Willie Cauley-Stein guards Frank Kaminsky. (Chet White, UK Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS – Willie Cauley-Stein has always done things his own way, so it’s no surprise he handled talk of his future on his own terms Saturday night.Bypassing the usual “I’m not thinking about that yet” response to inevitable questions about his upcoming stay-or-go decision, Cauley-Stein revealed his decision is already close to made.Asked whether the junior had just played his final game in a Kentucky uniform in the Wildcats’ Final Four loss to Wisconsin, he answered “probably.””It’s time to take another step,” Cauley-Stein said. “I mean, obviously I’m not a hundred percent on it, but I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do. I have to talk to a couple more people, but that probably was my last game here.”Cauley-Stein is projected as a top-10 pick by both ESPN and Draft Express, a designation he shares with potential top overall choice Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns, however, wasn’t willing to join his fellow forward in addressing the specifics of the decision he’s now facing.”I can’t tell you,” Towns said. “Right now I’m just – I have no thoughts about that. I just want to be with my teammates – just be with them. That’s really it.”With UK’s deep and talented roster, as many as 10 players could consider entering the NBA Draft. None besides Cauley-Stein, however, is entertaining the talk just yet.”Like I said, I haven’t thought about it,” Devin Booker said. “As of now, I’m getting ready for my sophomore season. I’ll sit down with my family and just come to a decision.””In a couple weeks I’ll probably make up my mind, but I’m just worried about my guys on my team right now,” Andrew Harrison said.Andrew Harrison and his twin brother have already been through the decision-making process once, electing to stay for their sophomore season. Based on that experience, they know they need time and space.”Just have to get away from this,” Aaron Harrison said. “Can’t really let this affect you because you can’t make the right decision when there’s emotion involved.”Besides, the Cats have another priority in mind.”It doesn’t even matter right now,” Marcus Lee said. “That’s the least of our worries right now. Right now being our first and only loss, we’re going back home and getting in school, getting caught up on school and being a regular student again.”Once they settle back in, decisions will have to be made.”I don’t know yet,” Ulis said. “A lot of guys, like you said, have an opportunity to (either) go pro, (or) stay. For me, hopefully, some people stay. You just have to let them live their dream.”That’s what Cauley-Stein now plans to do, though he’ll pursue an NBA career having missed on the national championship he came back to win as a junior. To make matters worse, the fact that he only managed two points, five rebounds and two blocks in his 33 minutes of his final college game will weigh on his mind.”I mean, that’s going to probably eat at me for the rest of my life, just to know that I have so much more that I could have given and changed the outcome of the game,” Cauley-Stein said. “But I just didn’t do it and that’s probably going to kill me on the inside.”If this season is any indication, Cauley-Stein will only use that feeling as fuel for that next step. The same goes for his teammates, whether they join him in declaring for the draft or elect to stay and pursue the championship that eluded them.”We try to teach these kids to learn from every opportunity that they’re given,” assistant coach John Robic said. “This is just another one of those. How to face it, they’ve been very good through the entire season. Never really stuck their chest out. They were the same kids, same person, same team. They worked their tails off for us and couldn’t ask for more from these guys.”

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