[RunItUpTheGut]

Stacey Poole hasn’t packed up his stuff. He’s still living in a room with Terrence Jones. He hasn’t picked his next college yet.

Almost everything’s the same, except for the obvious: he’s not on the basketball team anymore after deciding to transfer two weeks ago.

“I know it’s a hard situation right now for him,” Jones said. “He doesn’t like thinking about leaving me and all his teammates he’s with now and his friends.”

But he will be soon, whether or not he and his friends push it out of their minds — which is what they’re doing for the last few weeks together.

“I try not to bring it up too much just because everybody asks him about it,” Jones said. “So I just try to let him be about that and just talk about normal life.”

So what did lead Poole to transfer? At first, it seemed like it was his dad, unhappy with Poole’s playing time, who was calling the shots. Poole insisted on Twitter the decision would be his. But since the announcement — a brief post on head coach John Calipari’s website — Poole hasn’t been heard from. So what was it?

“I really don’t know,” said Jones, before noting that he felt Poole had a place on UK’s talented team. “I felt he was going to play a lot. It was just him not knowing the plays that much last year. When it comes to talent and skill wise, I feel he had it down. He was just nervous playing and not really knowing the plays that much.”

For Jones, it’s an odd situation. Your roommate of one-and-a-half years has known he’s leaving for weeks. No more basketball. No more hanging out. No more late-night car crashes.

“He’s one of my best friends,” Jones said. “I’m just trying to be there for him.”
http://kykernel.com/2011/12/02/stacey-po...t-college/