Kentucky is thankful for Tre Mitchell. The feeling is mutual. ‘I’m unbelievably blessed.’

If John Calipari sits back and thinks over what he has to be thankful for during this holiday season, one name should come to mind pretty quickly.

Tre Mitchell was one of the final additions to this Kentucky basketball team, a late transfer from West Virginia who found himself looking for a new home and ended up in Lexington.

Where would these Wildcats be without him?

Calipari has often been critical of the motivations of some of the top players in the transfer portal, those looking for this number of minutes or that amount of shots, guys who want guaranteed roles no matter the circumstances. In Mitchell, the Hall of Fame coach found something else entirely.

The 6-foot-9 college graduate who’s playing for his fourth school in five seasons said all the right things on his way into town, and he’s backed up that talk since he’s settled in. A 23-year-old on a team filled with freshmen, Mitchell has been quick to lead while young guns like D.J. Wagner find their way in the early going. A do-whatever-it-takes player on a team with three sidelined 7-footers, Mitchell has embraced playing out of position, even when it means doing the dirty work against the tallest and strongest of opponents.

He’s done it all happily, playing his role — starring in his role, Calipari would say — and celebrating as much as anyone when his young teammates enjoy breakthrough moments.

Kentucky’s most recent game — a 96-88 overtime victory over Saint Joseph’s — provided plenty of personal highlights. Mitchell scored a season-high 22 points, including a game-saving putback dunk at the end of regulation and two back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Cats momentum in the extra period. He grabbed six rebounds, dished out four assists, committed no turnovers, blocked four shots and played 41 minutes. He did it all.

But the game three days earlier — a 101-67 win over Stonehill College — just as much exemplified what Mitchell means to this Kentucky team.

Knowing Stonehill was going to play a 2-3 zone, Calipari put Mitchell in the high post and let him cook. The results were mesmerizing. From the jump, the savvy veteran started the action in UK’s halfcourt offense, whipping passes all over the court to discombobulate the defense. If Stonehill sagged off, he shot the elbow jumper. If not, he found a teammate with a crisp pass that often led to another and another before someone had a wide-open look.

“I love it, personally,” Mitchell said. “Because it puts me in a position to make decisions. I enjoy having the ball in my hands and being a playmaker for these guys. Because with me in that zone, somebody has to make decisions on the defensive end. Whether that be a top guy helping in and me giving it right back to the dude who gave it to me — he has an open shot. We got dudes filling corners. We got low-post guys helping up — you can throw a lob or throw a bounce pass to the baseline.”

At that moment, Mitchell was interrupted. Freshman guard Reed Sheppard, who had just dropped seven 3-pointers and 25 points on Stonehill, ran over to give the veteran a hug. Sheppard had just enjoyed the best game of his young college career in front of an adoring Rupp Arena crowd. Afterward, Mitchell was a constant target of his thanks and praise.

“Tre is a great, great passer. He’s a great player,” Sheppard said. “So having him in the middle of the zone is ridiculous. He makes really, really good passes and really good reads. Being able to do that with him in the middle — it makes it really easy to play offense. …

“He’s an unbelievable playmaker. Putting Tre in the middle is really a cheat code.”

Three days later, Wagner had his best game as a Wildcat — 22 points, six assists and some big plays at the end. He had some misses, too, however, including a contested layup that Mitchell was right there to clean up and score the points that ultimately got the Cats into overtime.

Wagner has struggled — relative to the outsized expectations — over the first few games of his college career, but he’s been thankful for Mitchell’s presence. The TV broadcast Friday night showed the 23-year-old getting in the 18-year-old’s face and encouraging him. That was much appreciated, Wagner said. And Mitchell’s play on the court? The young point guard loves that, too.

“He can pass. He can shoot. He can attack,” Wagner said. “It opens the floor up a lot, because the defense has to stay on their heels when he has the ball in his hands — they don’t know what he’s going to do with it. He’s such a great player. He makes the game a lot smoother and a lot easier for us.”

