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UK Basketball: Miller misses Meeks

June 23, 2009|Larry Vaught/Danville Advocate Messenger

As soon as Jodie Meeks announced he was going to keep his name in the NBA draft and not return to Kentucky for his senior season, speculation started that sophomore Darius Miller's playing time would increase.

Without Meeks, Miller is UK's top returning 3-point threat and only junior college transfer Darnell Dodson is considered a solid outside shooter among the six signees new coach John Calipari has added to the roster.

However, Miller still wishes Meeks, the Southeastern Conference's leading scorer and top 3-point shooter last year, was back.

"I definitely wish he was back because that would help make us a better team," said Miller, who is in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he made the USA Under-19 National Team final roster Thursday. "I looked up to him and got really close to him last year. He helped me with a lot of things on and off the court.

"It might open more minutes for me. I don't know because we really have not been through this offense yet. But I don't think there's any way not having Jodie Meeks back can make us a better team. We'll miss him a lot."

Miller, who will be going to New Zealand to compete with the national team, is excited about the addition of freshmen John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Jon Hood, Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins along with Dodson. They gave Calipari the nation's No. 1 recruiting class and Miller likes what he has seen from them since they arrived in Lexington.

"They have a lot of talent. They are going to live up to the hype because they are all good players," Miller said.

"They are also going to be great teammates. We have talked a lot and they are good people. They will all be ready to go when the season starts and know how to do things the right way."

Miller doesn't think the star-laden freshman class will have any trouble meshing with UK's returning players or each other.

"Our chemistry will be great. We will all be fine," he said. "We won't have any problems with egos or who is going to get the most shots. I think we are going to have a great team that will work together to win a championship. We have all talked about how that is what we want and the individual sacrifices it will take to get that for us."

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