Kentucky’s next game will be a homecoming for some Cats. ‘My name is not Ticketmaster.’

When Kentucky’s 2023-24 schedule was released this year, there was a curious stop for the Wildcats and a conundrum for a high school basketball coach in Philadelphia.

The Cats were slated to play Penn in Philly on Dec. 9 — that’s this Saturday — and Imhotep Charter was scheduled to play in a high school tournament that day, too. The unorthodox road trip had a clear purpose. It would give Philadelphia native Justin Edwards — as well as some UK teammates who grew up just across the Delaware River in New Jersey — a chance to play in front of their family, friends and hometown fans.

The problem? Imhotep Charter is where Edwards starred as a high school player, and the scheduling conflict meant his former coaches and teammates wouldn’t get to see him play.

“I had to make a phone call,” Imhotep head coach Andre Noble said.

Noble already knew what he had to do, and — once he saw the faces of his players staring back at him when he delivered the news — he knew he had to get it taken care of right away.

“We’re not playing,” Noble told his team before making the call.

There might have been a mutiny otherwise.

“There’s no way my team is going to be playing a game while Justin Edwards is playing in Philadelphia. That’s not gonna happen,” Noble said with a chuckle. “They’d be ready to fight me.”

The coach, who attended Edwards’ college debut in Rupp Arena last month, confirmed this week that he and his team plan to be there in the Wells Fargo Center at noon Saturday to see their former star.

Edwards, who came to Lexington projected as the possible No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft, is off to a bit of a slow start to his college career. He’s averaging 10.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, with his season high in both categories coming in Kentucky’s second game — an 81-61 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 10. After that came his worst game, a disappointing showing — just one point and 0-for-6 shooting in 29 minutes — in UK’s near upset of No. 1 Kansas.

And then Edwards was steady but not spectacular. Over the Cats’ next four games, he averaged 10.5 points, shooting 59.3% from the field and 45.5% from long range, scoring between nine and 12 points and taking between six and eight shots in each of those games.

Kentucky’s coaches sensed a breakout looming. But Edwards took a step back in Saturday’s loss to UNC Wilmington, making just four shots on a season-high 14 attempts and missing all five of his 3-pointers.

That prompted John Calipari to dust off one of his most-used lines two days later.

“They’re not machines and they’re not robots and stuff like this happens,” the UK coach said.

Edwards has slid some on the draft boards, but he’s still widely projected as a lottery pick, and there’s still plenty of time for that breakthrough. Perhaps it’ll come back home in Philly.

There’s certainly plenty of excitement surrounding this one.

Edwards said the rumor started going around in the summer. Kentucky was playing a game in Philadelphia. He couldn’t recall who he heard it from, but he did remember that he didn’t believe it. And then the official schedule came out. And there it was.

“And I’m like, ‘Oh, we playin’ in Philly!’” he said excitedly.

Edwards won’t be the only Wildcat playing a homecoming game.

Fellow freshmen Aaron Bradshaw and D.J. Wagner played for Camden High School, located directly across the river. That’s also the hometown of Wildcats walk-on Kareem Watkins, who is Wagner’s brother. UK assistant coach Bruiser Flint is a Philadelphia native, too.

“It’s gonna be like one of those home games,” Bradshaw said. “So it’s gonna be real special to me, you feel me?”

Bradshaw also didn’t believe the rumors of a Philly game. The official schedule release wasn’t confirmation enough. He thought it was a typo.

“When I saw it on the schedule, I texted Coach like, ‘You sure we’re playing here?’” he said.

Bradshaw made his college basketball debut Saturday — getting on the court for 13 minutes in the loss to UNC Wilmington — and the NBA draft prospect will hope to build on that this weekend.

Wagner remains questionable to play with an ankle injury sustained last week against Miami. He missed the UNC Wilmington upset, and Calipari said Monday night that he wants to play Saturday, but the UK coach characterized his starting point guard as “day to day,” and it’s likely there won’t be any final word on his status until close to tipoff.

The Penn Quakers beat Villanova during the second week of the season but already have four losses on their record, with three overtime defeats coming at the hands of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Belmont and La Salle. They also lost 69-61 to Saint Joseph’s, which took Kentucky to overtime two weeks ago.

Penn has shown some offensive firepower — and the Quakers have proven capable of making 3-point shots at a high rate and volume — but their defense has been suspect, rated 300th nationally by KenPom to start the week.

No matter the competition, this was going to be a hot ticket in UK basketball family circles. Players are given only four tickets each to pass out to family and friends. Asked if he’d heard from more than four people, Bradshaw responded: “Pssssh. Times 12.”

Edwards was the first Philadelphia public league player since Rasheed Wallace in 1993 to be named a McDonald’s All-American, and he and his mother, Ebony Twiggs, are the first and only mother-son duo to win a Philly public league championship.

“I’m happy that they get to play in front of their friends and family,” Twiggs said. “But it’s also kind of like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

The “oh my goodness” was delivered in a tone that illustrated how many ticket requests she’d received since the game was announced. Her son was on the receiving end of it, too.

“I told them that I can’t do anything about that,” Edwards said. “Either you get the tickets or …”

You don’t go, he implied with a grin, too polite to finish that sentence. Mom has been more direct.

Edwards’ grin widened when he was asked if he put a family member or someone in charge of handling all of these ticket requests. He laughed and said his mom had posted a link to the tickets website on Instagram and told everyone to leave her alone regarding the matter.

“I don’t have no tickets, and my name is not Ticketmaster,” Twiggs said.

She was laughing good-naturedly when she said it. (But, seriously, don’t ask her for tickets.)

Saturday

No. 16 Kentucky vs. Penn

When: Noon

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 6-2, Penn 6-4

Series: Kentucky leads 5-0

Last meeting: Kentucky won 86-62 on Jan. 3, 2011, in Lexington

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Kentucky learned a valuable lesson Saturday. Modern basketball is not enough.

First Scouting Report: In Philly, Penn will try to spoil homecoming for Justin Edwards