By Tom Hurley | @TomHurleyKernel

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UK head coach John Calipari held a summer press conference on Wednesday and individually discussed both the incoming freshman class and players returning from last season’s team.

Calipari says he and his staff will embark on a two-day retreat on Monday where discussions will be held on plans for what “each kid needs” from the staff when the players arrive on campus June 1.

“They’re a talented crew. We’ll have a talented team,” Calipari said. “Each individual player needs (to be) coached. They need direction. They need to be taught the level of commitment. The intensity – the will to win – has to come out.”

Last season Calipari acknowledged that the team lacked leadership. He doesn’t see that being a problem this time around.

“The alpha males that we didn’t have a year ago, I think we have, those guys have to do that,” Calipari said. “They can lead, but they have to lead us in the way they need to be led.”

While Nerlens Noel and Archie Goodwin are touted on NBA mock draft boards to be selected in the first round, sophomore center Willie Cauley-Stein and sophomore forward Alex Poythress will be back for a second season in UK uniforms.

Cauley-Stein was a multi-sport athlete until arriving in Lexington last summer. Calipari says the 7-foot, 244-pound big-man understands how far he has come in his first season focusing solely on basketball, yet also know how far he needs to go.

“Willie Cauley has a chance to be one of the better players that I’ve ever coached,” Calipari said.

Calipari added that Cauley-Stein knew that by declaring for the NBA Draft would have meant he could have been a first-round pick, but that he decided to return for a second season because “he wasn’t delusional.”

Calipari said Poythress “learned a lot about himself” in his freshman campaign and knows the direction he needs to take in order to “be the player that he wants to be.”

“He would have been in the first round had he put his name in the draft. He knew he wasn’t ready,” Calipari said. “He was being pushed by some corners to put his name in the draft, but he knew. Again, (he) wasn’t delusional. He knew, ‘I have to change. I have to take this to another level.’ If he does, and the competition brings out the best in him, it is scary how good he can be.”

In addition to Cauley-Stein and Poythress, the eight incoming freshman will also be able to learn from the experience of junior forward Kyle Wiltjer, senior forward Jon Hood and senior guard Jarrod Polson.

“Only Kyle, in a small way, has tasted the success that we want and expect,” Calipari said.

This is what the fifth-year coach had to say on each of the incoming freshmen on his 2013-14 roster.

6-foot-5, 205-pound freshman guard Andrew Harrison

“Big guard, can score the ball, should be and will be and is expected to be and will be demanded to be a lock-down defender. With his size, with his athleticism; one, we can play a big zone, two, we should be able to press because we’re going to be so big with our guard play and whoever we put up there. But it will start with Aaron. We know what he can do scoring the ball, but we want him to other to do other things and … help define his game.”

6-foot-5, 205-pound freshman guard Aaron Harrison

“My hope is by the end of the year, he’s just like some of the other point guards we’ve had. You look at him and say, ‘hey he can do things that other point guards can’t do at his size’, his scoring ability. And both of them (Aaron and twin brother Andrew) are terrific drivers, which kind of tells you that we’re going to go back to a lot more dribble-drive. I’ve talked to a couple of my friends. We’re talking about dribble-drive into pick-and-roll, pick-and-roll, into dribble-drive, because of the team.”

6-foot, 170-pound freshman guard Dominique Hawkins

‘A young man from in-state that just kind of blew me away with his will to win, his temperament on the court, his demeanor in helping his team win a championship. You always want to coach guys who understand. By winning a state championship and being down 16 (in) two games, it shows what a tough mentality. And with what I just went through, I wanted a tough point guard. I wanted one more tough, physical – how about this – not just fighting, physical tough, how bout mentally tough? How about not break down? How about, ‘I’m bringing it and I’m not afraid to be 16 down and it has no effect on me?’ That’s what I saw in Dominique and why we recruited him.”

6-foot-10, 240-pound freshman center Dakari Johnson

“I watched him two summers ago, folks, and I’m going to tell you, he had a knee issue and I looked at him and said, ‘I’m not so sure.’ Then I watched him a little bit later, and I said ‘wait a minute.’ Then I watched him later in the season – could not believe it. The line of improvement for Dakari is like that. He’s a kid that will get up at six in the morning and work out. He’s a great student. He does all the things and he wants to be better. He was on a team that there were times he wasn’t getting the ball. Never said one thing, ran that court, posted up. When he did get it, he did good things. He’s got great skills and his seven-foot tall.”

6-foot-9, 220-pound freshman forward Marcus Lee

“Averaged a triple-double for the season. Like, 11 blocks, like 15 rebounds and 18 points. Pogo stick, active, high energy, 6-10, 6-11, long armed. Another player who, again, wanted to be here. These kids all wanted to be here. This is where, they wanted the challenge of this, and they wanted to do it together. So when you look at Marcus Lee, you say he could have gone somewhere, he didn’t want to go. He wanted to come here and take on this challenge.”

6-foot-8, 225-pound freshman forward Julius Randle

“Truly a hard worker who can play multiple positions, who can play inside and out. He’s a beast. He’s an alpha beast who will drive the team. (He) has a little bit of Micheal (Kidd-Gilchrist) in him, in a different way. In my mind, there are good players out there, he’s as good as any of them.”

6-foot-9, 200-pound freshman forward Derek Willis

“Long, skilled big man from the state. Again, where his game goes, he wanted the challenge of this. ‘I want to go every day against players this good to see how I can be.’ Isn’t that the greatest part of this? I mean it’s not, ‘well, I want to go here so I can be the guy and the only man. I want to go here and be challenged. How good can I be? And the only way I’m going to find it out is to go against the best. I’m going to go against the best every day.’ Well, he’s got a chance of really being good and being special.”

6-foot-6, 190-pound freshman forward James Young

“Gives you that 6-7 wing who flat can shoot the ball. Some of the issues – again, we shot a high percentage. When you looked at our numbers from last year, our defensive numbers, our shot-blocking numbers, our offensive percentages, you would say we should have won more games. But, we weren’t as skilled as we needed to be, especially at crunch time. We weren’t as skilled. We weren’t as physically dominating as my teams in the past. This team should be.”