Malik Monk on Midnight Madness & What makes Kentucky Basketball Special
Kentucky basketball is just different.
And what makes the Wildcats special goes beyond being the winningest program in college basketball history.
Even though the program has a lot of players that were only on campus for one season and he’s just a freshman who hasn’t played his first game yet, Malik Monk did an outstanding job of putting his finger on it.
“Every Kentucky basketball player is family,” Monk said at Kentucky’s Media Day. “It doesn’t matter if you came 10 years before me or 10 years after me. Everybody knows one another and everybody is close.”
It’s safe to say that Monk gets it.
From CatPause
On his Big Blue Madness expectations …
“I don’t know what to expect. It was amazing last year seeing how many fans come out to support Kentucky basketball, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the fans react to the new team. I think it’s going to be crazy. There are six new freshmen who haven’t seen anything like this yet, so I don’t really know what to expect.”
On his relationship with past players …
“Some of the past players I played against in high school, some I know personally. Every Kentucky basketball player is family. It doesn’t matter if you came 10 years before me or 10 years after me. Everybody knows one another and everybody is close.”
On his impression of Isaiah Briscoe …
“I knew him since I was in the ninth grade. I’ve seen him play all the time. I know him personally, so I didn’t get my first impression while being in Kentucky. We met at the LeBron (James) camp when I was in the ninth grade. He was the same as he is now, super confident.”
On blending a young team with a lot of confidence and egos …
“We all want the same dream so we just try to accomplish it together. It’s easy to sacrifice if you have great players around you.”
On the team’s speed …
“With every drill Coach Cal does, we’re out running so I can tell that we’re faster than a lot of our opponents. Our guards are fast so I think the guards will push everyone else to run even more.”
On the guards competing against one another in practice …
“It’s the freshmen versus the upperclassmen every day in practice. We kill the upperclassmen every day. Us going against the upperclassmen helps us a lot because we don’t know much of anything and they know all of the plays and what to expect.”
Find Monk Collectibles on eBay
