Tai Wynyard of the Kentucky Wildcats shoots the ball during the game against the Cleveland State Vikings. Photo/Getty Images
Tai Wynyard of the Kentucky Wildcats shoots the ball during the game against the Cleveland State Vikings. Photo/Getty Images
Tai Wynyard pauses and considers the question carefully ... what is the most valuable lesson he's learnt during two years at University of Kentucky?
There have been so many home truths, cruelly dispatched by an American college basketball system that often seems a mere stopover on the way to the professional ranks and less to do with actual education.
Since the NBA outlawed the practice of drafting directly from high school, "one-and-done" has become a catch-phrase for players spending a bare minimum of time at college.
And the Kentucky Wildcats have become perhaps the best/worst example of that mentality, with charismatic coach John Calipari making no bones about the fact that his job is to prepare players to chase big dollars, sooner rather than later.
Which makes the Lexington campus a prime destination for teenage hoops talent and Wynyard, 19, has certainly been part of that influx.
"One of the biggest things I've learnt," he finally responds, "is it's just right there, it's so close."
He's talking about the NBA dream, which he began chasing as a 16-year-old, when he accepted the scholarship offer to Kentucky ahead of several other options.
"You're seeing all these players getting through it. My boys are talking and telling you stuff that they're doing now ... they've got all this stuff going for them.
"If you push yourself, it's just right there ... you just have to push yourself a little bit harder.
"The last couple of years, I didn't really understand that. Now I've seen all this and been through it again, I understand I have to go out there and just kill myself for year ... that's what I'm aiming to do."
Wynyard is back in Auckland during the college break, re-acquainting himself with family and friends, and preparing for the Junior Tall Blacks' history-making world championship campaign next month.
When he left here two years ago, expectations were high that he would be the next Kiwi to reach the NBA. Perhaps we were spoilt by the rapid rise of Steven Adams, a first-round draft pick by Oklahoma City Thunder, after just one year at University of Pittsburgh.
At 2.08m tall, Wynyard, son of world champion woodchopper Jason Wynyard, was next cab off the rank and had already established an international reputation, helping New Zealand to victory at the 2015 FIBA 3x3 U18 world championships and becoming one of our youngest ever Tall Blacks.
But he has found the pathway much harder to navigate than Adams, who probably had a greater upside when he arrived in the United States.
Adams ofered more athleticism, but needed to develop strength and the finer points of technique, especially on offence. By contrast, when Wynyard arrived at UK, he was built like a mighty totara - ridiculously strong, but relatively immobile.
"As soon as I got over there, I realised my body wasn't the same as everyone else," he admits. "I was bigger and I had a lot more fat on me.
"That's a huge thing over there - everyone is lean, quick and agile, but at the same time, strong.
"They just get on you and work your butt off to get your body into shape. They get on you in the weight room, so you look good and feel good.
"It was hard to adjust to that quickness and I'm still getting there."
Calipari chose to red-shirt Wynyard through his first year at Kentucky, allowing him to practice, but not play, while retaining his full four-year quota of eligibility.
"I wanted to go over and do as well as I could that year, but as a red shirt, it ended up as an opportunity to get ready for the year I just had.
"But then, obviously, I didn't play as much as I wanted to."
During the 2016/17 season, he appeared in just 15 of the Wildcats' 38 games, averaging less than four minutes, a point and a rebound per game.
If you caught any of their outings on SKY, as they captured the Southeastern Conference title and progressed to the NCAA quarter-finals, Wynyard could be seen about two-thirds of the way down the bench, with his NBA dream passing by, just out of reach.
Tai Wynyard in action for the Tall Blacks, as New Zealand defeat Mexcio 78-67 during the Stankovic Cup. Photo/Photosport
Three of his team-mates - guards De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, and forward Edrice Adebayo - are projected among the top 15 players of the 2017 NBA draft. This season, former team-mates Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), Skal Labissiere (Sacramento Kings) and Tyler Ulis (Phoenix Suns) established themselves on NBA rosters.
It's so close, he can taste it, but Wynyard isn't biting on suggestions he'd be better off in a programme that better showcases his potential.
"I wasn't frustrated ... I was taking every minute out there as an opportunity to prove myself. I didn't let the lack of minutes affect me off the court or on the court.
"I could have gone to a smaller school and played against players that weren't as good, but I wanted to go up against the best of the best and learning all the time.
"I wouldn't change that for anything, because it's such a great experience, going up against such great talent."
It's hard to tell what Calipari and his staff have in mind for Wynyard next season. When asked about his development in February, assistant coach Joel Justus faintly praised the Kiwi's attitude and competitive spirit.
"I think, when you come to work and you come to practice with that attitude, you're going to get better," said Justus. "When you reject the process at times, you might go backwards and even if you're not going backwards, those around you are going forward.
"I think Tai is a guy who has come to work, and has embraced it and is tough. You gotta tip your hat to him, but at the same time, you gotta say 'let's keep going, we've got a ways to go'."
Maybe the most important learning Wynyard will ultimately take away from Kentucky, apart from a degree in communications, is patience. If the revolving door of talent through the programme is a blur at times, he must find his own pace and still has three more years to achieve his goal.
"If I do have to stay there until I'm a senior, then so be it - it's not that big a deal."
