Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun might have been stating the obvious when he told reporters Tuesday that guard John Wall doesn’t play like a freshman.”On a season, freshmen can really cost you,” Calhoun said. “Wall is not a freshman. Anybody who has watched him play, he’s not a freshman. He’s a great basketball player (and) would be a great basketball player in any freshman class that has come along.”Calhoun called Wall one of those “special players” that can carry a team regardless of his age. The long-time UConn coach tended to agree with a North Carolina assistant coach, who over the weekend said that Kentucky will go as far as Wall can take them.
“When you give a guy the ball that much, you’re making a statement that you want him to determine a lot of the outcome of the game,” said Calhoun, who admitted he tried to recruit Wall out of Word of God Academy in Raleigh, N.C. “I think that it doesn’t always work out that way every game, but if he is going to play a team-high 35, almost 36 minutes a game, if he is going to lead you in scoring, lead you in assists, if he is going to lead your break, then they are entrusting – and rightfully so, by the way – Wall to run that basketball team.”They have very good players besides him, but he is an exceptional player. They have given him the ball and said, ‘Run our basketball team.’ I think it has two effects: A, he is very good at it, and B, it makes him believe as a freshman even more in himself.”Wall has clearly been one of the cornerstones in UK’s 8-0 start, the best open to a season since the 1992-93 season. The freshman guard leads the team in scoring (18.1 ppg) and assists (7.7 apg) and he’s garnered enough awards this season to fill a trophy case. Wall has already been named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week three times this season, in addition to receiving ESPN.com National Player of the Week honors. Of course, none of that happens without the presence of an experienced talent like Patrick Patterson, Calhoun said.”Patterson is the rock,” Calhoun said. “Wall is the racecar driver.”Calhoun compared Patterson’s impact to a team he had a couple of years ago that was made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores. The Huskies had just lost Rudy Gay to the NBA Draft, and without him, they missed the NCAA Tournament for only the fourth time in the last 20 years.With Gay back, Calhoun believes they would have not only made the tournament but competed for the championship.The Cats have a similar, dangerous formula that Calhoun would have loved to have had in 2006-07. The return of Patterson allows Wall a little more freedom to make some mistakes, Calhoun said. It gives Wall a chance to feel comfortable and thrive.

“Having a player like (Patterson) come back sets up the whole thing because he’s a kid, obviously, that wants to win,” Calhoun said. “He loves basketball, he loves playing at Kentucky – that’s pretty obvious because otherwise he would have went (to the NBA). People say, well, he’s this and he’s not that. I know one thing: He’s damn good.”Contrary to what John Calipari might lead you to believe about his team, just about everything screams that about UK right now. Calhoun wouldn’t go as far as to call Kentucky a hands-on favorite to win the national title – he thinks Kansas is the only team that possesses that perfect formula of talent and experience – but he does believe they’re in a group of teams that is a step above the rest.”The bottom line is there are four or five teams that stand out to me at this point in the season that have just incredible talent and have an opportunity to be really special,” Calhoun said. “I think Kentucky is certainly (in that discussion).”