Willie Cauley-Stein

“There's no part of me that doesn't like basketball. I love it.”

“I love being at Kentucky. I love the fan base. I love the community. I love the people there. So it's like, why not stay until they make you leave?”

“I understand what it takes to be an elite player in the league.”

“I don't wanna be labeled as just a defensive player or a rim protector or someone who can dunk. I feel like I can do everything.”

“I remember the Vince Carter Raptor days: playing all the video games with him. Playing against him is one thing; having a chance to learn from him is a whole - another level of excitement.”

“You got to be interested in other things. If you focus on one thing, you're going to eventually - like, you're going to get bored with it, or you're going to get burned out on it.”

“You get a chance to get the ball every time, you're gonna do better quicker, and you're gonna gain experience faster.”

“I have to be mentally right every time I take the floor.”

“I have a tattoo on my arm that says, 'The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.'”

“I had to sit out for 21 weeks. I got to feel what it would be like if I didn't play, and I can't imagine not playing.”

“Every possession matters, and everything goes down to the wire.”

“A lot of kids my age can make a lot of mistakes, but college athletes that are in the spotlight, you have to grow up so much faster than regular students or regular kids your age because you are a public figure, so you get one shot, sometimes two.”

“People say I don't have a jump shot, so that's what I've been working on.”

“The chip comes from people saying I'm not good enough, or I can't score, or I'm not a real basketball player.”

“Being able to hedge on a ball screen and the guy coming off and being able to guard him for a brief second and then go back and block a shot in one possessions, that's big. There's not many dudes that can do that.”

“The outlook is for me to grow.”

“I just wanna show people I'm a hooper.”

“With my grandparents, it was almost like a hippie lifestyle. I could do whatever I wanted. If I didn't want to do my homework, I didn't do it.”

“I see myself as the No. 1 player in the draft, but it is what it is. You can just take it day-by-day, put in the work, and the draft is going to be the outcome of whatever the draft is.”

“When I get to Sacramento, I'm going to work my tail off trying to become a complete player and hopefully bring a championship to the city.”