NBA decision not difficult for Cauley-Stein

By: LARRY VAUGHT

Going to the NBA was not a hard decision for Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein to make.

He was one of seven Wildcats Thursday to opt to leave school early for the NBA after Kentucky’s 38-1 season that ended with a loss to Wisconsin in the Final four.

“I was going to leave last year, broke my ankle, didn’t get a chance to play in the Final Four. That was my whole motive coming back. I got a chance to play in it, I’m healthy. My whole thing coming back, if I stayed healthy I was out regardless,” said Cauley-Stein Thursday. “I stayed healthy, I stayed on course (with) what we were doing. There’s no reason to come back. If you’re healthy and you can go, you should go.”

Cauley-Stein was a consensus All-American despite averaging only 8.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 25.9 minutes of play. He had a team-high 47 steals and was second with 87 blocked shots. However, in the Final Four loss he had just two points and five rebounds.

Still, he’s projected as a possible top 10 pick. Of his other six teammates leaving UK early, only freshman Karl-Anthony Towns is projected to be drafted higher.

“They all put them in a position for themselves to go. If you’re in a position and you’ve done the things that you need to do and you have the opportunity to go, you should go,” he said. “I’m in the same boat as them. Just, I’m excited. This is a chance to start your life.

“You can control everything. When you’re in school, you control your schoolwork. That’s what you have control over. Basketball-wise, you’re told where to go, you’re told when to be there, you’re told everything. When you take that next step, it’s on you. So if you don’t go to that place — we’re going

“Here, it’s like, OK, we’re going to run you. OK. You’re a kid. Now you’re a grown man. You’re grown. If you didn’t go to work, what’s going to happen.”

Cauley-Stein, one of UK’s most outgoing players, admits he’s a bit nervous about what lies ahead.

“There’s going to be a lot of speed bumps on the way. Those are the things that’s going to make you who you are, that’s going to build your character,” Cauley-Stein said. “I’m excited to take a leap of faith and then if I fall, the pick-up is what’s going to make your name. You gotta fall some time. Whatever you do to pick yourself back up, that’s going to be your name. And I hope mine’s big.”

He’s not sure he would have been ready for that last year.

“It would chew anybody up and spit them out. Being young like that and going, you gotta be here. Like, this place prepares you for that. The young guys that thrive in the NBA, there’s a reason why. There’s a method. There’s a remedy that Cal does that that’s why they’re ready to go when they get there,” Cauley-Stein said Thursday.

“BThe way everything is ran here is exactly how a pro team is set. That’s why it’s so successful here. Because everybody that leaves here ... he’s all got it written out for them. It’s all been engraved in your head, the way the NBA plays. The way they play here is exactly the way they play in the NBA. The way workouts are set up here is exactly the way it’s set up there. Everything is set up for that moment. It just depends when you’re mentally ready to go.

“Because when you get up there, they’re going to get your body right, they’re going to get your everything else right, but it’s really a mental standpoint. If your mental’s wrong up there, you’re not going to last. That’s the biggest thing that works here, is they will get you mentally strong by coming here.”

Cauley-Stein grew up playing a variety of sports in Kansas and always dreamed he was going to be a professional in whatever sport he played.

“When it was baseball season when I was a kid, I want to play in the MLB (Major League Baseball. When I was playing football, I want to be in the NFL. Basketball happens to be the last thing I’m playing. I’m trying to be in the league. I get a chance to take a step forward and have a chance to do something that I’ve been dreaming about since I was 7 years old playing against Tim Duncan and I’m Tim Duncan,” Cauley-Stein said.

“I’m playing by myself but I’m pretending that Tim Duncan’s guarding me or something. I remember a day that I was in my driveway playing that to a 50 Cent song. You grow up dreaming that and you get a chance to do it, it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s like a weight off your shoulders just because, dang, I worked so hard to get to this point and I never thought it would actually come true the way it did. But I couldn’t ask for any better start to a story than what I have gone through.”

He says he’ll remember the fans more than anything about his three years at Kentukcy.

“Being at Rupp (Arena), traveling, you’re not going to forget about those things,” Cauley-Stein said.