Nick Richards probably didn’t think he’d be in Lexington this year, playing for a 1-1 Wildcats team getting ready for a game tonight against North Dakota.

A legitimate 7-footer from Jamaica by way of New Jersey, Richards was 247sports’ No. 2-ranked center in the 2017 recruiting class. He chose Kentucky, no doubt seeing himself in John Calipari’s line of McDonald’s All-American big men who went one-and-done: DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns, Nick Richards. But a funny thing happened on the way to Richards’ single season in Lexington — it became a longer stay than anticipated.

Early on, things went according to plan. He is an agile player, fast for his size, and blessed with a soft shooting touch. Richards started his first game as a Wildcat and scored 10 points. Less than two weeks later, he had one of those games that Calipari’s NBA stars have: 25 points and 15 rebounds against Fort Wayne.

But as November moved into January and then the calendar shifted to March, Richards had a big learning experience. The competition got better, the game got faster, and Richards … well, he disappeared.

In Kentucky’s final 10 games, Richards eclipsed eight minutes played only once. During that run, he never scored more than two points in a game, and generally looked lost on the floor. After a first month in which he scored in double figures four times, Richards scored in double digits only three more times all year.

And so Richards, after considering jumping to the NBA, decided to come back to Kentucky for a second season. If Richards was underwhelmed by that prospect, UK’s season-opening loss to Duke likely did little to bolster his spirits.

The Wildcats were dominated by Duke, and Richards, coming off the bench, did little to change that. In 13 minutes, Richards missed his only shot, had 3 fouls and 3 turnovers.

“Stuff didn’t go our way and we just kind of put our heads down,” Richards said after the 34-point loss to Duke.

The hangover from that loss continued into Kentucky’s second game, a home matchup with Southern Illinois. With Kentucky suddenly falling dangerously below expectations, it was Richards who heeded the call to help the team rebound. Mostly by rebounding, ironically enough.

With Kentucky struggling early against Southern Illinois, Richards came into the game off the bench and made his presence felt — on the backboard. In 27 minutes of play, Richards scored 8 points and blocked 3 shots. But he changed the game by corralling 19 rebounds, tying for the most of any Calipari-coached UK player in a game, including 9 offensive boards. Those 19 rebounds equaled Southern Illinois’s total.

Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

With Richards cleaning the glass, Kentucky rallied from a mid-second half deficit to claim a 12-point win and begin the long process of regaining the mojo which was lost in the Duke annihilation. The Wildcats trailed 44-37 when the team finally came to life, mostly behind some timely scoring from guard Immanuel Quickley and the solid post play of Richards.

“Nick gives us something we don’t have,” John Calipari admitted after the game. “If he’ll fight and go after balls and block shots, we can deal with the rest of it.”

Dealing with the rest of it is where Richards and the Wildcats find themselves. After a preseason of hype, Kentucky’s freshmen have looked very much mortal in the young season. No doubt the team’s growth can be aided by steadying their grip on the backboard … and maybe by learning a few lessons from the (ahem) veteran sophomore presence of Nick Richards.

“We go to Kentucky. We can’t let that happen again,” Richards said of the team’s mindset in bouncing back from their horrific start. “We’ve got to live up to the name that’s on our chest.”

If Kentucky’s road back to living up to that name on the chest started last Friday, then it was Richards who started it. Rebounding from a disappointing freshman season, Richards might have sparked Kentucky’s teamwide rebound, which the Cats hope to continue later tonight against North Dakota.