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Kentucky benchwarmer has ‘human victory cigar’ shirts made

By Connor Muldowney

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats players including Tyler Ulis (3) and Aaron Harrison (2) react from the bench against the Wisconsin Badgers in the first half of the 2015 NCAA Men
Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats players including Tyler Ulis (3) and Aaron Harrison (2) react from the bench against the Wisconsin Badgers in the first half of the 2015 NCAA Men /
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Kentucky’s deepest benchwarmer had the perfect t-shirts made in his honor.

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Becoming a collegiate basketball player is a feat that cannot be measured on paper. Not many athletes make it at the Division 1 collegiate level for basketball and if they do, they aren’t guaranteed any playing time whatsoever. Kentucky‘s 15th man, Sam Malone, knows all about riding the pine, and he’s OK with that.

The senior guard spent four seasons with the Wildcats, proving his worth from the end of the bench. Malone even gave it his all during his freshman season with Kentucky, tearing his ACL and missing the remainder of the year, limiting his season to a total of 13 minutes in six games — he did score six points that year, averaging about 0.5 points per minute.

He played a solid six minutes during his sophomore campaign, grabbing three tenacious rebounds in three games — yes, a solid 1.0 rebound per game average.

His junior year was one to forget, however, as he logged zero minutes, but cheered his heart out from the end of the pine. Something that the 2013-14 Kentucky Wildcats, a national runner-up, will never take for granted.

The 2014-15 season came with some serious career highlights for Malone. The senior guard made his first career free throw, before clanking the other, and tied a career-high for three rebounds on the year. That one free throw was all the scoring he needed, though, as he played just 11 minutes all year, but led the Wildcats all the way to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Malone is, in fact, a human victory cigar, causing him to make this perfect shirt to commemorate his career with Big Blue Nation.

Oh, the hair.

If it wasn’t for Malone, there’s no saying where this Kentucky team would be. I doubt they would have ever made two trips to the Final Four in consecutive seasons. He played through the rough times of the first-round NIT loss a few years ago just to get the Wildcats where they are today.

The vital member of the bench passed up the opportunity to turn pro early just to come back and cheer his team on and win every single game he ever played in.

A few more points and Malone would see his jersey hanging from the rafters when he returned years later with his kids.

Sam Malone, three-time All-SEC… Academic team member.

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