Photo - Vicky Graff
Sophomore Wenyen Gabriel took up boxing during the offseason to try and improve his strength and agility. He also worked to add weight to help him not get pushed around like he did at times last season.
“The boxing changed my demeanor a little bit. I mainly just did it to help my conditioning,” said Gabriel. “I did drills for basketball. But last year my body broke down about halfway through the year. I put in a lot of extra workouts last year and doing that wore me down. I didn’t understand recovery and things with the game.
Still, he has more playing experience than any player on the Kentucky roster by far and and assistant coach Kenny Payne says he has to use that experience.
“He has to show the younger guys the ropes. He has seen the way we work and the competition we play against. He’s seen how hostile it can be on the road and how big the home games are. This is a demanding place to play, and he knows it,” Payne said. “A lot of our younger guys told me they did not realize that Wenyen was that good.
“When you are in high school, you just think you are better than this guy or that guy. What that told us is that they respect Wenyen and then leadership happens naturally. We need him to be great on the court, but also great off the court.”
He made 23 starts as a freshman before losing his spot to Derek Willis late in the season. At times he was brilliant on both ends of the court. He had 16 rebounds against Auburn. But he lacked the consistency that Calipari and his staff wanted.
“We want guys to finish. He started fast least year but he has to learn to finish,” assistant coach Joel Justus said. “He’s a great kid and works hard, but he has to demonstrate he can finish the season. We also want to see him lead with this young group and put forth significant leadership that we need.”
The athletic Gabriel said he realized by the end of last season that he had to do more to be consistent factor on the court. He has studied the game more. He also says watching Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo — who all came to UK with him — get drafted in the first round after last season was not discouraging. Instead, it motivated him.
“It was inspirational seeing people reach their dreams. In another year hopefully I can reach my dreams,” Gabriel said. “Some people think coming in it is a race to get to the league (NBA). It’s a race. I just want to get there.”
Like sophomore teammate Sacha Killeya-Jones, Gabriel admits he lost confidence at times last year. He said part of it was negative thinking on his part. Another part was his body breaking down.
“I lost sleep when things started going south for me. I cared too much at times and it pushed me backwards. But looking back, all that makes you a better player,” Gabriel said. “I went through a lot of adversity, so that should make me a better player and better leader. Hopefully my words will mean more.
“I used to think Cal was just picking on me. Now I realize he was just trying to get me better. Being a leader is a way I can spread my positive energy and knowledge I gained from last year. We have basically a brand new crop of players. But we did last year, too. That’s just how it is here.
“I know one thing about this year. I am going to have fun. I had fun last year, but I’m going to have more this year because I know more about what to expect and what to do. You won’t see my body breaking down like it did last year.”
(Courtesy Larry Vaught)
