How Looney will fit in
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What kind of player will Kordell Looney be for Kentucky? How will he fit into the locker room and with his teammates? Those are the questions we set out to tackle in Part III of our series on the Springfield, Ohio big man.
Looney doesn't have an extensive history with Kentucky. His history with UK began the day that Vince Marrow told him he had an offer from the Wildcats.
But in the short time since then Looney has made Kentucky his home, even if he's not there yet.
"I know Tobias (Gilliam) and I know Jaylin Bannerman pretty well," Looney told Cats Illustrated. "Because I hang out with them a lot. Those are my really close friends. They're my brothers. We're really close because they live down the road. One of them lives in Columbus and the other lives in Huber Heights. So they're my brothers. We talk to everybody else. We have a group message with all the Class of 2016 guys and we talk in there. But those are the two I'm really close with."
Gilliam, Bannerman and Looney all have distinct personality quirks and character qualities that make them unique, but they're similar in terms of how outgoing they are.
"In the locker room I'm actually the goofy guy," Looney says. "I'm the funny guy. I'll have the team rolling. I like talking to my teammates. I mean, we're teammates. We're brothers. We're all one unit so we've got to have fun together."
On the field Looney said he's known to talk a little trash but only "when (he) gets mad." At other times, in the normal flow of the game, he's a player that keeps his head down and stays in his lane.
Looney has always lived in Ohio, although he's a New England Patriots' fan - "No bandwagon, though," he's careful to say - and he likes the fact that Kentucky isn't too far from home. He also likes the fact that Gilliam and Bannerman, as well as such a strong contingent from Ohio, will be there as well.
He's a unique commitment for the Wildcats because he happens to be one of the players with no clearly defined position. One might look at Looney's frame - 6-foot-5, 283-pounds - and assume he's a three-technique.
He told Cats Illustrated this week that he could play the two- or three-technique, or he could play defensive end. He's got cat-like quickness for a defensive lineman of his stature, and again, he attributes that mostly to his history on the basketball court. He carries his weight very well and obviously doesn't feel too heavy as he has continued to get bigger.
The Kentucky coaching staff likes how Looney is carrying that weight and believes he could stand to gain another 20 pounds, although that's for another time.
"At the Kentucky camp I didn't go against any of their (offensive line) commitments because I was playing the three-technique," Looney said. "Drake (Jackson) played center. Landon (Young) played tackle. I was really just playing the three-technique against whoever was up."
Looney has the rare potential to play defensive end in a three-man front at a very large size, because of his ability to get a quick jump off the snap and disengage on the edge. At his best, Looney is probably an interior lineman with the burst to get penetration and create negative yardage plays, while classmates Kobe Smith and Ja'Quize Cross are probably more like one-technique players, or nose tackles.
One thing Looney clearly realizes is his need to hone his technique. Because he's so raw, and because Jimmy Brumbaugh has a teaching method, terminology and emphasis that is so different compared to what Looney is used to, there could be a bit of a learning curve.
But while Looney will have to be taught, continue to shake off rust, and polish his raw ability, it's clear he has certain attributes that cannot be taught: An ideal frame, quick jump off the ball, and an agility and athleticism that is rarely found in players his size.
