Kentucky is bringing two familiar faces back to Kroger Field on Saturday, and both come with plenty of program history attached.
Wilbur Hackett and JoJo Kemp will serve as honorary captains for the Wildcats’ game against South Alabama. For Kentucky, it’s a nod to two different eras, two different kinds of impact, and two guys who still mean something to the fan base.
Hackett’s place in school and SEC history is impossible to miss. He was one of four former Wildcats who broke the color barrier in the SEC alongside Nate Northington, Greg Page, and Houston Hogg.
Hackett played linebacker at Kentucky from 1967-1970, started for three years, earned All-SEC honors as a sophomore and was named the team’s co-MVP as a senior. He was also the first African American captain in any sport in the SEC.
The four are honored with a statue between Kroger Field and the football training center. Hackett, Northington, Page and Hogg all left school before completing their degrees, but Hackett later returned to finish his.
After a conversation with Mitch Barnhart in 2019, he re-enrolled through the Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Program, which covers tuition and books for UK student-athletes who come back to school. He graduated in May 2020.
At the time, Hackett said, “I’m really trying to not be too overly emotional about it, but it’s just like a weight or load lifted off my shoulders because it’s important,” Hackett said at the time. “It’s very important. I’ve stressed and emphasized so much to my children and grandchildren the importance of education.”
Kemp brings a different kind of memory bank to the stadium, but one that Kentucky fans know by heart. He was at the center of the 2014 South Carolina upset, the game that produced his famous “Why not Kentucky?
Why not us?” line after he helped power the Wildcats past the Gamecocks.
Kemp scored three touchdowns that day and did most of his damage out of the “Wildkemp” formation. At one point, he had to be carried off the field by the strength coach, then came right back after a short breather.
Kemp later described that sequence on the KSR Pregame Show ahead of the South Carolina game last season. “I remember looking at the sideline, tapping my helmet like, ‘Just let me off one play,’” Kemp recalled on the KSR Pregame Show ahead of the South Carolina game last season.
“… And then I break that long run. I don’t know if you guys remember, but I was on the sideline laid out, gassed.
Next thing you know, I start hearing the chants, ‘Jojo! Jojo!
Jojo!’ And I’m just like, ‘Alright, alright.
You got your rest, now get up. Let’s do it again.’”
He did it again the following year, too. Against South Carolina in Columbia, Kemp ran for 78 yards and a touchdown in Kentucky’s 26-22 win, a result that sent Steve Spurrier into retirement with two straight losses to the Cats. Kemp finished his Kentucky career ranked No. 15 on the school’s rushing list with 338 carries for 1,709 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Kemp also has a direct connection to one of the loudest traditions in recent Kentucky memory. The “Grove Street Party” started during that 2014 South Carolina game, when special teams players danced to Waka Flocka Flame’s song before the fourth quarter and turned the stadium upside down.
It later became the team’s entrance song, though that has changed in the Stein era. Stein has said Grove Street would return in some form, but it wasn’t played during the Alabama game.
Saturday feels like a natural chance to bring it back, with Kemp as the obvious guy to help lead the moment.
If you’re heading to Kroger Field, Kentucky is also asking fans to follow the BLUE-WHITE Day split. Fans on the south side of the stadium should wear blue, while fans on the north end should wear white.
It’s also Hall of Fame weekend in Lexington. The Class of 2026 will be honored for their Kentucky careers: Paul Calhoun (football, 1981-84), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (men’s basketball, 2012), Patty Jo Hedges-Ward (women’s basketball, 1980-83), Leah Edmond (volleyball, 2016-19), Tim Duckworth (track & field, 2015-18) and Asia Seidt (women’s swimming & diving, 2017-20).
The group will be inducted tonight at a dinner and ceremony at the Central Bank Center Ballroom, then introduced to the crowd during halftime on Saturday at Kroger Field.
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