By LARRY VAUGHT

Darnell Dodson doesn’t have any problems explaining what he should be able to do best for the Kentucky basketball team this season.

“I can shoot the ball. I think I am a good all-around player, but shooting is definitely the best aspect of my game. I work hard at my shooting, too,” said Dodson, a junior college transfer from Miami-Dade Community College. “Since I started playing, I always had to work on my shooting. I like shooting, but I have tried to develop my game so I am not just one dimensional.

“I think the junior college experienced help me mature as player and person. I learned a lot of things with basketball alone and stuff I needed to improve on. Miami helped prepare me a lot for Kentucky. Life here has been kind of confusing at times since I got here. It wasn’t easy adjusting to a bigger school, but I really like all of my teammates and we have a good, talented team. I really think we can do special things this year.”

Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua says Dodson reminds him of former Auburn star Wesley Person.

“Darnell is a pretty talented player. He can play  mulitiple positions. He is Wesley Person in regard to his shooting. He can really shoot the ball. He has a toughness to him, too. He will go and rebound,” Antigua said. “He’s pretty athletic. He is long. He can handle the ball. He fits perfectly into this offense.

“What position is he? He’s a basketball player. That’s the kind of kids that Coach (John Calipari) likes to recruit. We got out and talk to kids and tell them we just need basketball players. This offense is made for basketball players. You need basketball players at each position that can do multiple things and that’s what we try to recruit players like Darnell.”

Dodson averaged 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last year while shooting 76.7 percent at the foul line. In high school, he averaged 29.1 points, 11 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game at Eleanor Roosevelt High School and helped his team reach the Maryland Class AAAA Final Four two straight years. He’s the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,262 points.

Dodson admitted his knew something about UK’s basketball history and tradition when he signed with the Wildcats and understood the many things the Wildcats had accomplished.

“I knew plenty about the basketball, but I didn’t know much about the city or school in general,” he said. “People told me stories when I committed here that Kentucky had a pretty crazy fan base. That really didn’t make a big difference to me. It’s good to have people support you. It makes you want to improve and keep them happy.”

Dodson came to Kentucky because he wanted to play for coach John Calipari.

“His offense and playing style suits me and is the big reason I wanted to play here. I wanted to play for one of the best coaches in the country and that along with UK’s history sealed the deal for me here. What he has accomplished made me understand what he could do for me,” Dodson, a junior college transfer, said.

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