Following UK basketball this offseason has become nearly a full time job. First, we had the Gillispie-Calipari transition. Then we watched as John Calipari pieced together what may turn out to be the best recruiting class in Kentucky history. Before we could even catch our collective breath, news of major allegations against Memphis basketball broke. Add to that the decisions by Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks about their futures and you can see why I’ve been posting pretty much every day on breaking news about UK.

However, I think there’s one name everybody needs to remind themselves of.

Other than a passing mention of him impressing Calipari at team workouts or a short sentence or two mentioning him as an important member of next year’s roster, Darius Miller has been mostly neglected in the headlines.

No one ever questioned whether he would be on the roster next year. He didn’t flirt with the NBA. He has basically been invisible to the average fan this offseason, which I’m sure the quiet kid from Maysville has not minded.

With the news today that Darius Miller has been selected by Jamie Dixon to represent the United States in the U-19 World Championships in New Zealand after tryouts this week, I think we would be remiss to not be discussing him from this point forward.

Darius is not going to be getting first billing when UK is mentioned on the national scene this season, at least not at first. That will be reserved for new superstar coach John Calipari, returning All American candidate Patrick Patterson, or one of the members of UK’s stellar recruiting class (probably John Wall).

Even so, I am just excited to see Darius Miller play next year as I am anyone else on the roster.

Darius has been unburdened of Billy Gillispie and delivered into the hands of a coach who not only recognizes his talent, but will also put him in a position to realize his potential fully. Don’t let Darius’ diplomacy in talking about Gillispie fool you: Darius did not have the kind of first year experience he deserved and it was because of Gillispie.

John Calipari repeatedly singled out Darius Miller during team workouts in his first weeks on the job. This shows wisdom on two fronts: 1) he recognized how well Miller fits into the dribble drive 2) he recognized how badly Darius needed to be affirmed by his coach after his experience with Gillispie.

In the midst of a rocky freshman season, Darius still managed to emerge late in the year as one of the few consistent performers on a team plagued by inconsistency, not unlike Jodie Meeks toward the end of his freshman year. Their games are very different, but I still see potential for leaps and bounds of improvement in Darius.

Ironically, it may be the departure of Meeks that paves the way for the emergence to happen sooner rather than later.

Darius was going to be a starter next year regardless of what recruits signed or which players did or did not go pro. He was going to play an important role next year as a secondary penetrator and shooter that always played solid defense and chipped in on the boards. I believe that Jodie Meeks decision to go to the NBA will demand that Darius Miller become a double digit scorer if UK is to play the way most expect them to.

I firmly believe that Darius is up to the challenge.

At the end of the season, Darius morphed into a sort of point forward, using his ball handling, penetration, and passing skills to bring a calming presence to the ‘Cats. With the arrival of John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, he will not need to play that role any longer, but those skills will be a perfect fit in an offense that demands that four on the floor put the ball on the deck. Add Darius’ little floater to the mix and you have a player who is primed for a sophomore emergence.

Thinking about Darius in John Calipari’s offense makes me think of one Memphis player in particular: Rodney Carney. Darius may not be as explosively athletic as Carney, but I believe his a slightly better ball handler and craftier as a scorer and passer.

I invoke Carney’s name to try to make it clear just how high I believe Darius Miller’s ceiling is. I think he’s going to be doing a little bit of everything on next year’s team and I can’t wait to see him having fun in doing so.