By LARRY VAUGHT

Discipline is something that Doron Lamb had little choice but to accept and embrace during his time at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.

“At Oak Hill, it is basketball, school work and bed. There’s nothing else to do there. You don’t get distracted. I was there two years, so I am used to discipline,” said the Kentucky freshman. “We went on the road a lot, so it was good preparation for college. It made me a better player and better person off the court. Coach (Steven Smith) teaches you a lot of things other than just basketball.”

Of course, Lamb already had a taste of discipline because of lessons his father, Calvin Lamb, taught him while he was growing in New York.

“I am from a basketball family. My dad was a big-time basketball player in New York City. They all played. I just try to live up to his name,” Lamb said. “I started playing when I was 3 years old when he put a ball in my hands. He was not hard on me, but he made sure that I worked hard.

“Every time I wanted to go to the corner store, he had me dribble the ball in my left hand, which was my weak hand. He made me do it every time. Anytime I wanted to go somewhere, I had to dribble with my left hand with my right hand behind my back. That’s why I can handle with my left hand. Î think it gives me an advantage. Everybody thinks if you are right-handed you can’t go left, but I can go left. Half the people that guard me don’t know that even now.”

Calvin Lamb laughs and says his son “didn’t make that up” about him teaching him to use his left hand at an early age.

“He was very young but always wanted to go with me. When I wanted to go with the store, he grabbed his basketball. I challenged him to dribble with his left hand. If the ball touched his right hand, he did not get to come to the store,” Calvin Lamb said. “But he always liked basketball. He was very good in baseball, too, but basketball became his priority. I was pretty good, but I was hard-headed and made mistakes I tried to make sure he didn’t make.”