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The long tenured equipment manager for the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team, Bill Keightley — who was more affectionately known as “Mr. Wildcat” — has passed away at the University of Cincinnati Hospital after a fall from a bus at Great American Ball Park, home of his beloved Cincinnati Reds, WKYT in Lexington is reporting.
For those of you who don’t know Mr. Wildcat or his legendary status in the Kentucky program, I liken it to Joe Nuxhall passing away recently and his relationship with the Cincinnati Reds. Keightley’s tenure goes all the way back to the Adolph Rupp era of the Wildcats and he has been the equipment manager for every Kentucky head coach since then in the team’s illustrious history, winning three National Championships in the process.
The 81 year-old Keightley had just finished his 48th season with Kentucky after starting as assistant equipment manager in 1962 and then as equipment manager a few years later. Mr. Wildcat has become a Lexington icon and a stalwort on the bench for every game, home and away. It is a tough, tough loss for Big Blue Nation.
Characteristics In The History Of Higher Education
The style and design of Memorial Coliseum illustrates two important characteristics in the history of higher education: the increasing ability to build large, imposing structures on a continuously growing institution and the growing emphasis and interest in athletics in higher education as more than merely an extra-curricular activity. Many were skeptical during construction regarding the size of Memorial Coliseum that a building of that magnitude would ever be useful or fully utilized on a college campus. History since then goes to show that in regards to Kentucky men’s basketball, they have far exceeded the expectations of those who designed Memorial Coliseum and fans are now filling an arena with more than three times the seating to its capacity in Rupp Arena. The current utilization of the facility for various collegiate athletic events, mainly in women’s athletics, as well as for numerous casual campus events shows how far campus life and the size of state-funded universities has come in just fifty years, which is a small frame of time in the complete historical record of higher education.
Depiction of History and Heritage
The University of Kentucky does a good job in using and depicting history by continuing to make buildings and facilities from the past, such as Memorial Coliseum, currently relevant in today’s world. Through renovations and upgrades, the university is able to keep historical buildings in working condition and useful for the current landscape of campus and extensive involvement in campus life.
There is a balanced mix of historical buildings and modern architecture on the campus of the University of Kentucky and though the campus may not be as entrenched in tradition and lore as many other institutions, the use of a historic building in Memorial Hall as part of the school’s flagship logo shows an embracing of the past by the administration.
Campus Community Members
Future campus community members need to realize the history and importance of architecture around campus and how and why each building was erected. In the case of Memorial Coliseum, it was nearly a nine year process from idea to completion and was built to serve the students as a complete athletic, physiological, and recreational facility to further campus life. The naming of the building was in honor of Kentucky’s own sons and daughters who died in World War I and in the Korean Conflict. Knowing the lasting legacies of events that took place in Memorial Coliseum and the legendary faces that walked the halls allows one to appreciate what the arena means to this campus, enabling effective work within the campus.
An example specific to Memorial Coliseum of an expectation for administration to know the historical importance of a building on campus was the unique situation created by the disposal of planks from the previous wood flooring during renovations in 2007. Many people were franticly trying to retrieve a piece of the basketball flooring from the construction dumpsters and most did not understand why the athletic department would throw away items that held such historical value on this campus. The approach of learning the history and importance of architecture is not limited to Memorial Coliseum, merely the research is, and thus it applies to all buildings on the campus of the University of Kentucky as well as any architecture on any college campuses and beyond. To appreciate something one must know it first.
Memorial Coliseum was built on the north east edge of campus directly across from Stoll Field at McLean Stadium, otherwise known as the home of Kentucky’s football team from 1916 until 1973. This created a complete facility that served all of the athletic, recreational, and physiological needs of the students and student-athletes and was located adjacent to Alumni Gymnasium, the previous home of Kentucky basketball, and the main dormitories at the time
Since then, campus has built up around Memorial Coliseum but it continues to fulfill the original mission for students and is far from forgotten. The building is sill the center piece on Avenue of Champions with a long, broad sidewalk extending from the main undergraduate class room building and down across Stoll Field, dead-ending in to the main entrance of Memorial Coliseum. In recent history, additional student housing, the Student Center, and various off-campus and on-campus eateries have all been built up adjacent to and around Memorial Coliseum. Nearly fifty-eight years after its completion, H.L. Donvan’s dream is still the heart of a campus area design dedicated to student life.
