Updated: 3:21 PM ET Sat, Nov. 07, 2009
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Daniel Orton's player page

Daniel Orton

Daniel Orton

Number: 33

Class: Freshman

Height: 6-10

Weight: 255

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Okla.

High school: Bishop McGuiness

You've gone through a tumultuous year with a major knee injury and the death of your mother. How are you? Even after last year so many things have happened here lately in my life that caused me to really mature faster than most of the kids here, and probably faster than the normal 19-year-old.

What's happened to have that effect? A lot of things I'm not ready to discuss or put out there.

How have these things affected you? It affects me in my daily life and routines. I've been late to a lot of stuff lately. I've been running to my dad's house and trying to do a lot of stuff for him and trying to get back here. I'm not planning correctly.

Your father moved to Lexington, correct? He and mom decided they were going to move wherever I went to college. ... Because I was the baby in the family.

When you signed with Kentucky last fall, you were considered a godsend. Now you're merely one of several promising freshmen rather than being the center of attention, so to speak. What do you think about that? Really, I kind of like that, myself. DeMarcus (Cousins), Eric (Bledsoe) and John (Wall) call a lot of attention to themselves. I don't like being the big-name face. It's not bad for me.

Why do you feel that way? I don't have all the pressure on me. Although there is some pressure on me, not all the pressure is on. I'm really not going to like the spotlight that much, so it's great for me.

Why don't you like being in the spotlight? I just never have. I work well with it. But I'm not a big fan of it. I can deal with it. But I don't call attention to myself.

Of course, at Kentucky all players are celebrities. How do you feel about a fishbowl existence? I thought about it a lot. I've went out to eat a lot (in order to) get people used to seeing me around. Which kind of helped.

How would you feel about being the forgotten man in a roster brimming with would-be stars? That's nothing I can really worry about. I'll try to do what I can this year. I'm going to try to let everybody remember who I am.


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