A high-five between teammates. A point toward the player who just assisted your layup. A team huddle during a stoppage of play. A rush to help a fallen teammate off the ground. A bench celebration following a thunderous dunk.

These are all textbook examples of the positive body language that Mark Pope and his Kentucky basketball coaching staff have tried to reinforce, repeatedly, to this season’s UK team.

It seems simple enough: A directive from coaches to players to make sure they stick together on the court, celebrate each other’s successes and remain unified through the trials and tribulations that come during a college basketball season.

But this season, the Kentucky program has gone to extreme lengths to hammer these concepts home.

Body language film sessions were brought to UK this offseason by associate head coach Alvin Brooks III, whose hire by Pope was initially praised for the recruiting reputation that Brooks brought to Lexington. But a series of interviews with Kentucky coaches and players including Brooks himself reveals that the former Baylor assistant has continued his specialized study of body language with the Wildcats.

And it’s resonated at his new program.

“Everybody loves AB,” fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson who is out for Tuesday night’s home game against Tennessee said of the man behind the body language focus. “He’s a special individual. He teaches us something different every day, and it’s not necessarily always having to do with basketball. Just different ways to be effective as a human being also.”

Alvin Brooks III describes body language focus at Kentucky

Brooks developed an interest in his players’ body language while at Baylor, where he spent eight seasons as an assistant and associate head coach on Scott Drew’s staff.

As Brooks tells it, about six or seven years ago he was introduced to Scott Savor, a consultant who has extensively studied leadership habits and strategies. Savor, whose company is called Uncommon Competitor, has consulting experience with a number of professional basketball teams. Savor’s website includes testimonials attributed to New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green, former NBA draft lottery pick Bismack Biyombo and longtime WNBA champion coach Cheryl Reeve, among others.

Savor described to Brooks how, through his work, he would grade the body language he observed in different organizations. This planted a seed with Brooks, who expanded upon this concept.

Brooks pitched a “body language score” of sorts to Drew in Waco. There are four categories to Brooks’ body language metric: Two positive and two negative. To calculate the body language score, take the positive number and divide it by the negative number.

Brooks’ guiding goal was for the final score to be three or higher. Baylor’s 2021 national championship team which went 28-2 during a season marred by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic far exceeded that figure. Brooks said some players on that Baylor team produced a body language score in the 40s, far surpassing his goal.

But at UK, Brooks isn’t using a North Star number to assess the Wildcats’ body language.

“Our guys have been, from day one, proactive and have been great brothers to one another,” Brooks told the Herald-Leader. “… It’s more of just showing them film, after games or after practice. If I pass you the ball, I point at you, you point at me. Just acknowledging the fact that I maybe scored, and I helped you get an assist.”

This mentality also works when the end product isn’t pretty.

“Even if I pass you the ball and the ball goes out of bounds, it’s a turnover. How do we react?” Brooks explained. “Do we put our palms up? We don’t want to embarrass each other as brothers. So instead of doing that, let’s hit hands and run down the court. It’s more of just making sure that we stay connected, and we want to be the most connected team in the country.”

UK basketball players enjoy focus placed on body language

There’s no catchy name or title for Brooks’ body language sessions. But they’ve clearly resonated with Kentucky players as the college basketball season hits the stretch run.

“He shows a bunch of clips of us picking up each other, high-fiving after every free throw, when somebody’s flexing, he shows all that, the bench,” said fifth-year guard Lamont Butler, who recently returned after a three-game injury absence. “The more we do that, it just shows how together we are and it just brings energy for us throughout the game. It’s really important that we’re able to see that and try to continue that throughout the year.”

“I’ve seen video of bad body language, but I’ve never seen a (film session) of everybody in that positive light,” Butler said. “It just makes you want to be on the video the next time.”

“Those little moments on the court where we don’t huddle, or we don’t dap each other up, don’t pick each other up off the ground, that stuff matters,” Robinson added.

A big reason why Brooks’ body language focus was allowed to be implemented at Baylor, and why it’s continued at UK, is the head coaches at each program. Drew and Pope are known as numbers guys, the kinds of coaches who place a premium on statistics to try and gain any edge they can.

Brooks recalls a staff meeting at Baylor back when current Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang was still on Baylor’s staff where it became clear that the emphasis on positive body language would continue, even after Drew’s assistants moved on to new jobs.

“You don’t have to constantly get on guys about pouting, or constantly get on guys about not being a great brother to your teammates,” Brooks said. “… It helps change your culture, to make sure that your culture is about somebody else and not about you.”

What does Pope think of all this?

During the Dec. 16 edition of Pope’s weekly radio show which came following UK’s home rivalry win over Louisville a UK fan called in to ask Pope about the Cats’ body language, specifically referencing the on-court demeanor of fifth-year center Amari Williams.

After reassuring the caller that Williams cares plenty about helping Kentucky win, Pope touched on the film sessions led by Brooks.

“It’s only body language,” Pope said. “It’s only winning body language. And body language where it’s like, ‘Oh we can be better.’ And so that’s something we pay a lot of attention to and our guys are really working on.”

Last month, the Kentucky coach pointed to an under-the-radar moment from UK’s first SEC loss of the season as an example of his team’s body language growth.

