener against Maryland in the Brooklyn Nets' new billion-dollar arena, starting point guard Ryan Harrow was hit by a mystery illness that sapped his strength. Polson seized his chance; he hit 4 of 5 field goals, had 10 points, three assists, two rebounds, a steal and no turnovers in a narrow 72-69 victory.

His steal and layup with 3:44 to go and his two free throws with seven seconds left helped clinch the win.

"I go back to the word crazy," George Polson said. "I looked at my wife and said, 'Did you ever think in your life that you'd see Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps talking about our son on national TV?' It just blew our minds."

Although Polson's role has decreased some with Harrow's reemergence, he has played at least 19 minutes and scored at least five points four times. Polson, who seems to always be smiling, also helped his competition. Harrow said he saw in Polson the joy that his game was missing.

"Look at him. He's always so excited and just having fun," Harrow said. "If we don't have fun with each other out there, it's going to be bad."

Polson admits he was down on himself after two seasons of only mop-up duty. But early this year, Calipari called him into his office and delivered a simple message: "You're a valuable part of this team, so play with confidence." In 14.6 minutes per game, Polson is averaging 3.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists. When UK has needed him, he's been there.

Today, as the Cats visit rival Louisville, could be one of those days. Thanks to the fourth-ranked Cardinals' swarming and physical style, Polson's teammates could find themselves in foul trouble or needing breathers. Like he was in Brooklyn, he says he'll be ready for his opportunity.

"As a coach, there's nothing that makes me happier," Calipari said.

ALL THE STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION PLUS GALLERIES ON LEADING PLAYERS