Willie Cauley-Stein has talked many times over the last year about how difficult sitting on the bench for the latter half of Kentucky's magical tournament run was for him.
On the eve of the Elite Eight, he revealed another facet to what it was like being relegated to spectator status.
“It was a weight off your shoulders though, knowing you're not going to have any impact on the game playing,” Cauley-Stein said. “So that worry, that stress, you didn't have to endure that.”
Unable to play due to a stress fracture in his ankle that knocked him out of UK's Sweet 16 matchup with Louisville and had him in plainclothes for the Elite Eight and Final Four, Cauley-Stein admits there was part of him that enjoyed just being along for the ride.
A year later, he has no such chance.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.
On This Day In UK Basketball History
- On March 18, 1966, Louie Dampier joined the 1,000-point club. He did it in 53 games.
- On March 18, 1966, Kentucky, the No. 1 team in the nation, faced off against No. 2 Duke in the 1966 NCAA Final Four. Louie Dampier (23 points) and Pat Riley (19) led the top-ranked Cats past No. 2 Duke in front of 14,253 at the Cole Field House in College Park, Md.
- On March 18, 1972, Adolph Rupp coaches his last game at UK, a 73-54 loss to Florida State for the Mideast Region title in the NCAA Tournament.
- On March 18, 1978, in the 1978 NCAA Tournament round of eight, sophomore point guard Kyle Macy scored nine points in the final 6:16 to rally the Wildcats past Michigan State and freshman star Earvin “Magic” Johnson before 13,485 at the University of Dayton Arena.