If there is one story you read about Kentucky this postseason, make sure it’s Jason King’s profile of freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins, “Mad about Cousins.”
King, a sportswriter with Yahoo! Sports and Rivals.com, takes a long and in-depth look at the maturation process of Cousins, from a young, immature kid in Alabama to the budding star at UK.
Some of the incidents in the story you may have heard, others maybe you haven’t. But whether you know or don’t know about Cousins’ past and the development he’s undergone in the last several years, this story serves as a great profile on the life of DeMarcus Cousins.
Below is an opening excerpt from the story. It’s long, but I guarantee you won’t regret reading it. The link at the top will take you to the full story.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When DeMarcus Cousins signs an autograph, you never know what you’re going to get.
If the crowd is big and Kentucky’s standout freshman is in a hurry, he’ll simply scribble his initials and jersey number. Catch him alone at a restaurant or on campus, and Cousins may write his entire name in perfect penmanship.
“The other night, he signed a shirt for me and I couldn’t even read it,” said Monique Cousins, DeMarcus’ mom. “I think he must’ve been in a bad mood. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Not at Kentucky, where in less than a year the 6-foot-11, 270-pound center has become one of the biggest celebrities – literally – in the history of the Wildcats’ storied program. At Rupp Arena females write marriage proposals on signs while others hold up posterboards that read “In Kentucky We Love Our Cousins.”
The autograph requests are non-stop, Cousins has his own nickname (“Boogie”) and everyone, it seems, wants to pose for a picture with the future NBA lottery pick. Back in the fall, at a burger joint called Tolly-Ho, Cousins put his arm around a classmate during a photo and could feel the kid shaking.
“Craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Cousins said. “Dude was so nervous.”
Cousins laughs as he leans back in his chair at Wildcat Lodge, Kentucky’s athletic dormitory. As much as he’s enjoyed his time on the court during his first – and probably only – season for the 32-2 Wildcats, he’s relished his time off of it, too. Feeling loved and respected, he said, is a nice change from his days growing up in Alabama, where his mother said he was treated like a “piece of meat.”
Cousins is thankful that the folks in Lexington were willing to let him establish his own identity instead of judging him by the labels that have always defined him.
“I’m a thug,” Cousins said. “I’m a bad guy, a criminal. I know that’s what people say about me, people that don’t know me.
“Nothing could be further from the truth.”
