Jarrod Polson has adorned the number 5 since he walked on at Kentucky and graced it with timely play and hustle and really was a calm during Team UnCoachable last season. Polson has always been a player that makes few mistakes, never plays out of his capabilities and has probably been the most coachable player since John Calipari has been head coach.
Polson is the definition of a student-athlete, in a time when it is sexy to be one and done, making the Honor Roll every year while graduating last semester.
He is a Kentucky kid that decided to live his dream of playing basketball in Rupp Arena for the Wildcats.
This season though, he won’t be wearing the #5, a number he has worn since middle school in nearby Nicholasville. A picture in the Kentucky locker room has confirmed that Andrew Harrison will now wear #5 and Polson will wear #3.
Much has been made the last couple of days about Jarrod Polson’s jersey number and it seems like there is a clear divide between fans about the number switch.
The more I have thought about the situation, the more I think Kentucky is a “New Player’s First Program.”
Maybe Jarrod gave his jersey number graciously to Harrison and maybe he didn’t, but I don’t think it should have ever happened. Some have said that Polson is a good teammate for giving up his number, but I think that could go both ways. I would have thought a lot more positively of this situation if Andrew Harrison chose another number out of respect for his future senior teammate.
Will the same thing happen to Dominique Hawkins or Derek Willis down the road? E.J. Floreal may be wearing the same number a 2017 recruit wants and may have to give it up.
I think Jarrod Polson is what Kentucky Basketball is all about and now he has to give up something that was symbolic of his name and school in his senior year.
I am all for getting the best of the best in recruiting, but is it worth taking away from what you already have?
John Calipari loves to proclaim that Kentucky is a “Player’s First Program,” but it is sounding more and more like another recruiting pitch to me.
