Former Kentucky Wildcats: Willie Cauley-Stein’s Potential is Shining Bright

Within the Big Blue Nation, the belief in Willie Cauley-Stein ran deep. They know what kind of monster the Sacramento Kings picked up in the NBA Draft. Combined with another former Wildcat, Demarcus Cousins, Big Blue Nation is almost ready to pick up and move to California, which is also closer to Phoenix, another team with a plethora of former Wildcats, but that’s another story.

James Herbert, an NBA writer for CBSSPORTS.com released an interesting article about Willie Cauley-Stein, who many outside of the Big Blue Nation thought may not love basketball and was chosen too early.

"Imagine the most violent dunk you can. Picture a 7-footer with a guard’s grace catching a pass near the elbow, stepping hard toward the rim and obliterating a guy. The crowd roars, the poor defender falls to the floor. Put yourself in the dunker’s shoes for a second.The 21-year-old big man pointed out postgame that he was looking down at the victim’s head, wondering why on Earth anyone would even think about jumping. Correctly, he called it “nasty”and noted that Cincinnati didn’t put the dude back into the game. Then he went back to the hotel and — more on this later — proceeded to do something his roommate on the road, walk-on Tod Lanter, would never forget.As a walk-on, Lanter barely played for Kentucky, but Cauley-Stein never let him feel anything but equal in his three years there. He wants Sacramento Kings fans to understand how much this “raw-talent athlete” improved at Kentucky and know that the idea their new center doesn’t love the game is “asinine.” The two of them ran 6 a.m. sprints, helped each other with classwork and, in five years, if Lanter visits his old friend in Sacramento, he expects an air mattress at his place rather than a hotel room and a limo.On draft night, an ESPN story mentioned Cauley-Stein’s “quirky personality” like it was a flaw, and asserted that the Kings’ choice at No. 6 would “either be brilliant or a disaster.” This sentiment had been repeated so often that it seemed self-evident — to those who didn’t know him, anyway."

"at Thomas & Mack Center, Cauley-Stein was tripped and rolled his ankle. He limped around for a couple of possessions and tried to walk it off. Golden State Warriors forward James Michael McAdoo saw him hobbling and tried to take him to the rim. Cauley-Stein blocked the layup with two hands. It took another couple of trips down the court for Sacramento to take a foul so he could go to the bench and have a trainer look at him.There might not be another example — ever — of a player doing exactly this, but Cauley-Stein saw the situation simply. “I didn’t want to give up a basket ’cause I was hurting,” he said, so he went for it.Sacramento assistant coach John Welch raised his eyebrows and his voice when the play was brought up. “Yeah, yeah!” he said. “It was just fun to watch. It’s fun to watch someone care that much and play that hard.” It sounded like he was addressing more than just the reporter in front of him.In three and a half minutes, Welch referred to how hard Cauley-Stein plays 10 times. He said the rookie’s effort was contagious and raved that he’d never seen a 7-footer with quicker feet. He’d like to see Cauley-Stein be more vocal with his new teammates, but recalled that even Tyson Chandler had to learn how to do that in the pros.Sam Malone, another UK walk-on, watched Cauley-Stein in Vegas and said that his previous exposure wasn’t necessary to see what a gem the Kings had. In person, your eyes are drawn to him.“Just watching him play two possessions, it’s so obvious that he is so much more athletic and has such a better feel for the game than most of these players, and is just an impact player,” Malone said. “Whether he’s filling out a box score or not, his impact on the game is ridiculous because of his presence under the rim, running out in transition and just beating guys down the court. He’s on another level.”"

Seriously, this is one of the best articles I have ever read about a former Wildcat. It’s not only true, but will make you love him even more. This is just the beginning of the article that you do not want to miss out on reading, so I’ll post the link again.