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Coach Tyler Ulis played a huge role in Kentucky's win over Arkansas
Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky has an incredible coaching staff, which is what makes the basketball program elite. 

One coach in particular hasn't been coaching very long but has been a massive part of the success of the 2023-24 Kentucky basketball team. That would be former Kentucky star guard Tyler Ulis. Coach Ulis has done a really good job helping the young guards on this roster. 

Kentucky recently faced off with Arkansas on the road and struggled to score in the first half. Kentucky Athletics released their "The Journey," video which shows behind the scenes looks at the game and what the coaches say to the players in the locker room. At half, when Kentucky was behind 26-24, Coach Calipari asked Coach Ulis his thoughts on the offense. Coach Ulis said Arkansas is crashing on drives, leaving shooters wide open for kickouts. Kentucky took advantage of this in the second half, finding open shooters as the Wildcats went 7-11 from three in the second half compared to 2-9 in the first half. If Coach Ulis hadn't made this halftime adjustment, Kentucky might have lost this close game in Fayetteville. 

Kentucky assistant Coach John Welch had this to say about Coach Ulis and what he brings to the staff, "Basketball intellect. He just sees the game," Welch said. "You can see Coach Calipari values his opinion. He's played at the highest level, played at Kentucky. An unbelievable resource for a point guard, for Reed (Sheppard), DJ (Wagner), Rob (Dillingham)."

Coach Ulis has quickly become an incredible coach and will undoubtedly be a head coach at some point in the future. 

This article first appeared on FanNation Wildcats Today and was syndicated with permission.

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