Column: John Wall is already writing his legend

Monday night, John Wall hit the shot of his career. Thing is, his career to that point had only spanned one game.

If you listened to any of the UK fans talking up Wall’s national player of the year credentials, you’d think he’s a fifth-year senior. His legend, already, is vast. But to this point, all that had been written was the preface.

Now, we actually have some substance.

Chapter One: How I Hit My First Game-Winning Shot.

“I got nervous. Six seconds left, coach just said go make a play,” Wall said. “Coach likes players that can make plays. Last game Eric was making tough plays when we needed them so I just went, I had an open shot so I took it. Thank God I made it.”

Had he not made it, I think he would’ve been forgiven. The buzz surrounding his debut was enormous. His first introduction at Rupp Arena summoned an almost-hysterical reaction from the packed house.

His first shot, a made 3-pointer, went down easily. His first turnover, a ball stolen and taken the other way for an easy basket, was forgiven.

Wall seemed to have a pass all night. “Do whatever you want, John,” the fans seemed to say encouragingly. “This place is yours as long as you want it.”

But as the night went on, Wall and his young teammates continued to relinquish control of the game.

Actually, Miami wouldn’t let anyone or anything else stop it from taking over. Miami’s Nick Winbush hit 8 of 10 from long range, and Miami hit 15 of 26 as a team. At one point, UK was down by 18, 36-18.

How does a young team come back from that?

Just let Wall do his thing. He knows who wants the ball and how to get it there. He’s been at it for years now, right?

Well, not really. You wouldn’t know that by watching, though.

“It was kind of like back in my high school days when we got down and I tried to do everything myself,” Wall said. “Coach Calipari took me over to the side and it was just a learning experience. He just said, ‘You can’t do it by yourself.’ ”

Rather than try to take over himself, Wall made sure fellow freshman DeMarcus Cousins got going after a slow start thanks to early foul trouble. Cousins finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, all of which came in the second half.

But after the game, Cousins wasn’t concerned with talking about himself. He wanted to talk about his teammate.

“With the hype he had, it’s all true. John Wall is legit,” Cousins said. “He’s the real deal. There’s no guard out there better than him. I said to him after the game, ‘John, you just started your legacy.’ ”

Chapter Two is coming Thursday. It feels like he’s been writing for a while now, though.

James Pennington is a journalism senior. E-mail jpennington@kykernel.com.