Legends and Lore
There is not much in the way of lore about Memorial Coliseum passed down from various generations of students, such as ghost stories or mysteries, but the building is no stranger to campus legends. Any athlete who put on a Kentucky jersey was almost always a legend in their own right but the building is unofficially known as “The House that Rupp Built” in honor of the long-tenured and legendary men’s basketball coach, Adolph Rupp, who would later get an arena built in his honor. Rupp is a legend of epic proportions and marched his armies of Wildcat basketball teams on to the court of Memorial Coliseum every season for 22 years, winning an unprecedented 22 Southeastern Conference Championships and two National Championships along the way.
An extension to the legend of Adolph Rupp that could be considered lore for Memorial Coliseum and the men’s basketball program is that, upon completion, the Coliseum was considered a “white elephant” by many. Due to the shear size of the building, people were skeptical that it could be fully utilized or that the seats could be filled to capacity. Coach Rupp was not only able to fill the seats of Memorial Coliseum each game but was also able to dominate the Southeastern Conference while doing so. Ironically enough, skeptics made the same observation about Alumni Gymnasium, the previous home to Kentucky basketball, but were silenced when the program was forced to move.
Considering the exterior of Memorial Coliseum is fairly simple in design and color, it may only be fitting that there is little in the way of symbols, icons, or monuments that can be directly linked with the arena. This apparent lack of distinctive features, however, does little to detract from the overall uniqueness of the building considering the structure alone is a Lexington icon. The sheer imposing nature of the size and the conspicuous location of Memorial Coliseum, coupled with the fact that it was home to the legendary Kentucky men’s basketball team for nearly 25 years, has burnt the image of the arena in to many people’s memory as a landmark of its own.
Functions
Despite the fact that Memorial Coliseum was finished in 1950, its original conception came in 1941 and it was the brain child of the President of the University of Kentucky at the time, H.L. Donovan. Mr. Donovan wanted a student facility that would adequately support Kentucky athletics and students’ health and physical education. From the moment it was completed, Memorial Coliseum served as the primary arena for the men’s basketball team from 1950 until it moved to the team’s current home, Rupp Arena, in 1976 and was the home of the swimming and diving team until the completion of the Lancaster Aquatic Center in 1989. The building has also housed the women’s basketball team from 1950 until present day, the women’s volleyball team from the team’s creation in 1977 until present day, and is also the current home-gym of the women’s gymnastics team.
The functions of Memorial Coliseum are not limited strictly to sanctioned athletics, however, as the building houses many athletic administration and training offices and is part of the adjoining practice facility for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The valuable space inside is also utilized for various student activities such as the Dance Blue dance marathon for charity, the Midnight Finals Crunch Brunch, a stress relieving gathering for students during final exams, and men’s basketball student ticket lotteries.
Memorial Coliseum is a sports facility located on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Construction of the building, built as a tribute to those from the state of Kentucky who were killed in World War I and in the Korean Conflict, was completed in 1950 on what is now known as Avenue of Champions as part of a $3.9 million dollar construction project. The arena, which was the replacement for the nearby Alumni Gymnasium, had what could be seen as its grand opening on December 1, 1950 when the first Adolph Rupp-led basketball team held court in the brand new 11,500 seat facility with a 73-43 win over West Texas State.
Since the structure’s debut, it has seen extensive renovations beginning in 1990 when a then $1 million dollar construction project reduced capacity by 3,000 seats from 11,500 to 8,500 but added various facilities including athletic offices, training and weight rooms, and student-athlete lounges. Additional renovations to the rear of the complex were completed in January of 2007 involving nearly $30 million dollars and included all new, state-of-the art training and athletic facilities for the men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as brand new offices for the athletic department; this addition to the Coliseum is known as the Joe C. Craft Center. The final step in the most recent renovation process occurred in the summer of 2007 and included general interior maintenance that culminated with a brand new gym surface that sparked a fan movement to retrieve pieces of wood from the previous Memorial Coliseum floor from the construction dumpsters.
