By LARRY VAUGHT

John Wall was expected to put on a show — and he did.

The talented freshman point guard lived up to his enormous hype with a spectacular debut for the Wildcats in a 117-52 exhibition victory over Clarion University Friday night. He had 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field, went 6-for-7 at the foul line, handed out nine assists, pulled off four rebounds, made a steal and even blocked a shot.

I knew how good John Wall was, but he is the real deal. I hope you can keep him a year or two because he is in a different league,” said Clarion coach Ron Righter.

Wall didn’t get to play in UK’s exhibition win over Campbellsville Monday because of a NCAA mandated penalty that will also force him to miss the regular-season opener against Morehead State University. So while it was no surprise he was anxious to play, it was a little startling that a player projected to perhaps be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA admitted he was nervous before a game against a Division II team.

“I always get nervous, but I really wanted to be our there and see how it was in front of all the fans having coach Cal telling me what to do,” Wall said.

Of course, Wall was also telling coach John Calipari what to do — and UK’s coach loved it.

“Three or four times he should have passed the ball and he didn’t,” Calipari said. “He knew it before I told him. There were times he was moving so fast he was not recognizing who was open. He should have passed ball and didn’t. He knew it. At times he was moving so fast he was not recognizing who was open.

“But here is what I really appreciated. He was telling me we have to get Patrick (Patterson) shots. At the end, he was saying to get the ball to DeMarcus (Cousins). That is a leader. He wants to keep them all happy and involved.”

Wall said that is simply part of his role as the team’s point guard.

“I want to see our best player get the ball and Patrick is our best player,” Wall said. “Once you get the two big guys going, they play better defense, run the court and do everything better. We have to get Patrick the ball and get him going. That’s my job.”

While it might be fun to speculate how Wall’s speed and quickness ranks with UK’s other past speedsters such as Dwight Anderson, James Blackmon, Dicky Beal and Rajon Rondo, former UK All-American Kenny Walker says to stop speculating.

“I played with James and watched Dicky and Rajon. I didn’t see Dwight Anderson play, but I can’t believe he could accelerate with the ball like John Wall could. Blackmon couldn’t. Beal couldn’t. Rondo couldn’t. This kid is just special,” Walker said.

Oscar Combs, the founder of The Cats’ Pause, says he has never seen a better point guard at Kentucky than Wall. “I didn’t see Ralph Beard play if you want to go back that far, but in the last 35 or 40 years, there has not been a better point guard here. This kid can do it all and makes it look so easy. If there has ever been a one-and-done player worth taking, he is the one,” Combs said.

He is.

Take the time during the second half when he grabbed a defensive rebound, raced to the offensive end, wrapped the ball around his back and finished the play while getting fouled.

Or the time early in the game when Wall easily beat Clarion’s press by himself and then whipped a pass to DeMarcus Cousins for an easy score.

Or the time Wall drove left, hung in the air and whipped a nifty pass to Darnell Dodson for another easy basket.

He also showed he could hit a 3-point shot by nailing his first attempt and he showcased his leaping ability with his first dunk after a drive and dish by Darius Miller.

However, what is even more impressive is his desire to be perfect, sort of like Kentucky junior Patrick Patterson. When Wall made a mistake — and he had XX turnovers — you could tell he was upset with himself. If he got beat defensively, he was upset.

Wall played as intently on defense as he did when he was running the court with the speed of a lightning bolt and teammates have no choice but to follow. If they don’t run and go all out, he’ll leave them behind. He attacks the basket so ferociously that teammates can’t be sluggish. They have to attack, too.

“That is the same John Wall we see every day,” senior Perry Stevenson said.

So on a scale of one to 10, how good is Wall?

“One hundred,” Stevenson said. “Really. He’s that good.”

But he doesn’t want anyone to tell him that.

“You can’t drink the poison just because you have one good game,” Wall said. “I have to stay humble and focused. I try to stay focused. If you drink the poison and believe you are great, then you will be on the end of the bench.

“I don’t read a lot of things because I don’t want anything to go to my head. Teammates don’t like a guy like that. I might read something saying that I need work on my jump shot and that will make me go in the gym at 11 (at night) to work on it. I feed more off criticism than compliments.”

That’s what great players do and after just one exhibition game, there’s no doubt about Wall becoming a great player because he already is one.

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