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By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com
There’s a lot of ways to describe the things that 6-9 Julius Randle can do on the basketball court, but he says only one thing matters.
“I just want to win,” Randle said. “I’ll do whatever I can to get better.”
That attitude is why Kentucky coach John Calipari says Randle reminds him of one of UK’s most beloved players in recent years — Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. He had that same passion that helped UK win the 2012 national title and made him the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft behind teammate Anthony Davis.
“He wants to impress me, but he's quiet about it. He knows. He's different now. That's a skill. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist got drafted No. 2 on that skill. Wasn't any other skill, it was that skill,” said Calipari. “I don't want to say he's better than Michael. Michael was … There's stuff I've seen Michael do that I couldn't believe human beings could do. But this kid, he's his own guy. He's 6-9, 250, nimble, and he's tough.”
How tough? Let freshman teammate Marcus Lee explain.
“Going against Julius Randle is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to practice-wise or scrimmage-wise. I have never gone that hard for a scrimmage. With him, you don’t have a choice,” Lee said. “Julius will knock me down, look at me crazy on the floor and then keep going, which is awesome. I wouldn’t expect anything different from him.
“But he is also the guy after he knocked me down and is walking back down the court, he will say, ‘This is what you did wrong and don’t do it again.’ And I wouldn’t do it again, which is awesome. It is a great learning experience about how to defend people like him better.”
Randle knows being compared to Kidd-Gilchrist puts big expectations on him with the Kentucky fan base.
“Mike did a lot of good things for the team two years ago. It is high praise being compared to him,” Randle said.
But, like Kidd-Gilchrist, he just has a different gear when he’s on the basketball court — as Lee has learned.
“Yeah, I am super laid back, chilled off the court. I like just hanging with friends, family, not doing anything too special. On the court, I kind of turn into a different person. It’s just the competitive nature in me,” Randle said. “It has always been there. I have learned it from my mom. That’s how she is and with everything she does, she does with full effort and that’s how I learned it. She instilled that in me early for sure.”
As for Lee, Randle says practice is practice.
“Even though it is my teammate, if we are playing against each other on the court, I am not doing it in a malicious way to make him feel bad. It is just part of my instinct to go hard all the time. I have a killer instinct even with my own teammates,” Randle said.
Randle won the Under Armour Elite 24 dunk Contest before the start of his senior season and the next day he was named one of the MVPs of the Elite 24 game, where he scored 27 points and led his team to a 164-138 victory. He was set for a banner senior season, but the weekend after Thanksgiving , Randle fractured his foot playing in a tournament and missed three months. He was not expected to play again his senior year, but he returned in March to lead Plano (Texas) Prestonwood Christian to its third state title in four years. He had 34 or more points and 15 or more rebounds in each of his final three games.
“He’s all about winning. In one of our playoff games, he was double teamed in the open court and triple teamed in halfcourt,” Prestonwood coach Chris Mayberry said. “He took four shots in the game. He didn’t force anything. He knew if he forced things he would take tough shots or turn the ball over. He decided to be a great teammate. Some guys missed easy shots, but he kept passing. He’s always willing to do what it takes to be on the right side of the scoreboad.”
Randle continued that impressive play in postseason all-star games. He had 11 points and seven rebounds in the McDonald’s All-American Game, earned co-MVP honors in the Jordan Brand Classic with 19 points and seven rebounds, and played well in the Nike Hoops Summit.
Randle said he didn’t feel like he had anything to prove in thos ggame, but he wanted to show he was as good, or better, than before he hurt his foot.
“A lot of people didn’t expect me to play and stuff like that, so those posteason games were great for me. I really enjoyed playing in them. I didn’t even think I would be there playing but it was cool,” Randle said. “I probably bonded with the guys coming here before because I have been playing against all those guys my whole life. But that was kind of cool to play in the postseason games with them and it was a way to kick off our year.
“I didn’t feel like I was forgotten. Everybody was still pretty high on me. My thing was coming back to see where my skill level is and see what I need to do to develop. But you have so many great players out there, I wanted to be competitive.”
Randle, as did several UK teammates, didn’t play with Team USA so he could be at UK for summer school and to start his pursuit of winning a national championship.
“I want to win a national championship. I am more convinced now that we can win just because from the pickup games I see how well we play together and how unselfish we all are. I know we have the talent to do it. It is just up to all of us. It has been an eye-opener here with so many great players,” Randle said.
He doesn’t mind Calipari labeling him as a leader and player, like Kidd-Gilchrist, who can “drag” other players with him to a championship level.
“It is cool. But it is also a lot of pressure. Actually, I wouldn’t say pressure because I don’t believe in that.
But it is a lot of responsibility. I know I am going to have to work hard and I expect that out of myself,” Randle said.
