The life of a walk-on basketball player isn’t fair.

There are no promises made, nothing guaranteed besides a spot on the bench and in practice. Maybe the kid will play at the end of a blowout against a directional state school university. Maybe they’ll just stay on the bench for four years, a practice hero if we ever saw one.

But most of the time, that walk-on is just living his dream, especially if he is an Eastern Kentucky-raised, Big Blue-loving kid that has been wearing the jersey with “Kentucky” on the front since he was 5 years old.

So what do you expect that kid to do when a new coach doesn’t even watch you play, doesn’t allow you to tryout for his squad, your dreams be damned?

You do what former UK walk-on Landon Slone did. You try to transfer to the first opponent on UK’s schedule, fueling a vengeance that screams, “I’ll show you, fancy new coach.”

But what if that school isn’t really a fit? You’re promised things that aren’t true. And slowly, that vengeance wanes?

Then, just like Slone, you end up back at UK. Out of basketball, but still in class.

“My desire of wearing that UK jersey was the reason I played basketball,” Slone said. “And when I couldn’t wear that jersey anymore, it took my love of the game away.”

To Slone, playing for anyone else but the Cats felt like he was cheating on his first girlfriend. But the sad thing was, that girlfriend had already said her last goodbyes. Without one last kiss or hug.

“I think I didn’t even get a chance to play,” Slone said. “Maybe it doesn’t make a difference, but it would help comfort me as a person.

“I don’t think (Calipari) understands the true heart of a Kentucky kid playing for Kentucky.”

To watch Slone speak about UK basketball is like watching a man who runs into his ex-girlfriend at the movies. It’s awkward. He misses her. And her sleazy new boyfriend won’t take his filthy hands off of her.

In Slone is the epitome of every Appalachian Mountain-raised kid who grew up with the Cats. He grew up on stories of Richie Farmer and John Pelphrey. Heck, he went to same school as Pelphrey in Paintsville, Ky. He idolized Walter McCarty, Jeff Sheppard and Cameron Mills.

In essence, Landon Slone was living his dream last year, a freshman walk-on for the Cats who saw action in 15 games, scoring eight points off the bench against Mississippi Valley State and Central Michigan.

“It was surreal, indescribable,” Slone said of his time in a UK uniform. “I’ve had a strong feeling about playing in front of the Rupp Arena crowds since I was little. Since I was 5 years old, I’ve come to two-to-three games a year.”

In a season full of turmoil, Slone was thriving. He could have been the next homegrown walk-on to fill the hearts of the faithful. Maybe he could have landed a scholarship before he graduated.

It didn’t matter that Billy Gillispie had basically “snapped” (Slone’s description) mid-season and the team “couldn’t catch a break.” Slone was playing as a freshman. For his dream team.

Until he was told there wasn’t a spot for him. No thanks, kid, I can’t even meet with you or spell your name correctly on my Twitter page, is basically what Calipari conveyed.  So Slone left before the hammer came down like it did on everyone else.

“I’m not stupid,” Slone said. “I had a feeling. Gillispie was one-of-a-kind, carrying so many walk-ons. I wasn’t told I was going to be cut; I just left because I knew it was going to happen. I even got a text later from one of the other walk-ons saying ‘looks like you were the only smart one.’ ”

But turns out, Morehead State University was just a rebound. Promised by the coach to have a roster no bigger than 15 players, Slone was greeted by a team of 20. Having already lived that life, Slone passed.

He didn’t know anyone, didn’t like the school and he wasn’t even sure of his eligibility. So he came back to UK, after talking with his high school coach and UK Athletics’ compliance staff.

But don’t count Landon Slone out just yet. He still holds hope that his old girlfriend will call, apologizing for her awful mistake and begging to be taken back.

And Slone would take UK basketball back in a heartbeat. But he’s starting to move on. Ask and Slone will name off the Division 1 schools he hopes to play at next year — Louisville, Western Kentucky, maybe even Eastern Kentucky.

“I see myself playing somewhere next year,” Slone said. “I don’t know where myself, if it’s here, it’s here. If not I have to move on.”

So in a year, maybe Landon Slone will be sitting in Monday, Wednesday, Friday class at 11 a.m. in White Hall Classroom Building. Or he could be at cross-state rival Louisville, practicing daily to get his vengeance on his old girlfriend.

But in reality, the Landon Slone story is far from finished. Even he knows it.

“My career … to be continued I guess.”

Kenny Colston is a journalism senior. E-mail [email protected].