Kentucky freshmen appear ready for NCAA run

The Associated Press Published on Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2010 4:35PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2010 4:37PM EDT

Kentucky senior Perry Stevenson isn't worried about the Wildcats' youthful roster turning into a liability during the NCAA tournament.

Perry, one of three seniors on the roster who get limited playing time, says the talent of Kentucky's fabulous freshmen will more than make up for their inexperience. The top-seeded Wildcats play East Tennessee State on Thursday night in New Orleans.

“The seniors on this team are just lucky to have guys that we're surrounded by now,” Stevenson said. “They just have high basketball IQs and unbelievable athletic ability. They just know what to do.”

Stevenson's perspective may be more than just chatter from a supportive teammate.

Especially if the way point guard John Wall and forward DeMarcus Cousins helped save Kentucky during the Southeastern Conference tournament is any indication of how the freshmen will perform during the NCAAs.

Wall scored seven of his 17 points in overtime as Kentucky (32-2) rallied from five down with 2:28 left in regulation to beat Mississippi State 75-74 in Sunday's SEC championship. Cousins hit a layup off Wall's missed 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.

There's no disputing their youth, though.

“This team, they don't shave yet,” Kentucky coach John Calipari quipped.

Calipari sent forward Daniel Orton to the locker room briefly during the Wildcats' SEC semifinals against Tennessee on Saturday after the freshman argued with an assistant coach about his play on the floor.

Orton got the message, admitting he got “caught up in the moment” of an emotional game, and returned to the floor a few moments later.

Calipari compares his freshmen — Wall, Cousins, Orton and guards Eric Bledsoe and John Hood — to Michigan's Fab 5. They made it to the NCAA national championship game in 1992 as freshmen and again in 1993 as sophomores, though they lost both games.

The Fab 5 were a bit younger when they played in their first NCAA tournament game in 1992 — the Michigan freshmen averaged 18 years, 311 days in age while the Kentucky freshmen average 19 years, 277 days old, according to STATS, LLC.

Their age shouldn't matter anyway, said Florida coach Billy Donovan, who won an NCAA title in 2006 with only four upperclassmen.

“I don't think experience has anything to do with it,” Donovan said. “These kids like at Kentucky, the season they've had, it's for a reason. They've won some games where they had to come from behind, and they've played in every possible situation.”

Calipari has had his own success with youth. As Memphis' coach in 2008, Calipari reached the national title game with a Tigers team led by freshman Derrick Rose.

Hearing about that kind of experience from Calipari and his assistants has added to the preparation the UK freshmen have already received on the floor this season, Wall said.

“I think he's done a great job,” Wall said. “Not just him, but the coaching staff ... they've done a great job of helping us out and assisting us and telling us the things that they've learned from when they were playing.

“I feel like I'm prepared.”

However, there are times Calipari admits that he isn't sure he is prepared.

The coach says this is uncharted territory even for him. His 2007-08 squad relied on several upperclassmen to balance Rose's youth.

I don't know what to expect at times,” Calipari said. “I'm walking along trying to figure out, 'What do I do?' But I'll say this: They want to win. They have a will to win. They refuse to lose.”

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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this story.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/kentucky-freshmen-appear-ready-for-ncaa-run/article1502384/