Isaac Humphries: "The experiences I went through at Kentucky were invaluable"

by:Mrs. Tyler Thompson•08/08/17•

@MrsTylerKSR

Isaac Humphries is now a member of the Sydney Kings in his home country of Australia, and yesterday, opened up about his time at Kentucky, specifically his relationship with John Calipari. Humphries told SydneyKings.com that Calipari’s style of coaching took some adjusting to once he got to Lexington, but after two years, Cal helped him grow as a player and a person.

“He’s obviously a great coach, a Hall of Fame coach,” Humphries said. “He has so much knowledge that it kind of blows my mind every time. He has a solution for everything. If something’s not working, he changes it up. He’s just so witty and such a good coach. He has a different style of coaching. He’s pretty similar to the American style of coaching, more aggressive and in your face type coaching. Everyone knows Cal yells, and that’s kind of the different part about it. It was great being under him and he taught me a lot on and off the court. He tries to teach us how to be men as well, not just players.”

Being a Kentucky player isn’t always easy, and Humphries admitted that being in the fishbowl forced him to grow up fast, but that those lessons will help him at the next level.

“The experiences I went through at Kentucky were invaluable. You see things a 17, 18-year-old doesn’t usually see and our fan base and having to deal with that and the pressures that come with being a Kentucky basketball player, you kind of have to mature. You become very independent very quickly, you just figure out ways to deal withe everything that’s going on. That’s obviously going to translate to my pro career as well.”

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Humphries said he chose to play for the Kings over more lucrative offers from European teams because he wanted to play for his hometown. He also confirmed that the Kings came to Lexington to watch him play a few times last year.

“The Kings were pursuing me for a while. They came over to watch me train and play a couple of times,” Humphries said. “I always held them in the back of my head because it’s my hometown and the idea to come back and play for my home city is indescribable. In the end I just thought Sydney was the right move for me now.”

Best of luck to Isaac, one of the most thoughtful kids we’ve had come through the program in recent years.

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