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Remember John Calipari mentioning numerous times how much not having a normal offseason hurt his team last season when it went 9-16? Calipari noted how that hurt team bonding and created mental stress for players.

Obviously, every team in the country had that same issues during COVID last season but maybe that lack of player interaction did take a bigger toll on UK and its new roster than many realized. Sophomore Lance Ware certainly made it sound that way during his media time at UK’s satellite basketball camp at North Laurel High School last week.

“We didn’t get a chance to do this last year,” Ware said. “My personality, I like being around people. I like having people enjoy their time with me. Being able to see the love, there’s no better feeling.”

“Last year, when Cal was saying we were missing out on a whole bunch, I really didn’t understand until I got here. I can obviously see what he’s talking about because we’re together.

“We’re taking these drives two hours, an hour and a half up to these schools. Being able to hang out with each other is great.”