UK's star cluster plans to sparkle as a team

By John Clay / Herald-Leader Sports Columnist

KATHY WILLENS / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fans are hoping this year's Wildcats can develop the kind of chemistry that defined UK's 1996 national champions.

OK, OK, so the rest of college basketball is hoping, dare we say praying, that somewhere along the way Kentucky basketball will crash and burn in a 13-ego pileup in the selfish pursuit of singular stardom.

All that talent.

And only one ball.

The Cats' reply: We're one for all.

Or maybe three for all.

"Me, Eric and DeMarcus are always around," said the highly recruited freshman guard John Wall. "They call us the 'The Three Amigos.'"

"We all pretty cool," said the highly recruited freshman center DeMarcus Cousins. "We've been knowing each other since we were babies, basically, especially me, Eric and John. Me and Eric, we're from the same dirt."

"We get along real well," said the highly recruited freshman guard Eric Bledsoe. "We're like brothers."

Same goes for fellow freshmen Daniel Orton and Jon Hood, the junior-college transfer Darnell Dodson and the lucky seven veterans back from last season.

"With this team this year I see a lot more joking around," said Patrick Patterson, the junior power forward and team leader. "People getting along more, just hanging out. ... We're pretty much just enjoying each other's company."

You would think maybe that wouldn't be the case, the six newcomers being highly recruited and all, and the holdovers seeing their turf invaded by such a collection of sparklers.

"They had a lot of hype coming in behind them," said sophomore Darius Miller, "and I think they deserved every bit of it."

But such star clusters can often throw a team out of its orbit. Everyone wants points. Everyone wants fame. Everyone wants the ball.

But to a Cat — new and old alike — the claim is that's not the case, that this team is made up not only of hoop celebrities, but jokers.

Take Cousins, the tall drink of water who speaks in a slow, southern drawl, and admits to having a mean side on the hardwood to go with an affable side off the floor.

"I like to chill, have fun, make people laugh," Cousins said. "But on the court, when the lights come on, it's business. There's nothing to joke about."

Cousins calls himself "Big Cuz," though Orton reports that his rookie teammate has been pinned with another moniker.

"Dancing Bear," Orton said. "Because he's always dancing in the weight room."

Is Cousins a good dancer?

"He is," Orton said, "I have to give it to him."

Orton is well-spoken, a thoughtful Oklahoma native who committed early to previous coach Billy Gillispie, then was successfully re-recruited when John Calipari grabbed (with a vengeance) the UK program's reins in the spring.

"I think God put this team together," Orton said.

(Didn't Wall play for Word of God Christian Academy?)

"We came in and most of the upperclassmen were gone (during the summer)," Cousins said. "So we didn't really have a choice but to bond with each other."

That's easy to say now, of course, before the real competition for minutes begins, before the pressure of extraordinarily high expectations commences.

"I feel it's going to get us through everything this year, the humor we have between us," Orton said.

So is this initial burst of chemistry a surprise?

"We played together and against one another," said Orton, "so you kind of knew the personalities of the people coming in. So, not at all really."

"A little bit (surprised), but not really," said Miller. "I kind of figured that would happen. Every guy here that's on the team is a real good guy. We all get along and have fun together."

That could be bad news for the rest of college basketball.

"Everybody gets along great," said Cousins. "Just time, and it's gonna happen."

Reach John Clay at (859) 231-3226 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3226, or jclay@herald-leader.com. Read his blog at Kentucky.com.