Meet the Wildcats: #34 DeAndre Liggins
By Staff
SOPHOMORE
GUARD
6’6 202
CHICAGO, IL
FINDLEY PREP
BEFORE UK:
After playing HS basketball in Chicago for his first three years, Liggins headed west to play his senior year at Findley Prep in Las Vegas. There he averaged 13.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists a game. Liggins special skillset had him considered a “point forward” and he was actually rated the 6th best PG and 28th best recruit overall by rivals.com and 13th best SF and #57th overall by ESPN.
FROM ESPN: DeAndre is a multi-dimensional prospect with point-forward skills. He can take the outlet pass and dribble it up the floor and score or make the pass that leads to basket. He is a very good passer who has tremendous peripheral vision. In the half-court set he can score in a variety of ways around the basket. He handles the ball extremely well in the open floor and can run the show and get his team in an offense. On his penetration he finds the open man. DeAndre pulled down a game high 11 rebounds (championship game) and would lead the break himself. As his jumper gets more consistent he will be one of the more special players in the class of 2008.
AS A WILDCAT:
No UK player had as big an up and down season than Liggins. His freshman season got off to a bumpy start and then came the infamous “Vegas road trip” which cast some doubt about his future as a Wildcat. Perhaps inspired by that event, Liggins played his best basketball of the season in a four game stretch that saw him score 16, 18, 10, and 10 points. Then the struggles started and Liggins was as guilty as the rest of the Wildcats for having the “turnover” bug but for some reason Gillispie seemed to put the brunt of his frustration on Liggins who had wildly sporadic playing time and would only hit double digits one more time the rest of the season. By the end of the season, he was the forgotten Wildcat on the bench and only saw 26 minutes the last 6 games. Liggins finished his freshman campaign averaging 4.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds a game.
CAREER HIGHS:
Points: 18 – 12/6/2008 – vs Miami
Rebounds: 7 (4x) – last- 2/25/2009 – @ South Carolina
Assists: 7 (2x) – last -2/25/2009 – @ South Carolina
Blocks: 2 (2x) -last – 2/17/2009 – @ Vanderbilt
Steals: 3 – 12/20/2008 – vs Appalachian State
WHAT TO EXPECT THIS SEASON:
There is no player who has a more confusing outlook than Liggins just 3 days before the season opener. It appeared that Calipari coming to UK would signify a rebirth of sorts for Liggins, as he was recruited by Calipari at Memphis and the DDMO has a special role for a “point forward” of Liggins skillset. It seemed throughout the summer that Liggins was doing and saying all the right things and the mutual respect between Calipari and Liggins seemed to be mutual.
Just a few weeks ago, former Wildcat coach Joe B Hall singled out Liggins as the most improved on the team and Calipari has said on more than one occasion that we would not recognize Liggins due to his improved play this season. Liggins was the only Wildcat not to score in the Blue/White game and then the real mystery began. Liggins did not see the floor in either of the two exhibitions and no one really seems to have an idea why. Calipari has said that he preferred to talk about players that played in the exhibitions and that he would not “throw any players under the bus”. Several sources close to the team have hinted that this situation would be resolved soon, hopefully before the season starts.
If Liggins lives up to his praise over the summer, he can be an integral role for the Wildcats this year with the ability to play both the SF role and that of a SG. Calipari has said that Liggins would just play the wing positions and Darius Miller would be the 3rd PG so a return to the point is unlikely, which is good for Liggins. I can foresee Liggins getting 18-20 minutes back at his natural position and he has the potential to create his own plays and average about 8-10 a game. Here is hoping that whatever is going on with Liggins will be resolved quickly as he suffered the brunt of Billy G more than anyone and he deserves a chance at redemption.
DeAndre on last season: “I put that all on myself. I don’t blame Gillispie or his coaching staff. I put that on me. The way I handled situations were really in a negative way. I think the best part of being a freshman is becoming a sophomore and now I’ve got a chance to prove myself to be the player everyone thought I would be and can be. I think I put myself in a bad situation, not just during games but the way I handled situations in practice. I handled all of those situations wrong. I have a fresh start now. I can show people I’m capable this year. “ (from Catspause)
CALIPARI ON DeAndre:
“DeAndre is an inspired player heading into his sophomore season. I expect him to be a totally different player on the court this year. He worked really hard in the offseason to put himself in a position for extended playing time.”
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