Calipari has called Randle a leader, pit bull and alpha beast.
“In his workouts, he's like ... and you know there are times where he wants to settle on the perimeter, be like a guard, but we were doing drills where he had to attack,” Calipari said. “He's got to get to his right hand more cause you know how everybody's going to play him: make him go right. They may even play him, and he can. But he's more comfortable getting to his left,” Calipari said.
“But when he missed it, he was … his head was right back on the rim until it went in. Like, oh my gosh. Then I tell the guys what happened two years ago was Michael dragged us to that level as a team, and that's what I'm asking Julius to do. 'Forget about everything else. Just do that right there and drag us. We'll help you with all the other stuff. You don't lose that.'”
Mayberry says Randle’s personality will endear him to UK fans and keep the Kentucky spotlight from overwhelming him.
“He had great relationships with everybody at school here. Talk to anybody, including the headmaster, and they cannot stop talking about how great a kid he was. I knew the hype and hoopla would not change him. He has great character, a great mom. He’s very well grounded,” Maybery said.
That personality came through soon after Randle got to Lexington in June and he often posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans, things he does not mind doing.
“I just realize how fortunate I am to be in the position that I am in. My mom always tells me to enjoy the dream, enjoy the journey. I am just going to enjoy every step,” he said. “I heard it gets pretty nutty around here, but it is something we will all enjoy. We all just have to realize that they (fans) love us because we can do a lot of great things, but that is a great responsibility and we have to keep getting a lot better.”
Randle’s faith plays into that attitude, too.
“He’s a very religious kid,” Mayberry said. “He has kind of been in a bit of a Christian atmosphere here, but there is going to be a big difference between here and Kentucky. I am not dumb. I know what goes on in college. I am excited, though, for him to make an impact on others and he’s going to have the opportunity to influence a lot of people.”
Randle credits his faith for getting him where he is today.
“Without my faith, none of this stuff would be possible. I wouldn’t be playing basketball at Kentucky,” Randle said.
“There were a lot of times I could have gone different ways in my life, but somebody I can always count on to be there for me is God. It has definitely been good for me.”
Again, he says his mother instilled that faith in him at an early age much like she did his competitive nature. He says going to Prestonwood Christian helped him grow as a person and athlete.
“I think it was just better overall as far as me being surrounded by good people, better educadtion, molded me as person and my mom thought it was a great fit for me, and it was. I loved it,” Randle said.
He says his mother, Carolyn Kyles, a former basketball player at Texas, and his mentor, Jeff Webster, a former player at Oklahoma, have had the biggest influences on his basketball career. Webster scored 2,258 points and had 781 rebounds at Oklahoma and played briefly in the NBA.
“When you have somebody that has been through all of this before — second all-time leading scorer at Oklahoma, played in the NBA, played overseas, been a McDonald’s All-American, highly recruited, been all this stuff — you can go to him for advice any day,” Randle said. “My mom is the same way. She played college basketball and all that stuff. Those are people I can always go to
“My mom used to critique my game all the time. My sophomore year she laid back a lot more, but before that she was on me, always critiquing me. If I didn’t play a good game, she wouldn’t even talk to me. She was tough on me, but it made me who I am today.”
But there was one thing she would never let him do.
“I wanted to play football, but it was always basketball. Now that I look back, I am glad I didn’t play football. My mom wouldn’t let me. She wasn’t having any of it,” he laughed and said.
Just like he won’t have any of the potential NBA draft talk that already has him among the top picks in the 2014 draft.
“It is not really something I can focus on right now. I have to focus on getting up at 6:45 and going running,” Randle said. “That is really what is on my mind. It is not something to worry about. I just focus on getting better as a player, school and making sure my family is okay and going from there. All the NBA stuff is a long way off.”
Until then, he knows parts of his game might be a bit underestimated by UK fans until they actually see him play.
“I would probably have to say my defense is underrated. Guys like Nerlens (Noel) came here who are known as defensive players, but I take as much pride in my defense. I don’t like people scoring on me,” Randle said.
What about that explosive first step he has to get into the lane?
“I have heard that, too. I don’t thinkn people realize I am as quick as I am when I get on the court,” Randle said.
Lee does. He doesn’t underestimate any parts of Randle’s game after playing against him almost daily for four months.
“I think he can be the next LeBron James. He’s that good,” Lee said.
Did you know
Julius Randle had never lifted weights until he got to Kentucky.
“I used to do pushups when I was younger when I wanted to get stronger. I always played up ,so I wanted to make sure I could get stronger,” he said. “I have always done pushups, but I had never lifted weights until I got here. Of course, that changed immediately when I got here and now I lift all the time.”
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