Senior Jonny David relives long but ‘fast’ time as a Wildcat

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Guard Jonny David of the Kentucky Wildcats awaits entrance to the court during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky defeated Georgia 82-48.

Senior night is always a memorable night for the Kentucky basketball team and its fans, as they celebrate the ones who have dedicated their lives to the program for a span of a couple of years.

Last year was the first season in the John Calipari-era where the season came and went without a senior night. The historically young team featured mostly freshmen, accompanied by four sophomores and two juniors.

Fast forward to this season and one of the those juniors remains, meaning the traditional senior night festivities will take place during Kentucky’s final regular season home game for Jonny David. David has been on the team since 2015, but time has flown by for David.

“I feel like I’ve been here a while but looking back on it now, it feels like it went by pretty fast,” David said.

David will be the 18th player in the Calipari-era to participate in the senior night festivities. Only twice in the Calipari-era has senior night featured only one player, the most recent being in 2016 when Alex Poythress was honored.

That season was David’s first with the Wildcats, which for many may feel like it was a while ago.

David feels the same way.

“I feel like anytime you look back on something, it’s like ‘oh time flew by,’” David said. “I feel like I’ve been at Kentucky for a long time.”

Since David has been a walk-on for Kentucky, he’s developed just as much as a person as he has a basketball player.

One of the things David has learned from his time with one of the best basketball teams in the nation is how to extend his boundaries, one of the things Calipari demands from all his players.

“I definitely learned I can push myself a lot more than I thought I could… and that’s something that was brought out of me here whether it was practices or workouts,” David said.

While development is one of the reasons why David came to Kentucky, he has also enjoyed the fun experiences. He’s been a part of three SEC Tournament winning teams, been as far as the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament and been to the Bahamas twice in two separate seasons.

As fun as those memories were for David, he said his favorite moment came from all the way back in his freshman year in a neutral-site regular season game against South Florida.

The reason why that game sticks out for David is because he got the opportunity to play against his older brother, Justin David, in the closing moments of the game.

“I was able to go in and we were in at the same time guarding each other,” David said. “One of my favorite pictures is at the end of the game, I was just holding the ball and he gave me a big hug. That’s still one of my favorite moments to date.”

David’s final season as a Wildcat will certainly feature many more memories, such as senior night, brief minutes here and there and celebrations with his teammates throughout the rest of the season.