CBS SPORTS CLASSIC PREGAME MEDIA
DEC. 17, 2020
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
#2 Devin Askew., G, Fr.
On how the season has gone for him so far …
“We just move on to the next game and go game by game. My confidence level within myself is always high. I know what I can do. I know what I am able to do. Yeah, we’ve had some rough games in the past, but we’re getting better every day in practice and we’re ready to show it in this next game.”
On the upcoming game vs. North Carolina …
“This upcoming game is just another game. Another game in our schedule. We prepare for it like any other game, but we’re ready this time.”
On Florida’s Keyontae Johnson’s health situation …
“Keyontae Johnson, it’s sad. It’s sad to see any basketball player go through what he’s going through right now. It helps me focus on the bigger picture. Basketball is just a sport we play. Our lives are more important.”
On the switch in opponents from UCLA to North Carolina …
“Coach prepares us for every game and he prepares us the right way. When we’re preparing for games, it’s not just everything for one team that week that we’re preparing; it’s throughout the whole season of who we’re going to face. To be honest, it was just a slight change, and we’re ready.”
On what the biggest surprise and challenge college basketball has presented for him …
“Honestly, it’s nothing with the opposing (team) that’s different. It’s all mental. The game is all mental. You just have to have a strong mentality and that’s it. But we’re learning every day and we’re getting stronger, including myself.”
On what the biggest change is in his role now that Terrence Clarke is playing with the ball in his hands more …
“I’m doing the same things. I can still be a point guard. I can still be a guard off the ball. Terrence is a great point guard. It gives me a chance to go off the ball and kind of see the court in a different area. I like it.”
On if facing Louisville next week means anymore to him after nearly going there …
“I don’t really pay attention to that other school. I’m here now. I’m at Kentucky.”
On if he hears the criticism and how he responds to it …
“Nah, I don’t hear about it, but I know there is some chatter going on. That chatter, the negative chatter, those aren’t really fans of ours. That’s what we know. The fans of ours are always going to stick with us. All the negative stuff, they’re not with us. We keep moving forward as a team with the people that are with us, and that’s who we carry along with us.”
On where he got his positive mentality from …
“Just never showing weakness. Always staying positive. Next-play mentality. What can you do to help your team – even if you’re not out there.”
On what the bus ride was like from Atlanta and how he feels about flying to Cleveland instead …
“That bus ride to Atlanta was rough. That was six hours. There’s not much you can do on a bus but sit there and watch movies and interact with your teammates. But your legs get all swollen and stuff. It’s six hours of not moving really. I mean, if we could have flown, I would have rather flown. I would rather fly anywhere. But yeah, that was that. On the way back we all just slept. We were pretty tired.”
On if there is any apprehension about playing after seeing what happened to Keyontae Johnson during COVID times …
“It’s scary. What the world saw with him, it’s scary. None of us really know a whole lot about COVID. We just know it’s a dangerous virus and it can cause harm to people. It’s scary. We just got to be cautious and careful with this whole COVID thing. Wear a mask at all times to try to prevent it. Wash your hands. Do everything you can.”
On the transition from high school to college from a physical standpoint …
“I wouldn’t say it’s harder because as players, all of us can still do that, but it’s within our system of the way Coach is coaching us, he’s teaching us to play basketball the right way. So, all those moves don’t matter. You don’t need all those moves and we try to prevent doing those and keeping it simple and attacking the lane off one dribble, two dribbles, and going in straight lines, and being on balance, getting jump stops, and making open shots. It’s really just teaching us to play basketball and we’re adjusting to that. It’s a process and we’re going through it right now, but we’re getting better every day at it. I think in the end of it we’re going to be a great team.”
On the boost the second half vs. Notre Dame game can give them …
“That game gave us a lot of confidence and it shows how we can play with a lot of energy and fight. A lot of people say that we don’t fight, but the second half, it just proves to us and ourselves. We don’t have to really prove anything to anyone else. We have to prove to us that we can fight and that we can be the team that Kentucky usually is. It gave us a lot of energy after the game. Even though we lost, a lot of us were still up because it was like, wow, we can keep going off of this. This is who we are based off that second half.”