Lee hopes to prove Calipari prophetic

John Calipari made a prediction last week. Marcus Lee is working to make sure it comes true.

Lee, a 6-foot-9 forward who's played sparingly in his first two seasons at Kentucky, will turn heads in 2015-16, Calipari said, will make people question why the Wildcats coach didn't use him more frequently as a freshman and sophomore.

Lee wants to prove him a prophet.

"I mean, I haven't left this place since we got back (from the Final Four)," Lee said this week, standing in UK's practice gym at the Joe Craft Center. "That's the only thing I've been tying to prove."

Lee has played in 64 games at Kentucky and reached two Final Fours. As a freshman, he averaged 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game; as a sophomore, 2.6 points and 2.7 boards in 10.9 minutes.

And though those are pedestrian numbers, Lee -- a former McDonald's All-American -- has proven himself to be a solid rim protector (41 career blocked shots) and high-flying, if limited, offensive player. This season, 29 of his 47 field goals (61.2 percent) were dunks.

So presumably he's spending those hours working on expanding his offensive game. But all you can do is presume. Ask Lee what he's focusing on this offseason and he'll bristle.

"I'm not gonna tell you that," he said. "This is my place. You guys can figure that out when (next season) comes."

But ask if he has something to prove, and Lee will relent a bit.

"I mean, there's a lot to prove," Lee said. "We're at Kentucky. People will start making stuff up to prove. You just gotta go with it and start knocking their things down. First, they'll say I'm not a shooter. Then you knock that down. Then they'll start saying I'm not tough enough. Then you knock that down."

For the first time in his UK career, Lee figures to have plenty of opportunity to prove any naysayers wrong.

Though he started in four games as a freshman and played a big part in Kentucky reaching the 2014 Final Four -- he had 10 points and eight rebounds in a Regional Final win against Michigan -- Lee mostly has been stuck in the rotation behind future first-round draft picks.

"We've had great players," Lee said. "And when you have so many great players and such little time, it's hard. When you're here with these great players that don't have attitudes and we do everything together, you don't really think about (playing time), so it really didn't matter."

But with frontcourt players Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and Dakari Johnson declaring for the NBA Draft and only one big man so far in UK's incoming freshman class -- top-ranked recruit Skal Labissiere -- Lee will be depended on to contribute.

"It's a huge opportunity that I've been given," Lee said. "But it's just like every other day: Your opportunity can be taken away at any moment if you're not doing what you need to do. So my job is just to make sure I get things done."

So Lee works on his game. And he takes steps to become a better teammate. He's spent extra time with fellow frontcourt returnee Alex Poythress in recent weeks, including watching the Nike EYBL stop in Lexington last weekend together.

That time together is "really going to make our bond better and make us do better next year," Lee said.

And Lee hopes to play the sort of part he wasn't able to play in his first two seasons. He's hoping to make the leap forward Calipari is predicting, the one many outsiders thought he'd leave before he got the chance to make at Kentucky.

"They were talking about (transferring) last year and I'm still here," Lee said. "They were talking about it this year. I'm still here. Honestly, I don't really worry about what other people are saying. I just gotta do myself."