By David Schuh | @DSchuhKernel

[email protected]

UK freshmen Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress have a different outlook on their college careers than they did six months ago. Their inaugural season in Lexington went differently than they planned, making the decision to return next year an easy one.

“It just left a bad taste in your mouth,” Cauley-Stein said Monday. “I feel like something is empty, and I want to fill it. Next year we’re going to have an opportunity to do that.”

Both players talked about how different next year will be, almost all of which dealt with altering their mental attitude. For Poythress, his freshman season taught him how hard it is to succeed in college basketball.

“I need to get my mentality right,” he said. “I’ve just got to get pushed hard. … The competition (next year) will be the best in the country. … Everybody is going to get pushed in practice.”

The arrival of one of the greatest recruiting classes in history can cure a lot of ills. Yet, as we saw this year, top-level high school talent can’t do it all. It can’t provide the example and guidance that veterans bring. And in the accelerated system of one-and-done college basketball, sophomore is the new senior.

“I think that’s exactly what we missed this year, is a guy that played a lot of minutes as a freshman,” Cauley-Stein said. “We didn’t have that this year. … We’ve got three guys (and Jarrod Polson) that were playing almost 30 minutes a game. That coming back is going to help tremendously.”

The biggest asset of the 2013-14 Cats will be their internal competition. Recruits and current players alike have talked about how tough practices will be. Those battles are what could turn that aforementioned mentality upside down.

“I think that’s going to be the best thing … because you’re going against pros every day,” Cauley-Stein said. “This year was like that until Nerlens (Noel) got hurt and then I was going against Brian Long and Sam Malone. You’re not getting better. … Next year it’s going to be a lot different and that’s what I’m going to capitalize on.”

Cauley-Stein and Poythress expressed an optimism Monday that had been lost over the course of last season. The unbridled hype of following a national champion was quickly dashed, and pressure set in.

Now, with an offseason to prepare, experience on their side and help on the way, last year’s struggles could be the very fuel for next season’s success.

“The potential is unlimited,” Poythress said. “We can do so good. Whatever we want to do, we can do. The sky is the limit.”