Willie Cauley-Stein is the latest newcomer featured in CoachCal.com’s “Meet the Wildcats” series. The story touches on everything from the freshman’s small-town background to living with an NFL Hall of Famer to his career as a high school football player.With the praise of John Calipari in summer workouts, Cauley-Stein has already emerged as one of the hot topics of the basketball offseason and, based on Eric Lindsey’s article, the Big Blue Nation is going to enjoy getting to know him. There’s plenty of interesting stuff in the article, but Cauley-Stein’s football stardom is particularly interesting:
“I didn’t get hit a lot, I’ll just tell you that,” Cauley-Stein said. “I didn’t really get hit a lot unless it was like more than three people on me, and at that point you’re just getting tripped or drug down. There was never a time where I just got hit head on. If that was the case, I wasn’t getting hit; I was going to hit somebody else.”Few players have played in the NFL standing 6-9 or taller, but one has to wonder why with the numbers Cauley-Stein put up in his lone season at Olathe Northwest. By his count, he finished with more than 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns. He blocked three field goals without even jumping.
However, the 7 footer is now just a basketball player, and the full-time dedication is already paying off:
It’s obvious that some of his football skills have translated over to the basketball court. Running like a gazelle, he finishes first in a lot of the team’s sprints and possesses agility that people his size shouldn’t have. He has great hands, can guard guards, slither past thicker forwards, and run in transition.Cauley-Stein always had the ability to do those things, but it took Calipari’s positive reinforcement to bring out the best in him. The Josh Harrellson transformation taught Coach Cal that every player has to be coached differently, and Cauley-Stein is one of those guys that needs the right buttons pushed to really flourish.When Calipari raved about Cauley-Stein in June to the press, Cauley-Stein said it raised his expectations.“He does a really good job of, when you do something right, he’ll tell you,” Cauley-Stein said. “If you do something wrong, he’ll tell you. It helps a lot confidence wise. A lot of the game is confidence, so if he’s pepping you up about something good, you’re going to keep doing that just so you can get that compliment again. Before you know it, you’re really good at doing whatever it is that he’s telling you to do.”
Make sure to check out this link, read the story and watch the accompanying video.
