A.J. Stewart

Height, weight: 6-7, 218

Class: Sophomore Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.

Role: Perhaps the team's best athlete. Must harness ability within the team concept.

Gillispie says: "He has to continue to grow up. He's a good athlete. Hopefully he'll be able to give us something. ... There's not too many athletes like him."

What's your personal goal for this season? I've got to step my role up and be more of a leader and pretty much show I'm matured.

What do you mean by showing you're matured? I know a lot of people would say, 'He's athletic. He should be playing a lot more. But there were a couple of dumb mistakes: falling asleep in film (study) and stuff like that.' I feel like maybe people had the wrong impression: He didn't take it seriously. I do love the game. Now I'm more mature. I won't make the same mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes. Few do so in public. Not here. Believe it or not, it's a lot worse than you think. We have (summer) camp and kids say, 'Hey, A.J., are you going to fall asleep in film this year?' It's funny, and at the same time it's kind of aggravating.

What did you learn from last season's mistakes? I play a lot. I like to have fun. But there's a time and place. That's pretty much the biggest thing I learned.

Did you ever think Billy Gillispie, who did not recruit you, was trying to discourage you? Or, in the popular parlance, chase you off? A lot. I thought that a lot. At one point, I didn't think I belonged at Kentucky. I was confused. What can I do? Why aren't I playing? I wasn't real sure of my role. I had a lot of questions.

You did not transfer away. What led to the decision to stay? I didn't have anywhere else to go. Kentucky is a big-time place. I wouldn't feel right leaving here and going somewhere else. It felt like he was trying to run me off. I'm not trying to say he was. But it felt like that sometimes. I didn't want to leave, so I stuck it out.