Calipari: "De'Aaron Fox had his best workout pre-practice this year"

De’Aaron Fox’s Monday started with him being named as the SEC Freshman of the Week. It’s the fourth time this season that the Texas native has been named the freshman of the week. But his Monday only got better from there, according to Kentucky coach John Calipari.

“Today, De'Aaron Fox had his best workout pre-practice that he's had this year,” Calipari said at his press conference. “Which kind of tells you how he's going.”

It appears the freshman from Texas is hitting his stride for the Wildcats. Fox scored a career-high 27 points against Arkansas on Saturday night. He’s now averaging 16.3 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and a team-high 101 assists for the season. The biggest reason for Fox’s recent spike in play has been because of the amount of time he’s been putting in the gym outside of just practice time.

“The biggest thing with him is that he keeps getting in the gym,” Calipari said. “Spending extra time. Playing at a higher level longer. He’s more confident shooting the ball, more confident shooting fouls so he can be aggressive and attack and play.”

Calipari said Fox has been getting to the gym 15 minutes earlier than the other players. Kentucky’s head coach often speaks of players developing habits. Arriving at the gym early and putting in extra work is something most young guys aren’t familiar with, according to Calipari.

“Your preparation should be so much harder than the game and that means the way you practice, the way you prepared, how focused you are,” Calipari said. “Most young kids, they just don’t know. Some guys – like, we gave them a different practice time. He’s 15 minutes earlier than everybody else. He’s gotta be here. Kenny (Payne) is spending extra time with him, and it’s not just skill. It’s conditioning, going harder.”