Former No. 1 overall pick John Wall teased a return to his alma mater, the University of Kentucky, this offseason. Wall announced his retirement from the NBA this week and was later introduced as one of the analysts for NBA on Prime.
After an 11-year career, whose last team was the Los Angeles Clippers, Wall couldn’t make a return to the league and decided to look for new challenges. Added to his work with Amazon, the former Washington Wizards star is planning to return to Kentucky to help Mark Pope prepare the new generation of players.
Wall played one season with the Wildcats, averaging 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, shooting 46.1% from the field, 32.5% from deep and 75.4% from the free-throw line. He’s now set to help Pope and teased a potential return to Lexington as soon as this fall.
John Wall plans to return to Kentucky
While John Calipari isn’t in front of the team anymore, Wall still has a strong relationship with the school. He said they allowed him to fulfill his dreams and now wants to give back.
John Wall
“Kentucky’s always home for me. There’s always love. That’s the school I went to, the jersey I put on,” said Wall. “They gave me the opportunity to reach one of my goals and dreams in life to play college basketball, and play on one of the biggest levels for one of the best schools in the country, and a good opportunity to go to the league. So yeah, I’m definitely coming back.”
Additionally, Wall said Pope extended him an invitation to work out with the new guys.
“Mark Pope wrote me this year to ask if I’d come down for the summer if I get the opportunity to play some pick-up or just work out with some of the guys, and I’m gonna try to find time,” Wall told Jones.
John Wall was one of the greatest players in program history, and it’s refreshing to see him go back to his home and give back to the Wildcats after all these years.
