Until this week it had been 10 years since Sean Kilpatrick set foot in Fifth Third Arena. His last game in a Cincinnati Bearcats uniform was March 6, 2014 when 15th-ranked UC routed No. 20 Memphis 97-84.

This week, current UC coach Wes Miller flew home from recruiting on Wednesday to have dinner with the second-leading scorer in Bearcats history. In town to be honored in the James P. Kelly UC Athletic Hall of Fame, Kilpatrick joined "fellow Famer" Mardy Gilyard of Bearcats football lore for a podcast on Thursday at Rhinegeist with Bearcats voice Dan Hoard. He also attended a Wes Miller practice before dressing in an all-black suit with a bright red tie.

When Director of Athletics John Cunningham called him a while back, Kilpatrick almost didn't take the call thinking it was a bill collector. When Cunningham identified himself and told him he was a UC Hall of Famer, Kilpatrick dropped the phone and cried.

An old coach makes an appearance

Last year when Corie Blount was enshrined, former UC coach Bob Huggins was in attendance. This year, the man who recruited Kilpatrick out of White Plains, New York returned to town and brought his father, Hep, to the festivities.

Kilpatrick and Cronin embraced, his former coach kissed him on the cheek, then left his former shooting guard grinning ear-to-ear.

"It's surreal to sit here and see these people that I did a lot of great things with," Kilpatrick said. "That's my big brother right there (pointing to Cronin). It's all love."

Mick Cronin actually redshirted Kilpatrick

Kilpatrick was the leading scorer in White Plains High School history and was found by Cronin and assistant Tony Stubblefield at Notre Dame Prep. The shooter came to town and started making noise at Deveroe's summer games at Woodward High School. But, Cronin had another New Yorker on the way in "one and done" Lance Stephenson.

Somehow, he convinced a confused Kilpatrick to stay. What followed was four straight visits to the NCAA tournament, many battles in the epic, old Big East and 2,145 career points.

"He was so competitive that if he didn't play at all his freshman year, I was worried he was going to leave," Cronin said. "I said, 'You're going to be the captain of the team someday.' Fortunately, he bought into it."

Cronin's advice helped a determined Kilpatrick succeed

The former No. 23 recalled a game in Louisville where the fiery Cronin laid it on the line.

"Coach Cronin said to me, 'If you want to make some type of success or be successful in some type of way, you've got to win this game!'" Kilpatrick said. "When we won that game, to do it in Louisville at the Yum Center, it was amazing. It also helped in terms of my success in a tremendous way."

A few years later, Kilpatrick found himself playing for the coach on the other bench, Rick Pitino, in Greece.

A Kobe Bryant comparison

Cronin has always looked for grit and work ethic and always appreciated what he got from Kilpatrick.

"If Kobe Bryant was the hardest worker in the history of the NBA, he (Kilpatrick) is the hardest worker or player I've ever coached," Cronin said.

The current UCLA coach once told Kilpatrick he couldn't dribble with his left hand and he'd have to be a combo guard to play in the NBA. Later, he was in Las Vegas recruiting a game that was beginning at 10 p.m. West Coast time. Suddenly there was a video from Kilpatrick with a UC manager.

"He was going through the cones in the practice gym with his left hand," Cronin said. "He's yelling, 'I've got a left-hand coach!' It was 1 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night in July."

Sean Kilpatrick on NIL

"I've heard almost 20-30 times now, 'If you were in NIL while you were playing, who knows what would be happening?'" Kilpatrick said. "I like the fact players are compensated for what they do. It's a lot, it's hard to really come out here every day and go crazy for your team. If you were tell me when I was playing that I'd get paid for it? I'd been asking him (Cronin) to redshirt me three or four times."

Wes Miller made sure the current players knew Kilpatrick's story and hopes some take it to heart. Kilpatrick said the current players want to know about the past.

"Sean is one of our greatest and that makes it extra special," Miller said. "He's the second all-time leading scorer in the history of one of the greatest programs in college basketball history. We talked about his path to become an NBA player. He didn't play here 'til two years after his senior year in high school and he still had this great career. Everybody's path is different. I think he's a great example to a lot of guys on our team right now."

Should Sean Kilpatrick's number 23 be retired?

No. 23 has been a popular number dating back to Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Currently, prized Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell is sporting No. 23. Right now, the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball numbers retired are 12, 27 and 4. That's two Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers in Oscar Robertson (12) and Jack Twyman (27) and Naismith Player of the Year Kenyon Martin (4).

Mick Cronin thinks another should be added.

"There's no debate", he said. "Tradition here should be celebrated more. There's not enough numbers up there. If you were to ask me it would be Sean Kilpatrick, then Gary Clark not long behind him. When you're the only guy ever to score 2,000 points (2,145) except for the great Oscar Robertson (2,973), how is your number not in the rafters? In baseball they have first-ballot Hall of Famers, he's a first-ballot have-your-number-retired-guy. You score 2,000 points, help your team to four NCAA tournaments and graduate, and you do it with class, hopefully, it's going to happen."

Kilpatrick joined by Gilyard, Echikunwoke, Thompson, Cummings

Also honored Friday were UC football's Mardy Gilyard and the late Mike Woods, Olympic silver medal hammer thrower and former UC track and field champion Annette Echikunwoke, Olympic gold and silver medalist and former UC volleyball player Jordan Thompson and former UC and pro soccer player Omar Cummings.

Mardy Gilyard

Gilyard survived losing a scholarship under Mark Dantonio, then regaining it under Brian Kelly as he led UC to a Birmingham Bowl win, then dates in the Orange and Sugar Bowls in consecutive years. He appeared in a black jacket that read "UC Hall of Fame 2024" on the front and featured a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) and the No. 1 on the back.

"I thought I was never going to make it," an emotional Gilyard said. "I took a chance. I couldn't even see the future. I really, really wanted to be a Bearcat. It's a blessing that I'll forever have a C-Paw next to my name. I am Cincinnati football. I'm everything any coach would tell you on a recruiting trip. I'm total opposite of what this NIL, transfer thing is. I didn't give a damn how it was, how it looked, I wanted to be a Bearcat bad. I am Bearcat football."

Annette Echikunwoke

After qualifying in Oregon, Echikunwoke, a former AAC champion at UC, found herself briefly in line for Olympic gold in Paris in the hammer throw.

"I felt like I could throw a little bit farther, so I was trying for it so I could really solidify that gold spot," Echikunwoke said. "I;m really happy with silver and happy I came out with that because I wasn't even projected to make the team."

Jordan Thompson

Thompson won gold in Tokyo in 2020 and silver in Paris in 2024 for the United States women's volleyball team. Friday, she wore both, which she estimates are a pound each. She's the first UC athlete to win two Olympic medals, though she's not one to talk.

"I feel awkward bringing it up on my own," Thompson said. "If they know volleyball or whatever I might slip it in there."

Omar Cummings

Cummings had his eyes on a spot in the James P. Kelly Athletic Hall of Fame dating back to when he first starred in soccer for the Bearcats.

"The first time I saw that (Hall of Fame) wall, I wanted to be on it," Cummings said. "When I saw that wall, I didn't want it for me necessarily, I wanted it for my kids. I can show them that Dad did something and once it's there, they can't take it away."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former Cincinnati Bearcats guard Sean Kilpatrick shoots into UC Hall