Q&A: Lance Ware discusses Brazil trip, growth and Kentucky roster

Kentucky forward Lance Ware is back for a third season in Lexington, giving the Wildcats a fan-favorite (and coach’s favorite for John Calipari) going into 2022-23. The 6-foot-9 big man is coming off an outreach trip to Brazil where he averaged 30 points and 8.3 rebounds in three games. He then hosted his own Players First Satellite ProCamp in Berea on Thursday, leading drills with campers throughout the afternoon.

Ware took a pit stop with the media between drill sessions to discuss his time in Brazil, hosting the satellite camp, his growth as a player and the team expectations going into the season.

What did the junior forward have to say? KSR has the complete transcript below.

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What is it like participating in youth outreach efforts such as Thursday’s satellite camp in Berea?

I love stuff like this. It’s such a big part of development, especially in basketball, when you see somebody you watch on TV and then get a chance to come out and interact with them. Like, I’m sweating. I was just over there playing one-on-one with a few of the campers. Stuff like this, it makes my day. I would do this all the time if I had enough time. I always try to make time, but when the season picks up, it’s hard. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

What do you hope the campers get out of an event like this?

When I was growing up, I didn’t have opportunities like this. I went to a few camps, but nothing like getting to interact with a Kentucky basketball player, you know? Stuff like that, it’s a passion, and I see how much the kids enjoy it. The parents love it, everybody loves it and has a good time. I take pride in it, making sure — I may not be able to make every kid’s day, but even if it’s even one or two kids that take something away from this, I did my job.

How was the outreach trip to Brazil?

It was mind-blowing, just to think I was on the edge of not going. When I fully committed, it ended up being one of the best trips of my life. Being able to go out in their communities and do stuff like this, how grateful and how passionate they were. They thought us being there meant the world to them. Some of them have never seen people from America, they had a ball. Autographs, asked so many questions, they were just so appreciative about everything. After the game, I’d be there for an hour and a half answering questions with the translator. It’d be just little things like, ‘How long do you stay in the gym?’ and ‘What’s America like?’ Just a whole bunch of things. I really enjoyed it.

Does it give you a different outlook on life participating in something like that?

Absolutely. To see the condition they lived in and how happy they were to meet us, meet me, meet all the players — they don’t know us, they don’t know anything about us, probably don’t even know about Kentucky basketball. But they see an American basketball player and have a ball.

How do you feel about getting back on campus with the new team?

Everybody is back on campus, we had a few workouts together. One thing I do notice every time I come into the gym is there are three, four guys always in the gym. It’s to the point where everyone is shooting on their own goal and there’s not enough room. If you want to do individual stuff, you have to work with someone else. All of the baskets are taken up, somebody’s shooting, whether it be shooting free throws or going through a full workout. People are in the weight room, gaining weight, losing weight, whatever they have to do to become better players. Everybody is really focused. Summertime is about getting yourself right and bonding with the team. I see everybody working on their game and bonding.

How important is it to have Oscar Tshiebwe back for another year?

You already know. It’s Oscar, the National Player of the Year. If you ever have a National Player of the Year return to school, obviously he has a chance to win it again. He’s just a great teammate, even besides all of the basketball stuff. He’s a great teammate and I love to be around him.

How do you feel about your growth going into the season?

It definitely feels good to take everything I’ve learned, all the things I’ve been through in my first and second year, just start piecing stuff together. I’m playing the game I know I can play, but it’s also about being a leader like I’ve been since I was a freshman. Being able to help guys, give information out, that’s what we’re here for. The older guys like me, Jacob (Toppin), Oscar (Tshiebwe), Sahvir (Wheeler), we’re here to give out information because it can be tough to play for Kentucky. You need help, you can’t do it all by yourself. That’s what teammates are here for.

Does the St. Peter’s loss give the team a chip on its shoulder going into the year?

It definitely adds fuel to the fire. Nobody wants to go out that way. It sucks, and it still sucks. It’s something you’re going to talk about forever, I’m probably going to tell my kids that story. You just have to learn from it. There are more games. This year is this year, and we’re going to have to kind of forget about that, but also learn from it. What we did, how we got to that point, you know you’ve got to bring all that stuff with you. If you really look at it, we still had a fantastic season, but the end goal just wasn’t what we wanted it to be. It’s about taking the information we learned that whole season and bring it to this season.

How do you think you’ve developed this offseason as a player?

With me going to Brazil and playing in games over there, it got my confidence a lot higher. That’s what the game is really about, being confident in your game. I know I can do stuff, but if you don’t have your mind set on what you can do, you might not be sure, then it’s going to be iffy. Keeping my confidence, obviously developing my game, gaining some weight, trying to gain like 10-15 pounds and get stronger. I’m always going to play hard.

What are your first thoughts on the team after seeing a few workouts?

All of the new guys. When you leave high school, you kind of don’t really know a whole lot about high school players unless you’re familiar with them or they’re close to your town or whatever. They’re all good, you know, Antonio (Reeves) down to the freshmen, they can all play. It’s going to be different, because even Antonio, he didn’t play at Kentucky, he played somewhere else, and transferring is always hard. They want to learn, they all have open ears. In the workouts, if I tell them something, something a coach might like or want, they listen and do it to the best of their ability. When you want to learn, it makes stuff easy.

How do you anticipate making a jump in year three?

I have to get in the best shape ever, be able to run forever, play as long as I can. Working on my skill, just working on that every single day. Everyone knows I have a motor and that I’ll go out there and play hard. I just need to continue working on my skill so I can be able to produce more.