Like most of the classic superheroes from the pages of Marvel or DC, Kentucky's Nick Richards may have two personalities residing in his 6-foot-11, 250-pound frame.
After the Wildcats' 78-70 win over arch-rival Louisville last weekend, the UK staff is hoping they can find a way to coax more of The Incredible Hulk out of Richards than his typical Bruce Banner persona.
The junior center had a potential career-changing day against the hated Cardinals, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against Louisville's vaunted frontcourt. Seven of those points came in overtime to help the Cats pull away.
Along the way, the mild-mannered native of Jamaica strutted. He roared. He flexed. He pumped his fist and exchanged chest-bumps with teammates.
"Who is this guy?" pondered Big Blue Nation, including Richards' girlfriend, UK volleyball All-America Leah Edmond, who shared her pleasant dismay on Twitter.
“He’s such a beautiful kid," Kentucky assistant coach Tony Barbee said on Friday ahead of the Cats' SEC opener against Missouri (8-4). "You want him to babysit your kids. He’s that kind of kid. Everybody on campus loves him.
"But I’ve always said that in this game you’ve got to have an alter ego. When you step on the court you can be whatever you want out on that floor, but it can’t be a nice guy. He decided not to be so nice this last game.”
“He always talks about, he wants me to be the complete opposite of my personality," Richards said. "He wants me to be more aggressive, more physical, meaner, tougher.”
Didn't that feel a bit unusual in the Louisville game?
“I wouldn’t say that," Richards said. "I would probably just say I took it up a notch, got to a different level because I knew it was a very important game for Kentucky, especially just to win that one game.”
The question now is whether Richards can keep summoning his alter ego as No. 17 Kentucky (9-3) opens league play. He's averaging 12.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 blocked shots per game while shooting 68.7% from the field.
And the UK staff believes there is still a lot left in his tank.
"He's been good," Barbee said. "He's been good, but we need carryover. I think that's one of the things that Nick has struggled with is consistency. He's done it in spots, but to be the kind of player that he wants to be... where he wants to go in this game, he's got to be able to do it on an everyday basis.
"That's not just game-to-game. That's practice-to-practice. That's what brings it out. This week, he's been great, and I think his confidence is building off of what he did against a really good Louisville team and really good big men he did it against."
Richards has a team-high five double-doubles this season, but none of them have come in back to back games.
In the game prior to Louisville, a 71-65 loss to Ohio State, Richards had just two points and failed to record a rebound in 12 minutes on the floor. So what happened?
"That's a good question," Barbee said. "... When Nick is out here, you can ask him. He'll have that answer."
Sometimes the answer is simple.
"I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes everybody just has a bad game," Richards conceded.
He'll have another good test Saturday in a 2 p.m. ET tipoff at Rupp Arena. Missouri's Jeremiah Tillman (6-10, 260, 9.2 ppg) is a physical player who will present a challenge on the low block.
“He’s a good, physical big, plays really aggressive," Richards said. "He tries to crash the boards every now and then. He’s a really big body to pull around. It’s going to be a good game for everybody to watch.”
The Cats hope to see more of the alter ego that surprised them last weekend.
"I think he felt that success, which brought out that emotion," Barbee said. "With performance comes reward, and we need more big performances like that from him.”
