KSR's Jack Pilgrim here with former Kentucky Guard, Ashen Hagen's man, long time no see, how you been, how's the family, how's life?

I've been good, I can't complain, family good, my little sister, she coming to track start now, I'm in high school, so just dealing with that, family traveling with her, she coming up has been one of the top of her class in track, so just pushing her stand behind my little sister,

then my dudes, my everybody else, my dad, stepmom, they just working, grinding, just trying to let us see another day, me basketball wise, just happy to be where I'm at now, in a great space, mindset wise, mentally, physically, so just trying to keep that going and just stay positive and just keep my basketball.

How has that grind been being a pro and kind of traveling a little bit and just trying to carve your way as a professional basketball player?

So that grind is a different grind, you got to be really locked in on it, you got to really want that to be your lifestyle, so once you get into being a pro it's a business at this level, and you just a girl man, so you just got to see things different, just stay on your grind, keep your head down and just keep all it.

The small world Kentucky comes down here playing in Greensboro right, I mean the day before or the day after you guys play a home game, just how cool is that to kind of have your past and your current kind of overlap?

It's a lot man, you know just happy to see them out here in Greensboro, you know just if I need to go over there I can't, you know just if I need to make a call I can't, so just seeing that I knew what it was, I knew it was family from jump so just happy to see them out here.

Hopefully they can do something to the two games that they got out here, you know just happy, I'm moving for them, I think they're going to go all the way so, you know just them being in Greensboro just, you know just lift some things off your shoulder like okay we got this, we got this, you know support system around so it just make it easier, you know they write down the street and just happy to see them.

Okay, Kyle said today that you went and talked to the team today, what was that like and what was your message to the team?

Just letting them know that, just being that Kentucky after that's the one time thing you get in life, you know just when you go on to that next step in life, professional setting life, so it's a business and it's nothing like the opportunity that you get right now, so just take it all in.

You know March Madness is a big event like that, like again you never get that opportunity again I like to play on the big stage like that with a great coach, so I was just trying to let them know, just grab each other and just come along and get that bond and show everybody that that's all the team that can do it, because y'all got the talent that we had when I was there.

And then I just picked up on how we didn't get to play my sophomore year in the tournament and just how much that hurt and just just keep going out there, you know we behind you, we didn't get that opportunity, so we want to see how it went and so there's the rest of the BVN family.

And that was just really my message to you, you got the best coach in college and you don't get no better than that.

Bring me back to that week, you know SEC tournament, you go down there, Cal continues to this day that you know continues to say that you guys were a team that was capable of winning a national championship and like that whole week everything gets ripped out of your hands just what was that like emotionally and how were you personally doing all that.

Emotionally it was hard, it was a hard feeling, it hurt, you know we probably all cried because we knew what that team was capable of and then just the commitment to come back that was one of the main reasons the couple guys that came back, we came back.

We felt that we could do it, we felt we had a group of guys leadership coming back into that sophomore year that could do big things on that big stage and it was a brotherhood.

So that was the main thing and you know just just not being able to, you know we got a lot of guys that they got to do a lot of different things and you can see the growth what we could have did in the tournament like Tyrese, Nick, Quid, Coday plan up top right now even EJ the way he planned overseas, Nate.

Just guys like that that we had on that team mom it was going to be big, be special for us not to be able to play that and the group of guys that can play.

Hey you got to go out there with a tip on your shoulder because we really wish we could have had that opportunity.

And I guess for you personally the week before that you know having to miss the Florida game and the tournament was kind of going to be seen as your opportunity kind of return and you know make that statement and to have that opportunity to rip from you personally.

Just what was that like for you individually to not be able to experience that.

Oh yeah that was one of the main things about it not being able to play that last game and then tournament canceled.

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