Thankful for Tre Mitchell

Several times over the past few months, Calipari has lamented the circumstances that led Mitchell to Lexington. The fellow Pittsburgh-area native started at UMass — where Calipari made his name — and starred there for two seasons. He transferred to Texas in search of a bigger stage, but he said he needed to get back closer to home for family reasons, and he ended up at West Virginia last season.

Mitchell was all set to finish out his college career there when coach Bob Huggins — a longtime friend of Calipari — was arrested for driving under the influence, an incident that ultimately led to his departure. That left Mitchell, who graduated in May, looking for a fourth basketball home in four years.

“If it hadn’t happened, he would still be at West Virginia,” Calipari said.

There were ties galore between Calipari and Mitchell, whose stepfather has known the UK coach for years. Kentucky got a call to see if there was any interest in bringing Mitchell aboard.

Uhhh, yeah.

So far, he’s been exactly what Calipari needed. A veteran presence to lead the freshmen along. A calming voice to encourage. A player who’s confident enough to succeed but humble enough to pick his spots and celebrate his young teammates’ successes.

Calipari knew Mitchell was good, but it’s becoming clear he didn’t know he’d be this good for Kentucky. And after spending the last five months with him, Calipari has grown increasingly confused by a stat from Mitchell’s past. The guy who always seems to make the right play has more turnovers than assists in his college career.

“How the heck is that?” Calipari blurted out.

Mitchell had 18 assists to eight turnovers on UK’s summer trip to the GLOBL JAM in Canada, busting up zones and setting up teammates that he’d just met a couple weeks before. Through five games this season, he has 17 assists and two turnovers. But in four years prior, the numbers don’t lie: 180 assists, 237 turnovers, and never better than a 1:1 ratio in any season.

Mitchell, who always seems to find the right words, was momentarily left speechless when confronted with that stat.

“Ummm. I don’t know. I really don’t know,” he said.

Mitchell noted that he’s loved every team he’s played on.

“But I guess not everybody likes making a shot when I pass it to ’em,” he said with a laugh.

And then he explained that — at his other college stops — he played in different systems, was placed in different roles, and maybe those situations led him to turn the ball over more.

“But, here, I feel like I play with players that make the game easy,” he said. “That could be a big part of it. These dudes make the game easy for me. Like, it’s easy for me to pass it to them, because they get open.”

And the dynamic has been something to behold.

A little later on, Mitchell was naming off his perfect Thanksgiving menu, excitedly talking about his favorite foods this time of year. He’s not much of a turkey guy. He mixes in his corn with his mashed potatoes — “Have you ever tried it? It’ll change your life,” he said amid skepticism of that combo — and he mentioned enough sides to fill two plates.

Then, someone asked him what he’s thankful for this year. Mitchell’s infectious smile flattened, and his voice took a more serious tone.

The well-traveled college basketball player spoke for more than a minute straight.

“I’m unbelievably blessed to be in the position I’m in. To play for the Big Blue Nation. To be on the path that I have been on. And ultimately leading me here for my last year of college — it’s such a blessing from God. And it looks different from an outside perspective, but when you take a step back from it and really look at it — God has orchestrated this unbelievably for me to be here. And my family has supported me every step of the way. I can’t be thankful enough for them. Regardless of how I play, what I do — they support me. …

“And then to come here and play with these dudes is an unbelievable blessing in itself. You’ve got unbelievable talent, but these dudes, as people? I’m going to be in contact with these dudes for the rest of my life. God has just been so graceful to me. It really, truly is unbelievable to me.”

Friday

Marshall at No. 16 Kentucky

When: 7 p.m.

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Marshall 2-2, Kentucky 4-1

Series: Kentucky leads 12-0

Last meeting: Kentucky won 82-54 on Dec. 22, 2012, in Lexington

After five games, five things we know about this Kentucky basketball team

D.J. Wagner made some plays in Kentucky’s OT escape. ‘You’re starting to see who he is.’

Kentucky needs overtime — and some big shots late — to stop upset bid from Saint Joseph’s

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s overtime win against Saint Joseph’s

How did Kentucky’s loss to No. 1 Kansas affect the Cats’ place in the Top 25 rankings?

First Scouting Report: Kentucky will seek to deny Marshall a streak-busting upset