Description of Architecture
Memorial Coliseum features a fairly basic design where seating rises up and out from the court on each side with little-to-no seating at each end of the court. This is visually evident from an exterior view with what appear to be inclined additions to the main part of the building protruding outward. The design for Memorial Coliseum is a simple gymnasium design and is similar to a large-scale version of a typical high school gymnasium or other area arenas such as the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The building features yellow stone trimmed in gray with the main entrance flanked by the two original ticket offices and facing what was considered Euclid Avenue at the time of completion. The Coliseum engulfs an entire city block on the east side of Avenue of Champions and contains enough space to fill a seven-story skyscraper. This was an extremely large undertaking for a college athletic facility and many were skeptical that it could be filled to capacity simply by a college basketball game.
The Kentucky student body puts on an annual fund raiser each year called “Dance Blue” and it is an all night ‘dance marathon’ charity to benefit the University of Kentucky’s Children’s Oncology department, benefiting kids with cancer that need help financially. This year we raised nearly $430,000 as a student body in just the third year of operation and the total seems to double each year.
The rule for those who are taking pledges is that they can’t stop moving for 24 hours on the floor of the famed Memorial Coliseum. There are games, food, live music, and fun and people are encourage to watch the festivities from the bleachers if they’re not apt to pull an all-nighter (us college kids do it on a semi-regular basis). It sounds like a lot, but when you look at whom you’re fighting for, 24 hours without sleep is spit in the ocean compared to what these children fight against each day.
Dance Blue starts on a Friday evening and ends on a Saturday evening and Coach Billy Clyde showed up towards the end of this year’s festivities and below is the video:
Seriously, watch the video if you haven’t already, it behooves you to do so. Non-Kentucky fans included.
Wins or losses aside, if you can’t appreciate Billy Gillispie as a human being after watching that video then you are not human yourself. Coach Gillispie gets choked up at least three times by my count and then ends the video on a strong note, showing no signs of doing what he did for publicity as he immediately sneaks off stage. That night was clearly about the children with cancer and Billy G. knew it. We should all keep those kids in our thoughts, not just during Dance Blue but on a daily basis.
At the end of the day, it’s not about wins and losses it is about doing something positive in life and it is videos like this that make me proud to be a Wildcat.
I recently wrote about Kentucky’s bad media day yesterday and while researching Scott Van Pelt’s shout out to The Cats Pause, I was reading other various posts on the message board and came across this one (I am not a card-holding poster there, by the way):
“Gillispie ran over to Joe all excited and grabbing Joe’s arm. He was obviously very proud of him and he was letting him know. Coach G was smiling ear to ear and you can tell he was praising Joe but joe just stood there, never smiling back or saying anything? Wonder what was said and why Joe was so emotionless???”
I don’t know if message board comments are copyrighted but if they are just sue me, you’ll get about three Cup Noodles out of me in the lawsuit.
In response, I have this to say: OMFG, Joe C. is totally going to transfer nowz!!!11
In all seriousness…MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS FREAKING TIRED.
IF there is ANY team in the entire universe that that has fans who actually try to interpret the physical appearence of emotion more than Kentucky fans then please post the team name so I don’t feel like my teams’ fans are the epitome of obsessed nerds. I even heard Jodie Meeks “looked” reluctant to link arms on the bench with Mark Coury when the outcome of the game was still up in the air…
Seriously people, why does it matter what Crawford’s facial expression’s looked like? He’s a senior who will play his last game as a Wildcat in about a month and he is beginning to consistently drop bombs on the oppostion…why do we even care why he looks this way or that? He has never been known for showing emotion…deal with it. In an impressive “And 1″ moment during the game yesterday, Joe finished by flexing and shouting towards the sideline a la Kelenna Azubuike and I was thinking, “wow, it has been 4 years but I think I have just seen the first signs of life on Joe Crawford.”
That is just how he is and the endless speculation about players’ body language as if they’re suppose to assume they’re on camera 24/7 is beginning to bother even me and I am a Kentucky fan.
