Cousins says decision on move to NBA will be tougher than he thought

Cousins says decision on move to NBA will be tougher than he thought

By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com
March 24, 2010

DeMarcus Cousins readily admits he has thought about playing in the NBA for several years now. He’ll even acknowledge that he thought he would jump at a chance to leave Kentucky after one year for the NBA when he signed with the Wildcats a year ago.

Now he’s not quite so certain about his future, even though he’s had a monstrous freshman season going into Thursday’s game against Cornell in Syracuse, N.Y.

“Whenever I do decide to leave, I will miss this a lot, probably more than I ever thought,” Cousins said. “No matter where I have played or been, I have never been accepted like this. It just feels so good to be accepted.

“It is going to be a tough decision, much harder than I thought it ever would be. I have always dreamed of that next level, but we’ll have to see. Life is good at Kentucky for me.”

How good?

“I like everything about being here. The whole college life, the fans, the coaches, the team. I mean everything. It is like a big dream, especially with the success we are having. It is a perfect life right now,” said Cousins, who averages 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

“On campus, I have a lot of fun. Students come up and talk. It is just fun everywhere we go. We have the best fans in the nation, and students come up, too, just like we are normal people. I love being around all these great people.”

Cousins did deny one recent rumor that he’s so popular that female students have even volunteered to give him a neck massage before classes.

“I don’t know anything about all that. That one is not true at all. There has been some crazy stuff, but that one is not true,” Cousins laughed and said.

He did pose with various fans at the UK women’s clinic before the season started, and he even gave a few women a playful kiss on the cheek.

“The Big Blue Nation knows about me. I am just trying to show the rest of the world. I am a mean person and I play rough on the court, but I am nothing like that off the court. I want people to know that,” he said.

Cousins’ mother, Monique, says he is serious about that.

“He’s a fun-loving kid. He likes to see people laugh. That’s the DeMarcus I have always known,” Monique Cousins said. “He loves kids. Sometimes stepping out in life, you can’t be yourself and you have to cope with the situation you are in.

“We all have high standards for our kids, but I love the way Kentucky fans have embraced him. Kentucky has been great, like a family. He feels like he is at home at Kentucky.”

By LARRY VAUGHT

DeMarcus Cousins grew up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood in Birmingham where violence, shooting and drug use were the norm. He never had any problems — other than being picked on by classmates in middle school because he was so big — until his sophomore year when he got into an altercation on a school bus following a game. He was suspended from the team, even though he claimed he was merely defending himself and did not cause the altercation.

The next summer he was at a pool party when a fight broke out. He was not involved, but a few weeks later he was charged with battery. The charges were later dropped.

Next, he was deemed ineligible to play at his high school because of allegations that his coach recruited him.

That was enough for his mother, Monique Cousins, to move back to Mobile. Even then, Cousins had to sit out nine games before he could play for LeFlore High School, a powerhouse team without a gym on campus that played all of its games on the road.

Cousins’ controversial past obviously haunted him, because when voting for Mr. Basketball in Alabama was announced, he didn’t win despite being ranked as the nation’s No. 2 prospect.

Cousins knows what others thought of him, including possibly some Kentucky fans when he first arrived in Lexington.

“People thought I was a thug and bad guy, maybe a criminal or something. I know people said and thought those things. But that’s not me,” he said.

His mother, who moved to Lexington last summer before returning to Alabama due to her mother’s health, is proud of how her son has matured as a person as much as his athletic development.

“He was more close-natured in high school and could not really be himself. He did not know if it would be acceptable or if he would be ridiculed if he was different. He didn’t want to let people know then he was a momma’s boy,” she said. “He learned you can’t always be what you want. You adapt to the environment and what you need to do to not be picked on.

“DeMarcus has been large since birth. He was big as a baby and different from day one. When you are different, people treat you different whether you like it or not. He is finally understanding that more and finding his place in life at Kentucky.”

That’s why you might see him clowning by crawling back into the dressing room as he did last week at New Orleans, hoping media members who were busy interviewing teammates might not notice him.

“I just wanted to sneak in and not be seen,” he said.

By LARRY VAUGHT

It’s impossible not to see DeMarcus Cousins’ dominating presence on the court. Teams usually double- or triple-team him, but he has accepted that and has learned to pass more and enjoy winning even when he doesn’t have a double-double.

He’s also learned to respect coach John Calipari more and more.

“Me and Cal get along great. It is a coach-player relationship. That is how it is. Off the court we joke and have fun,” he said. “He welcomes me to his home any time. I play with (his son) Brad. I am part of his family. On the court, it is a player-coach relationship.”

He also has a valued ally in Calipari’s wife, Ellen.

“I love her brownies. She is great for me. She takes up for me a lot with Cal. I am her baby, and I like that,” Cousins said.

He says he’s been astonished by how well this season has gone for the Wildcats and that he can only imagine what it would be like to win a national championship.

“I dreamed about, but to be honest, I never thought I would be a part of it,” Cousins, who has a freshman record 349 rebounds, said. “I always wanted to be in the championships. I really have not got a lot of them under my belt, but I have been in a lot of them. I just try to win them and want to win them.

“I kind of take it hard when I don’t win. It takes a little bit of time for me to recover when I don’t win a championship. I just go in the gym and cry and shoot. I don’t want this season to end with me crying.”

He hopes fans have come to understand that he’s more than just a big body and that while he has God-given talent, he has also worked to make himself a better player.

“I think about that a lot. A lot of people think the only reason I am successful is because I am big. There is some skill that goes with it,” he said. “It’s a God-given gift. I learn fast, and it came natural to me. I was always open to learning and was never scared to try new things like dribbling and shooting. I just got good at it.”

He thought this season would be fun, but not nearly as successful as it has already been.

“We have accomplished so much and done so much. It is just unbelievable how much we have done this season. We have crushed a lot of people’s hopes,” he said.

By doing that, Cousins has also raised the hopes of Kentucky fans that the Cats will win the national title and has made himself one of the team’s most popular figures.

“My mom used to always tell me people would like me, but I never believed it. Now I believe I am a likable figure. I don’t know why. I guess just because of what I can do or something,” he said. “People are just attracted to me, or at least they are here in Kentucky.”

http://www.amnews.com/stories/2010/03/24/uks.439795.sto