After the near “hijacking” of the 2012-13 season, several Kentucky Wildcats vow to return

March 2, 2013; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Alex Poythress (22) reacts after fouling out of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas defeated Kentucky 73-60. Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

ON WHETHER HE THINKS HE’S COMING BACK TO UK: “Yeah, I do. I don’t think I’m ready (for the NBA). I don’t even think I’m ready for – you’ve just got to get used to it. You’ve just gotta come back and be focused on the offseason. That’s when you get better and just continue to regroup and come back and maybe next year we can have a better year. We’ll have a lot of leadership, a lot of veteran players. This year we had a couple. Julius did the best job he could in the world to be our leader, but it just falls back on the followers. We didn’t do the best job following. It falls back on us.”

ON WHETHER NOT WINNING AND NOT ALL BEING ONE-AND-DONES (MAYBE), IS A SURPRISE: “I don’t know if it’s a surprise. You don’t just come to college expecting to be here one year. You come to college to do the best can and if you have an opportunity, you can leave. But nobody thought the season would be like this. This is very surprising. Last year’s team was just so good, they made it look so easy. In reality, it’s not. There’s so much hard work you’ve gotta put in, so much more you’ve gotta put in. It’s just, you’ve gotta come prepared. The coaches did the best job preparing us they could. Every game, we couldn’t ask for more from the coaches. It just falls back on us. We’ve got to do it. They can only do so much for us. They probably did more than what they should’ve for us. That just comes back on us. We’ve got to do it.”

ON HOW MUCH THIS LOSS WILL STICK WITH THOSE WHO COME BACK: “It’s going to be driving us for a long time. It’s going to stay in my mind. It’s going to stay in the back of my head. It’s going to be hard to get out.”

March 2, 2013; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Ryan Harrow (12) makes a pass during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas defeated Kentucky 73-60. Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

ON HIS FUTURE AT UK: “I can’t go anywhere (would have to sit out a year if he transferred). So I’ll be here next year and just getting ready for next year.”

ON WHETHER HE WANTS TO BE THERE OR FEELS LIKE HE HAS NO CHOICE: “Yeah (he wants to). I definitely learned some stuff playing this year. Nobody’s ever questioned my ability or talent. It’s just been my energy and things like that. That’s easy to work on. Just gotta get back to Kentucky and start working immediately, lifting weights and working on regular skill things.”

As for now, I will let the players words speak for themselves. Usually after a loss, players emotionally say they are going to stay and then do another. That may happen. But if these players do return and join with the 2013 recruiting class, next year could be a very special year. But if that does happen (and it is still a big IF), I have found the song that Kentucky MUST come out to for Big Blue Madness.

This absolutely, positively, without a doubt has to be UK’s entrance song for Big Blue Madness: