By LARRY VAUGHT

Kentucky assistant coach John Robic has seen plenty of talented basketball players during his college coaching career.

So what does he think of UK’s talent?

“They are great kids. Polite, well spoken. They have handled themselves very well in this transition. They have done very well academically. I think they have handled change well,” he said.

“I don’t think they know exactly what they have in store for them because John holds them accountable in every stretch of their time here academically, basketball, weight training. Cal is a tough guy to play for because there is no slippage. That’s what these kids should want and need. There is no doubt there is responsibility that goes with the freedom he gives you.
“I think we are going to have a good mix of guys that will be first-year players and then the guys we have here now. It is a good blend. We got deeper whereas we weren’t as strong as if we didn’t bring anybody in.
“You get better in practice. I think now you are going to have two pretty balanced teams. How we were good at Memphis is that practices were competitive. Our second five would have done well in the league. We practice hard and play hard, and we will do that here because we really have a lot of good players.”