I would like to congratulate the Tennessee Volunteers, they beat Memphis on the road tonight and are now the #1 team in the Nation. Thus, at this point in the space time continuum, I can say that both the Kentucky football team and Kentucky basketball team have defeated the #1 team in their respective sport this season. Suck it.
Kentucky went on to defeat a well-playing Arkansas team today but the story of the game was CBS cutting away from a 4 point game, give or take a point, with roughly 45 seconds to go in a game with HUGE implications to show us the EPIC Duke versus Saint John’s tip off — and it was epic, trust me. It’s Duke…Dick Vitale was seen pitching a tent.
It just had to be Duke, didn’t it? Insult to injury. Listen media folk, wonder no more why Kentucky fans think the world hates them (and more on this later).
The majority of Kentucky fans missed the entire last minute of a VERY important game while I was switched back for the last 7 seconds here in Richmond; CBS, you’re too kind. Long story short, Kentucky fans should bitch and bitch loud and often. I have done the leg work for you because I am that awesome. Contact CBS m’here:
CBS Television Network
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
Main Number:(212) 975-4321
That is CBS Sports Feedback…make sure to select CBS Sports from the drop down menu. They have kind of disenfranchised most, though, as you have to have a Sportsline ID to send feedback…
However, this wasn’t the only Kentucky moment in the media tonight. At the end of the post-GameDay Sportscenter broadcast, Scott Van Pelt had this to say (and I am paraphrasing):
Kentucky fans think we hate them and we didn’t get to their highlights tonight but Kentucky did beat Arkansas so there, thats for my friends over at The Cats Pause.
This can be viewed as one of two things…
1) Scott, who apparently posts over at Rivals.com, was generally sorry and was genuinely giving a shout out to The Cats Pause since ESPN didn’t actually have the highlights from the blown CBS telecast.
OR
2) Since it is no secret Kentucky fans think ESPN hates Kentucky and favors Duke/ACC and since it is no secret that Kentucky fans are VERY active on Internet message boards, then Scott Van Pelt’s comments were a sarcastic pot shot on Big Blue Nation’s passion.
Interpret however you’d like. Send all bitchings to ESPN’s Ombudsman (though I must say, I have tried and it does little good).
I have my own thoughts and I’ll keep them to myself, but realize Scott’s closing remarks were made just moments after he inadvertently used “pissed” on air and then corrected himself, explaining that it was just him “talking and thinking at the same time” and that he “thought he was back on the radio for a moment.”
Before Tuesday’s game against Vanderbilt in Nashville, Kentucky was sitting pretty in second place in the SEC East with big wins over Vanderbilt and Tennessee at home and seemed prepared to turn the corner in what had already been, for some, a lost season in Year One of the Billy Clyde Era in Lexington.
Vanderbilt, on the other hand, was trying to build on what had already been a historic season on West End Avenue, reaching 20 wins faster than any Vanderbilt squad in school history and trying to make noise in the race for the SEC East crown.
Tuesday night, the Kentucky squad that won five straight entering the game against Vanderbilt ran into something that has snake bitten the team for the past five years.
Memorial magic.
Vanderbilt came out Tuesday night like a team on a mission, jumping out to a 41-11 lead at halftime and refusing to let Patrick Patterson and company come back into the fold, something that has not happened a lot for the ‘Dores lately in games against South Carolina and Georgia where they took the foot off the pedal and let teams have a chance to win.
Then in the second half, Kentucky just self-destructed; they self-destructed to the point where Billy Clyde received a technical foul after Joe Crawford was called for a charge early on in the second half.
Sad, right?
This game was supposed to be a turning point for Kentucky, mainly because it was on National television and 25th Avenue South was going to be rocking.
But instead it looked like the debacle that I remembered from last year when Cincinnati came into FedEx Forum and got stomped all over the place by the Tigers, so bad that the good people at ESPN cut away to the USC-Oregon game.
Obviously, on Tuesday night, ESPN had no other choice when it came to what happened in Nashville.
The best game of the evening was already played up Interstate 65 in West Lafayette.
No, not Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from which the snazzy logo from above was conveniently stolen from but ratings percentage index (RPI) — the fancy number that makes, or breaks, a college basketball team’s NCAA Tournament chances.
