John Calipari Breaks Down the 2013-14 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Team

Mar 30, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari address the media at a press conference the day before the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men

Kentucky Head Men’s Basketball Coach John Calipari was available today for a media oppurtunity to discuss his upcoming team now that it looks as though it’s finalized with Andrew Wiggins deciding to go to Kansas, and he provided several updates on the returning players:

Transcript of his player previews

Sophomore center Willie Cauley-Stein

"Willie Cauley has a chance to be one of the better players that I’ve ever coached. Is not delusional at all. Understood how far he had come. Understood how far he needed to go. Understood he could have been a first-round draft pick. He knew. But he came back anyway. Because he wasn’t delusional."

Junior forward/center Kyle Wiltjer

"Kyle Wiltjer’s body’s got to change. Sixth man of the year has to get better. Physically. We all know what his skill set is. He has to take his defense and all those areas of his game to another level, which I think he will. My hope is he makes the national team, the Canadian national team, and then takes his game to another level."

Sophomore forward Alex Poythress

"Alex Poythress learned a lot about himself and where he’s going to have to take everything to be the player that he wants to be…Again, wasn’t delusional. He knew, I have to change. I have to take this to another level. If he does, and the competition brings out the best in him, it is scary how good he can be. He’s not close to where he needs to be. Believe me, he wants to do well. I don’t believe I can tell individuals – if they got a 4.0 GPA, I can’t say those things, but he did well academically. He’s a conscientious kid. This overwhelmed him. It overwhelmed him. You think about yourself, if I put you in there. It wouldn’t overwhelm you? There are kids that come here that take longer."

Senior shooting guard/forward Jon Hood

"Jon Hood, by the end of the year, for the first time had a breakthrough. And I was excited for him. He was one of those guys who played, he had fun playing, he didn’t feel the weight of the world on him, he didn’t have anything to prove. He went out to play."

Senior point guard Jarrod Polson

"Jarrod Polson ended up being one of our better guards at the end of the year. So those five, only Kyle, in a small way, has tasted the success that we want and expect. The others have not."

Freshman point guard Andrew Harrison

"Great size, great ability to get to the rim, great skill level with the ball, has a mentality of a point guard where he’ll get everybody involved. But again, we’ve got to learn more. I’ve got to get him here and say, what is exactly the best way for him to play because your point guard has got to score also, which he does. I think the Dribble Drive and pick-and-roll for him, he plays with great pace already, is really going to be good for him."

Freshman shooting guard Aaron Harrison

"Aaron Harrison, big guard, can score the ball, should be and will be and is expected to be and will be demanded to be a lock-down defender. With his size, with his athleticism, one we can play a big zone. Two, we should be able to press because we’re going to be so big with our guard play and whoever we put up there. But it will start with Aaron. We know what he can do scoring the ball, but we want him to other to do other things and again, help define his game."

Freshman point guard Dominique Hawkins

"Dominique Hawkins, a young man from in state that just kind of blew me away with his will to win, his temperament on the court, his demeanor in helping his team win a championship. You always want to coach guys who understand. By winning a state championship and being down 16 two games, it shows what a tough mentality. And with what I just went through, I wanted a tough point guard. I wanted one more tough, physical, not just fighting, physical tough, how about mentally tough? How about not break down? How bout, ‘I’m bringing it and I’m not afraid to be 16 down and it has no effect on me?’ That’s what I saw in Dominique and why we recruited him."

Freshman forward/center Dakari Johnson

"Dakari Johnson, I watched him two summers ago folks, and I’m going to tell you, he had a knee issue and I looked at him and said, ‘I’m not so sure.’ Then I watched him a little bit later, and I said ‘Wait a minute.’ Then I watched him later in the season, could not believe it. The line of improvement for Dakari is like that. He’s a kid that will get up at six in the morning and work out. He’s a great student. He does all the things, and he wants to be better. He was on a team that there were times he wasn’t getting the ball. Never said one thing, ran that court, posted up. When he did get it, he did good things. He’s got great skills and his seven-foot tall."

Freshman forward Derek Willis

"Derek Willis is a long, skilled big man from the state. Again, where his game goes…He wanted the challenge of this. ‘I want to go every day against players this good to see how I can be.’ Isn’t that the greatest part of this? I mean it’s not, ‘Well, I want to go here so I can be the guy and the only man. I want to go here and be challenged. How good can I be? And the only way I’m going to find it out is to go against the best. I’m going to go against the best every day.’ Well, he’s got a chance of really being good and being special."

Freshman forward/center Marcus Lee

"Marcus Lee averaged a triple-double for the season. Like 11 blocks, like 15 rebounds and 18 points. Pogo stick, active, high energy, 6-11, long armed. Another player who, again, wanted to be here. These kids all wanted to be here. This is where..They wanted the challenge of this, and they wanted to do it together. So when you look at Marcus Lee, you say he could have gone somewhere…He didn’t want to go. He wanted to come here and take on this challenge."

Freshman forward Julius Randle

"Julius Randle, truly a hard worker who can play multiple positions, who can play inside and out. He’s a beast. He’s an alpha beast who will drive the team. Has a little bit of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in him, in a different way. In my mind, there are good players out there, he’s as good as any of them."

Freshman forward/shooting guard James Young

"James Young gives you that 6-7 wing who flat can shoot the ball. Some of the issues. Again, we shot a high percentage. When you looked at our numbers from last year, our defensive numbers, our shot-blocking numbers, our offensive percentages, you would say we should have won more games. But, we weren’t as skilled as we needed to be, especially at crunch time. We weren’t as skilled. We weren’t as physically dominating as my teams in the past. This team should be."