Former UK guard DeAndre Liggins was asked to share some “tournament tales” about his time at Kentucky.
Liggins said he’s still cheering for the Wildcats and also dropped some interesting tidbits about his time in Lexington.
Check out his comments:
In your sophomore season, Calipari brought in Cousins, Wall, Orton, Bledsoe. What was it like when all those alpha dogs came together?
Liggins: It was crazy! It was just something EVERY DAY. And I’m not saying it was something negative every day – I’m just saying it was something — whether it was funny or just not right or whatever.
I’m not calling out any individuals. It was just something new and crazy every day. I loved all of it, and I loved being around them.
Did it take a coach like Calipari to handle that?
Liggins: Yeah, but that’s just the type of coach that he is. He’s the type where he didn’t care who you were. He knew John Wall was a one-and-done, he knew DeMarcus was one-and-done.
He still coached those guys hard and he made them superstars in the NBA.
Coach Cal knows what he’s doing. So when he recruits guys, he knows: ‘This guy’s gonna only be here one year, so I’m gonna get the best out of him and collectively we’re gonna try to win a ring with him.’
That’s really just his approach.
Was it tough having that much talent and not winning it all during your run?
Liggins: Well, as a sophomore we had Wall, Cousins, Bledsoe, Patrick Patterson, all them guys. And we lost to West Virginia in the Elite Eight. So we actually thought the next year we wouldn’t be as good as we were. But then Brandon Knight came, Doron Lamb came; we still had Terrence Jones. And that year we went even further – to the Final Four.
But we didn’t get it done and that’s alright. Those teams were hot and that’s what it’s all about – playing well at tournament time.