The ‘Cats have moved up to 131, up roughly five spots from yesterday, thanks to San Diego’s upset of #20 and two loss Saint Mary’s. The Toreros pulled off their second impressive upset of the season by beating the Gaels 63-44 at home. Unfortunately that only brings USD to 11-11 on the season but Kentucky needs all the help that they can get.
By my count, Kentucky still has five games left against teams in the Top 50 of the RPI with a sixth game against #53 Mississippi State later this season as well. Follow all of the day-to-day RPI action for your team at Ken Pomeroy’s link below.
After beating Ohio State last week 74-69 at home, the #3/#5 ranked Volunteers came into Rupp Arena undefeated in the SEC and left a 66-72 loser to the Kentucky Wildcats and I just couldn’t help but reuse the headline.
It was a great win by the ‘Cats and it was the important victory I eluded to early on if the team hoped to salvage any confidence for the remainder of the season while holding Tennessee to their lowest scoring output of the season to date. Looking back at the game, the usual stars showed up for Kentucky: Patrick Patterson, Ramel Bradley, and Joe Crawford. However, not enough can be said about the play of Perry Stevenson, who has shown flashes of brilliance at times but has also remained clumsy and awkward. Perry went for 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 assists to just 2 turnovers in 37 minutes, playing exactly how the team needs him to to compliment Pat Pat in the post.
Regardless of the win, throughout the game I was noticing a few silver linings to this team regardless of what the outcome was going to be. The two facets that come to mind are free throw shooting and rebounding and the importance of both shows in the statistics: Kentucky was 24-for-28 from the charity stripe and out rebounded the Vols 36 to 27.
If you make your free throws and work hard at out rebounding the other team, especially on the offensive end, you will eventually win some ball games. The importance of these two statistics were clear in last night’s contest and I can’t help but feel like it is an improvement over years past.
Granted Morris and Rondo were never good at free throws but we now have the #1 and #2 most accurate free throw shooters in the league in Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford, respectively, while Jodie Meeks is over 80% and Patrick Patterson is over 75% — which is impressive for a big man. Free throws are important, no doubt about it, and Kentucky is making theirs right now which is something that has frustrated me in the past.
But even more impressive to me is that the ‘Cats continue to out rebound their opponents, despite being undermanned in the post with, at times, four guards on the floor and Patterson playing small at center. Some of this success can be attributed to Derek Jasper, who is averaging nearly 8 rebounds a game as a guard — a sign that his knee may, in fact, be alright — and he always seems to be around a loose ball.
Again, the ‘Cats out rebounded the Vols 36 to 27, they also out rebounded Vandy and the big Aussie 45 to 25, and have kept pace with the Floridas and the Mississippi States all after losing two centers and two forwards at the the end of last season (R. Morris, L. Obrzut, B. Perry, S. Thomas).
I believe the improved rebounding comes directly from Coach Gillispie demanding more effort out of his players. In John Feinstein’s book A Season On The Brink, Bobby Knight says something to the effect of if his team isn’t getting rebounds it means they simply aren’t trying. This cannot be said for Gillispie’s team right now and that philosophy just may sum up why Kentucky is winning the rebounding battles as lack of effort has never been a complaint about this year’s squad.
If I can reference A Season On The Brink one more time it is that every great team and every great coach are going to go through their struggles. After two National Championships, an NIT title, a Pan Am games gold medal and an Olympic gold medal the summer before, Bobby Knight and his Indiana Hoosiers missed the NCAA Tournament at the end of the 1984-1985 season and were sub-.500 in the Big Ten. Now I am not suggesting that two wrongs make a right but every team struggles, it is how they handle their struggles and bounce back that shows their true character. We all know how Knight’s story ends as he’s now a 900 win coach and I hope that these ‘Cats can make last night a turning point in the season and finish the season and some of the players’ careers as strong as Knight has his.
Not really a report as I missed most of the first half thanks to class — hey, the History of Higher Education needs attention too.
