INDIANAPOLIS — In the wake of Kentucky’s 71-64 loss here to Wisconsin in the national semifinals, you can expect a parade of players to head to the NBA in the coming days.
One NBA scout told SNY.tv before the Final Four that seven Kentucky players “are gone.”
Go ahead and add Willie Cauley-Stein to the head of the list.
“I know what I’m doing,” the 7-foot junior said, according to Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal. “It’s time to take another step. Probably my last game here.”
Cauley-Stein, who managed just 2 points and 5 rebounds, also said on the podium: “You know, we’ll never be on the same team like this again. You know, that’s going to set in. We got a month of school left with each other, and that’s it. So I mean, that’s what you’ll remember.”
DraftExpress.com projects Cauley-Stein as the No. 6 player in the NBA Draft.
“He has athleticism, [he’s able] to run and rebound, block shots,” one NBA scout told SNY.tv of Cauley-Stein. “Absolutely he’s a top 5.”
Like many of his teammates, Cauley-Stein seemed stunned by the sudden ending to a season that many expected to end at 40-0 and with a national championship on Monday night.
“That’s what ended up weighing on me, I wanted to hold the trophy off the bus, off the plane and just hear everybody go crazy,” he told a throng of reporters gathered around his locker. “Lord knows there would be 10,000 people at our airport. They’re still going to be there, but it’s just going to be a different feeling.”
He added: “It’s like a movie where the main character dies and you’re like, ‘What, why did the main character die?’ It’s like the good guy or the guy that you never suspect is going to die ends up dying and there’s no cliffhanger. That’s the way it feels, that’s the way it is.'”
Photo: USA Today Sports
