Cam'Ron Fletcher (UK Athletics Photo)
Even though John Calipari asked freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher to “step away” from the Kentucky basketball program, there’s still a chance he could return based on what the UK coach said on his weekly radio show Monday night.
“Unless he’s not accepting what this is here,” Calipari said after Tom Leach asked him if there was a way Fletcher could get back on the team. “It holds everybody to a high standard, but this isn’t like one thing. .
“I walk guys 15 steps before I let go of their hands. I’ve done it many, many times. Every once in awhile, there is now, ‘You just did this. No, you can’t. You’re not doing this.’ I think Cam will learn from it. I come back to this is the best thing for him.”
Calipari said he had talked to Fletcher’s mother again Monday and “she knows he has to do this right” before adding he thinks Fletcher will do that.
“My hope is he’s going to be out, away from us a little bit and he rejoins us. But it will not be on his terms,” Calipari said.
Fletcher had a meltdown on the UK bench at the end of Saturday’s loss to North Carolina and appeared to even be crying. Calipari said after the game he was upset about his lack of playing time but had apologized to the team.
Fletcher played 13 minutes against Kansas but then was in for just one minute in the Georgia Tech loss. After the game Calipari criticized him for defensive lapses. He played just two minutes against North Carolina even though Olivier Sarr, Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware were all in foul trouble the entire game.
“It wasn’t one thing, it wasn’t one thing on the bench,” Calipari told Leach Monday night about Fletcher being asked to step away. “This is a culmination of things where he needed to change, he wasn’t changing. This is what Cam needed.
“His mom and I talked about it. We’re both on point. We want Cam to succeed, but he’s got to change. Our culture is not changing, our culture drives guys to do more than they think they can do. They’re held to a standard that’s beyond what they’ve ever been held to.”
Calipari hopes UK’s culture can help change Fletcher’s attitude and demeanor.
“How you deal with things, your actions, your attitudes, how you respond to adversity, how you respond to not playing. Are you ready for your opportunity? How do you deal with all this stuff. This is hard,” Calipari said.
