Willie Cauley can't help but stand out

                                                   

Kentucky commit never looks for spotlight, but it always seems to find the two-sport star.

OLATHE, Kan. -- For a guy who doesn't like to stand out, Willie Cauley continues to make decisions to separate himself from the crowd.

The latest? His pledge, confirmed Monday by Cauley, to sign with Kentucky next week as the early period opens for basketball.

"They have everything," Cauley said. "My thing was, do I have the confidence, right now, to be successful there? Standing up to the hype is the hardest thing about Kentucky."

Cauley, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound center ranked No. 32 in the ESPNU 100, picked the Wildcats over Kansas State, Alabama and Florida, accepting an offer to play in a pressure-filled environment on one of the sport's biggest stages. He joins guard Archie Goodwin (Little Rock, Ark./Sylvan Hills), No. 13 in the ESPNU 100, in this Kentucky recruiting class.

Still raw as a basketball player, Cauley wowed recruiters with his apparent room for growth and athleticism -- much of it groomed, improbably, on the football field.

UK coach John Calipari and assistant Orlando Antigua, in fact, got a final look at Cauley before his decision Friday night as his Olathe Northwest team clinched a playoff berth with a 56-28 win over rival Olathe North. Cauley caught a 57-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, surpassing the 1,100-yard mark in his ninth game to lead all receivers in Kansas' largest classification of football.

The choice of Kentucky represents another sign of growth for Cauley, who has spent much of his life simply trying to blend in. Cauley stood out because of his height and his skin color in Spearville, Kan., population less than 800. Raised there by his white grandparents, Val and Norma Stein, Cauley said he didn't realize he was black or that he was tall.


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