Archie Goodwin (Bo Morris)
When Archie Goodwin gets down, he doesn’t have to look far for a friend.
The Kentucky freshman guard simply turns to senior Julius Mays on and off the court when he needs a boost. When Kentucky coach John Calipari vented his frustrations at Goodwin after passing up an easy assist to Mays during the Blue-White game last week, it was Mays who assured Goodwin that all was well.
“I’m always try trying to keep him to stay positive,” Mays said. “Coach Calipari stays on him, but I’m always telling him that’s only going to make him better. I just want to see him maybe smile a little more. He always frowns up and is uptight. He’s one of those players where he wants to make every shot and wants everything to be perfect, but I tell him that you’re going to make mistakes ... you’re not going to make the shot every time or make the right pass every time. I just try to keep him positive and let him know that everything is alright. You don’t have to be perfect.”
As for passing up an easy assist last week, Mays said he doesn’t mind Goodwin taking a shot at the hoop.
“As long as he scores, I don’t care,” Mays said with a smile. “He’s not the guy who would (overlook someone) purposely, but I think he may have thought he had a better angle, but I didn’t get mad at him. Coach Cal got on him and he got down on himself, but I told him to take what coach Cal told him and move on.”
Goodwin likes having Mays as a backdrop on and off the court.
“We have a good relationship,” Goodwin said. “He’s like my best friend on the team. I respect him and he respects me. We’re always around each other and I will never not listen to him, because he’s going tell me (the right thing to do). We’re always going to be honest with each other and whatever happens is going to happen. It’s always going to be like brothers working together.”
Mays agreed. “If I am close to anybody on this team, it’s him,” Mays said.
Goodwin and Mays will get their first taste of outside competition Thursday night when the Wildcats take on Northwood in the first of two exhibition games in a 7 p.m. tipoff at Rupp Arena.
Calipari knows he has a young team and knows that Goodwin has plenty of room to grow, especially when it comes to playing a complete contest.
“What happens with young kids is they stop playing all the time,” the Kentucky coach said last week. “The game's going on, and one time I looked over and Archie's grabbing his shorts and the ball is in play — the ball is in play.
“That's just freshmen. So we have a lot of freshmen issues right now that we're going to have to deal with, but that's part of what happens.”
Goodwin likes the leadership that Mays brings to the table. Although a transfer from Wright State, Mays is one of the veterans on the team. Goodwin noticed Mays’ leadership during the team’s scrimmage at Rupp¿Arena last week.
“He talks a lot more than the other players on the team do,” Goodwin said.
“He’s more poised and calm on the court than us freshmen and a couple of sophomores on the team. That just comes from him being experienced and knowing how to play different situations out.”
