Former Kentucky Wildcat hooper Jamaal Magloire in the house for the game against Bellarmine.
Jamaal Magloire’s basketball journey stretches far beyond the bluegrass, but it started with a big impression in Lexington. The 6’11” center carved out a twelve-year NBA career built on toughness, consistency and a quiet kind of leadership that coaches love.
Magloire, a Toronto native, played for eight teams in the league, from Charlotte and New Orleans to Miami and finally his hometown Raptors, where he now serves as a basketball development consultant and community ambassador. Drafted 19th overall by the Hornets in 2000, he built a reputation as a rim protector and interior enforcer long before those became buzzwords.
At Kentucky, Magloire came in as part of Rick Pitino’s last recruiting class and helped guide the Wildcats to the 1998 national championship under Tubby Smith. By the time he left, he’d become the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots, 268 of them, earning first-team All-SEC honors as a senior. His teammates called him “Big Cat,” a nickname that fit both his presence and his play.
