For Kentucky fans, Bryce Hopkins is not just another opposing forward. He is a walking reminder of a weird, frustrating era where a talented kid arrived with real hype and never got the runway he probably deserved.
Back in 2021, Hopkins came to Lexington as a four star recruit who looked like a classic fit. Strong, versatile, the kind of forward who could bully smaller wings and stretch bigger ones. Instead of becoming a staple, he became a what if. Twenty eight games. Just 6.4 minutes and 2.1 points a night.
There were flashes. Everyone remembers LSU. Sixteen minutes. Thirteen points on five of six shooting, four rebounds, in a game Kentucky had to win, and he was the reason they did. It felt like the night he kicked the door down. Instead, that was it. His role shrank again and BBN spent the rest of the year asking why a guy who clearly had juice was parked on the bench. Cal stayed stubborn, Hopkins stayed glued, and the portal did what it does.
Bryce Hopkins is back in Kentucky basketball's way
Once he got to Providence, the version Kentucky fans imagined became real. As a sophomore he turned into a star. Over 15 points and eight and a half rebounds a game, an All Big East type presence who carried real usage and pressure. He followed that up with another season in the mid teens before an injury cut his senior year short, but the production never really dipped.
Now he is at St. John’s with Rick Pitino, still putting up around 14 points a night even with fewer minutes. The role is different, the stage is bigger, and the trust is obvious. Pitino is not handing him empty minutes. Hopkins is one of the guys.
Kentucky has seen this movie once already. In the 2022-2023 NCAA Tournament, a six seed Kentucky knocked off eleven seed Providence 61 to 53. Hopkins logged heavy minutes but never fully took over, and BBN walked away feeling a little better about how things ended. He scored just 7 points on 2-9 shooting in 39 minutes.
Saturday gives everyone another look, but this time the context is harsher. Kentucky needs the win badly. St. John’s needs it badly. And one of the main storylines is whether the kid who barely got on the floor in Lexington can now be the reason Kentucky takes another loss.
From a Kentucky lens the plan is simple. You can’t let Hopkins be the emotional heartbeat of the game. Make every catch a fight. Keep him off the offensive glass. Force him into tough jumpers instead of clean drives and post touches. Every time he scores it is going to feel louder than the box score says, giving him more and more momentum.
For Hopkins, this is a chance to finally have the Kentucky game he never got in blue. For Kentucky, it is a chance to remind everyone that even with the reunion narrative, the better program and the better day still belong to the Wildcats.
BBN would happily sign up for another 2023 style ending, but I'm not so sure Hopkins will willingly go along with that.