Kailyn Gilbert is having the time of her life, and sheโs making sure everyone knows it.
A week ago, Arizonaโs freshman point guard put up 16 points to lead the Wildcats in a 40-point drubbing of Cal State Northridge. Gilbert had so much fun doing it that coach Adia Barnes couldnโt help but poke a little fun at her celebrations.
โI love her energy. I love how sheโs happy when she scores. I love that. But then you canโt take 2 seconds of like, โWoo!โโ Barnes said. โThis is Kailyn, she scores a really hard basket. Sheโs like instant offense, scores, sheโs like, โWoo!โโ Barnes said with a laugh. โThen her man is starting to dribble up the court and she has to go find her man. But sheโs ready. Sheโs celebrating.โ
Gilbertโs teammates hope she does a lot more scoring โ and celebrating โ on Sunday, when No. 18 Arizona (3-0) hosts Long Beach State (1-1).
Behind Gilbertโs smiles are some trials. She spent last season at IMG Academy in Florida. Gilbert said she learned a lot, but it wasnโt an easy year. On the court, she learned how to have a short memory and not get discouraged if she misses a shot. To forget about the miss and get back on defense, come back down on offense and take another shot.
โI feel like a big chunk of my playing career โ even though Iโm really young now โ I didnโt have fun on the court,โ the 5-foot-8-inch Gilbert said. โI feel like now, like why not? Life isnโt guaranteed. Just have fun. So yeah, why not celebrate, as long as Iโm not hurting the team? I think everyone should be having fun.
โI had an amazing time at IMG. I did have my moments, but I feel like if I didnโt have those moments, I wouldnโt be having as much fun with basketball that Iโm having with it now, the tough times and the good times, because it made me the player I am right now.โ
Gilbert has made a splash in her debut as a Wildcat. She is averaging nearly 12 points per game while shooting 48% from the field.
Gilbert isnโt just celebrating herself. She is happy when others score, get a big rebound, steal or block. Case in point: Lauren Fields scored after doing a spin move against Northridge, game and the video went viral. Gilbert was the first to chest-bump Fields.
โSeeing my girls, my teammates do the things that theyโre doing on the court is really inspiring, and why not be happy for them? Weโre all one team,โ Gilbert said. โYou eat, we eat, we all eat.โ
Barnes has been quick to praise Gilbert for putting in extra work. While at IMG Academy, Gilbert could be found getting her shots in early in the morning, before classes. At the UA, she works nights, putting up between 500 and 1,000 shots a day.
Gilbert also practices against men who are, in her words, โ6-foot-plus, way faster, stronger, quicker, and can jump way higher.โ
โFinding different ways to score against them โ if I can do it versus them, then why canโt I do it (in games)?โ Gilbert said. โโฆIt just really helped me realize change of speed and certain moves that I do canโt work against them. Just trying different things in my game.โ
Gilbert leans on Aari McDonald, the former Wildcats star now back at the UA as director of recruiting.
โSheโs helped me a lot since Iโve been here,โ Gilbert said. โTo start the year off with I had a lot of issues with confidence. I have a good practice and the next practice will be really bad. And Iโm still struggling with it now, but I talked to her one day and she was just like, โWhy are you overthinking it? Just play your game.โ From there I have picked up my play a lot.
โAlso in practice, if I take a certain angle sheโll be like, โNo, you need to bring your defender down more. You need to come off this way.โ Or, โWhen you come off the screen, look for this person.โ Sheโs always there. Even if I asked, โAari, what do you think about that?โ Sheโll keep it 100% honest with me. โฆ Just hearing that and seeing her every day, I love it. And I love Aari.โ
Rim Shots
Freshman guard Paris Clark (concussion protocol) is day-to-day. Clark suffered a concussion in practice last week.
Freshman forward Maya Nnaji is working with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on a Thanksgiving Food Drive to help provide food to Tucson families over the holiday. She is asking fans to donate canned goods. Bins will be located outside McKale Center before Sundayโs game.
Guard Helena Pueyo was credited with an extra two points for the Wildcatsโ win over Northridge. She put up nine total.
