Jason King on DeMarcus Cousins

Jason King posted a great article this morning about Kentucky freshman DeMarcus Cousins. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but below is an excerpt from the beginning.

It’s an impartial look at some of problems Cousins has had in the past, but it quotes DMC at length and presents him favorably. Cousins also told King that he weighed 290 pounds when he came on campus a couple months ago, but has slimmed down to 270. He’s still got some conditioning to do, but he’s on the right path.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Before he ended his official visit and left DeMarcus Cousins’ home last spring, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari wanted to make one thing clear.

“No one,” Calipari told the nation’s second-ranked recruit, “is going to average 30 points for me. No one.”

Cousins was fine with that.

Heck, following the Wildcats’ first practice last week, the 6-foot-11 forward said he won’t even care if he fails to average 20.

“Some players go to a school where they can score a bunch of points and put up big numbers,” Cousins said. “But when the season is over, they’re the same player as they were when it started.

“I’m not going to be like that. I came here to get better. I came here to learn.”