With 1:14 left in Kentucky’s eventual 82-69 loss at Georgia on Jan. 7, the Wildcats were chasing a lost cause. Down 13 points, UK in-bounded the ball from the opposite baseline and embarked on a futile offensive possession.

Butler badly missed an open 3-pointer. Junior guard Otega Oweh then crashed the glass, grabbing an offensive rebound before twice missing himself from point-blank range. The ball bounced off a Kentucky player and out of bounds with 1:03 to go. By this point, Oweh was sprawled on the floor. His legs were stretched out. His arms were in his lap. His head was down.

It was a universal symbol of defeat.

But Oweh wasn’t in that pose for long. Upon spotting his fallen teammate, sophomore center Brandon Garrison bounded across the court from the 3-point line, extended both of his arms and helped Oweh to his feet.

That sequence which Pope recalled in detail just days later told the UK coach everything he needed to know about his team’s body language.

“With all the hard, bad stuff going on, those are the moments where you’re like, ‘OK, let’s go,’” Pope said. “This is the stuff that you build off of.”

Brooks told the Herald-Leader that Pope will even stop film sessions and ask for a replay to further highlight examples of good body language.

“When you have the head coach that really, really likes the fact that everybody is bought into being one, then it helps our program tremendously,” Brooks said.

The real-world ramifications of on-court body language extend beyond just the college game, which has helped Brooks earn buy-in from players.

“One (Baylor) player was cut from an NBA organization because he didn’t wave the towel a lot, and then one player made the playoff team roster because he brought energy to the bench,” Brooks revealed. “So (players) may not think that it’s a big deal, but every little thing counts. You’re either giving energy or you’re taking energy away. So you want to be the person that’s giving energy.”

Kentucky believes good body language leads to winning

With all the time and energy dedicated toward positive body language, have UK’s coaches noticed progress in this area?

The answer is a resounding yes.

“It definitely has become second nature,” Brooks begins. “Watching film now, I get excited because they’re doing it just automatically. Even in practice film, it’s become second nature for them to be a great brother. … Just the little fact of you pointing and saying thank you. Like, that’s a big deal. Most teams, if you watch around the country, somebody will pass it and they’ll make a shot and they just run down the court. … You don’t want to be the person that is like, you’re supposed to do that. You’re supposed to pass me the ball. That’s not necessarily true. Like, I want to thank you for passing me the ball.”

This continual work on positive body language has come with the end goal of a deep NCAA Tournament run. The Wildcats haven’t made it to the second weekend of March Madness since 2019.

To a man, these Cats think that their mannerisms toward one another will go a long way in helping change that.

“Being the most together team in the country really matters when it comes to March,” said senior forward Ansley Almonor, who was part of the Fairleigh Dickinson team that scored a famous 16-seed over 1-seed upset win over Purdue in 2023.

Let’s dive into some examples of how UK’s body language journey has gone this season.

Robinson was the first player named by Brooks when he was asked which UK player has had the biggest body language growth.

“He’s a quiet person. He kind of just does his job,” Brooks said of Robinson, who is averaging 13.3 points per game. “Now, if you really pay attention to him, at times, he points. He may not extend his arm because he’s still kind of shy, but he’s going to bend his arm and point at you. Little things like that, I think, go a long way to show that he’s stepping out of his comfort zone to connect with this team and connect with his brothers.”

After his initial answer of Robinson, Brooks began going down the list of players who have impressed him with their body language.

Koby Brea. Andrew Carr. Travis Perry. Even the endlessly energetic Kerr Kriisa, who has been out injured since early December. Essentially, any and all Wildcats have graded out well, according to Brooks, when it comes to the on-court love they’re showing to their teammates.

“I feel like our younger guys have been the best at it,” Butler, Kentucky’s veteran point guard, said. “Especially seeing them on the bench. Every play, they’re up, clapping, just showing emotion for us. They bring us a lot of energy.”

“When we go on these road trips, we’re all we got. We have to bring our own energy,” Almonor added about UK’s bench mindset. “Everybody else in the crowd is there to boo us, to try to take the energy away from us. So it’s important for us to be able to support our teammates. … When you’re on the bench, you want to cheer on your teammates. You want them to feel your energy. It’s easier to play out there when you know you’ve got brothers behind your back.”

Almonor’s answer brings back memories of Williams motioning to the crowd during Kentucky’s Jan. 11 statement win at Mississippi State.

Brooks says something like that isn’t part of his body language program. But he enjoys it all the same.

“I love it personally,” Brooks said. “… It’s confidence. Basketball is all about confidence. The more confidence you have, the better chance you have.”

This hits at the heart of Brooks’ mission.

His focus on body language comprises a small, peculiar part of Kentucky’s effort toward delivering the program’s first national championship in more than a decade. But everyone in blue and white is bought into the idea that good body language will bring the Cats closer to hanging a banner at Rupp Arena.

Perhaps that’s what matters most.

“At the beginning, (other UK coaches) probably were wondering, ‘What are we doing?’ ” Brooks said. “… I think now everybody expects it. I think if I don’t show it they may think like, ‘All right, what’s going on.’ It’s become a part of the film session. … Even if it’s just a free throw, and we make the free throw and everybody claps hands. Or we miss the free throw, and everybody claps hands, I want to show that at least one time.”

“I think it promotes what we want,” Brooks concluded. “And I think more guys are doing it because they see what we want.”