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I came across an article I had written last season about the excitement Big Blue Nation felt when Willie Cauley-Stein announced that he would forgo the NBA Draft and come back for his junior year. It was a bitter sweet moment when I re read this and wanted to share this with you. We knew him coming back would give the Wildcats a chance, but did we expect the season we got?
Also written in here is me doubting Tyler Ulis because of his height, boy did he prove me wrong. It’s a good read and will remind you of why we love Willie Cauley-Stein and why we should just wish him well in the future even though he decided to forgo his senior season at UK and is headed to the NBA.
"Big news swept the country the other day when Willie Cauley-Stein announced via twitter that he will be forgoing the NBA Draft and will play his junior year at the University of Kentucky. As the Big Blue Nation awaits the announcement from a handful of other players, they can rejoice the fact that Willie Cauley-Stein is Willie Cauley-Stayin’.Willie Cauley-Stein is the first of Calipari’s recruits, at Kentucky, to play their junior year. Alex Poythress could also join Cauley-Stein by staying at Kentucky for his junior year, but he has yet to announce.Cauley-Stein is a gamer changer for the Wildcats. He is a defensive monster and has recently became strong on the offensive end, too. Sure, he went on a mid season hiatus this year, but I’m a firm believer that the “sophomore slump” is a really thing and it plagues an immense amount of players. After having to sit out a majority of the NCAA Tournament and the National Championship loss, Cauley-Stein should be a force to be reckoned with come next season, given his injury heals the best way possible.Given the height advantage the Cats are going to have over their opponents with Willie Cauley-Stein staying, the incoming freshmen and potential for others to stay, it’ll be hard to get easy baskets against the Cats. Shot blocking will be the real deal and opposing teams are going to have to find a new way to get to the basket.Right now, with Willie Cauley-Stein staying at Kentucky, their front court is going to be one of the strongest in college basketball, but the question plaguing everyones mind is the back court. Tyler Ulis is a very good point guard coming to play for the Cats next season, but he is tiny, very tiny. Having the Harrison Twins come back would make the Cats back court almost as strong as their front court, and give them a variety of players to run the ball.It’ll be interesting to see what unravels within the next few days. I have a feeling some will stay and some will go, with a few surprises within."
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