Keion Brooks, right, watches Devin Askew during UK's Pro Day. (UK Athletics Photo)
He’s just a sophomore but he’s the only player on this year’s Kentucky roster who has played in a game for coach John Calipari so Keion Brooks has tried to make sure his new teammates have been “feeling good mentally” as the Cats prepare to play Morehead Wednesday night in their season opener.
“Just making sure their minds are good because sometimes it can be difficult. Playing for Cal isn’t easy and at times it feels like he’s just picking on you or trying to make it hard on you, but he’s doing it on purpose because he sees better in you. He knows you can be really good so he pushes you toward that,” said Brooks.
The sophomore, who has been slowed by a preseason league injury, said he embraces a leadership role but that it has been “easy” to be a leader on this team.
“They’re smart. They listen. I don’t have to go too much out of my way to force my leadership upon them. Whenever they’ve got questions I’m here for them, and if I see some stuff, I try to pull them to the side and let them know how things go -– what you should do, where you should be at, where your position should be at on the floor,” Brooks said.
“We’ve got a team full of smart guys that are receptive to any help that you can give them.”
That’s about the same thing senior point guard transfer Davion Mintz said earlier about trying to help younger teammates. Brooks said that team intelligence is one thing that has him most excited about this season.
“Me having to take a step back a little bit and just observe on the sideline when we go five-on-five, everybody is receptive to coaching and I feel like that’s the best thing that you need as a team,” Brooks said.
“As a basketball player, be willing to be coached and listen to our coaching staff because they have a lot of knowledge to give us. So that’s what I’m really excited about with this team.”