But in the few minutes I’ve been tuned in to ESPN to watch the game:
I have heard a lengthy discussion about Duke being “the toughest team in America,” going on to mention that if only they had a 6-8 guy like Patterson, they’d be the best team in the Nation. Yeah, my heart really goes out to them, I shed tears every night right before I kiss my Coach Kryzlaksdfasdf;lyuski bobblehead…
I have listened to Brad Nessler say this about a first half-ending three pointer by Chris Lofton: “As if to say one last time, ‘WHY DIDN’T YOU RECRUIT ME?’ because in this arena he is something else!”
I noticed that Bruce Pearl picked up a sweet leisure suit sports coat from the local Salvation Army depot just for us.
OK, so it looks like our bookie’s numbers are going to cover on the nauseating blazer, the Duke references, and Chris Lofton fellating. FANTASTIC. Feel free to let me know if I unfortunately missed the chest paint flashbacks…
This has been on ESPN’s Men’s Basketball homepage since shortly after 4:00PM, by the way…
Time for the second half. I know most of you may not be Kentucky fans so I aplogize in advance but here’s whats in store for tomorrow and/or Thursday:
ESPN’s Ombudsman replies to my Duke bitchings
My thoughts on a silver lining for this sub-.500 ‘Cats squad
Tonight the #3 ranked Tennessee Volunteers come to Rupp Arena to square off against the Kentucky Wildcats in what is no doubt a very important game for the ‘Cats if the team hopes to salvage any self-worth this season. The Volunteers, on the other hand, are riding high on a Top 5 ranking and head coach Bruce Pearl’s fake tan that is as orange as the team colors he is wearing. This game features a virtual flip-flop in the positions of the two programs in terms of historical expectations, should be interesting….
Latest Odds - Caesar’s-Hilton/TNB Bookie - Current As Of 1:30PM:
Favorite: Tennessee
Point Spread: 4.5 points
Over/Under: 149 points
Over/Under On Mentions Of Kentucky “Missing” On Chris Lofton: 37 — I’ll take the over…
Odds Of An Appearance By Bruce Pearl’s Hideous Orange Blazer: 1/1
Duke References Versus Kentucky References During Telecast: Duke by 7
Also, at even money are the odds of a discussion regarding Bruce Pearl’s and Pat Summitt’s “mutual respect” for one another including, but not limited to, corresponding video evidence of a shirtless Bruce Pearl at a Lady Vols’ game and a cheerleading Pat Summitt at a men’s home contest. Be prepared to feel the need to stab yourself in the eyes.
…And finally, it wouldn’t be a Tennessee topic without some shout outs to the legends of Bruce Pearl:
We here at TNB, with the exception of Charlie Hustle, don’t condone illegal gambling if you plan on getting caught. Otherwise, meet us at a discrete location…
Former University of Kentucky stud Kelenna Azubuike continues to do “his thing” for the Golden State Warriors as ‘Buike went for his first double-double of the season with 27 points on 50% shooting and 11 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and a steal in 43 minutes of play. The Warriors had a Cinderella-esque run in last year’s Playoffs but are struggling out of the gate early this season at 0-5. It is, however, nice to see Kelenna doing well (and getting paid - $687, 456 this season with his stock steadily rising) as not only is he a former Wildcat but always seemed to be a real class act that was hit with some misfortunes during his Kentucky career that forced him in to the NBA a year early.
Nothing but the best of luck is wished upon all of our former Wildcats as it is always nice to see the program represented in the NBA.
Congrats, Kelenna and thanks for making the Bluegrass proud!
The same aforementioned good luck wishes are bestowed upon former coaches as well regardless if they are out of, or still in, the coaching ranks. I have always been a Tubby Smith fan/supporter and look forward to following the continuance of his career in Minnesota.
Quick. Raise your hand if you knew before Wednesday night where Gardner-Webb University was.
Can’t do it?
That’s because on Wednesday night, the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs joined Appalachian State, Brittanee McCaster, Stanford, and my friend Jasmine - who beat two guys in pool the other day in the Bryce Student Center - to the list of improbable upsets this year by beating #22 Kentucky 84-68 in the Coaches versus Cancer Classic.
This marks the first time in their school’s history that they defeated not only an SEC team but a ranked opponent as well.
Judging from how the Wildcats played Wednesday night, in which they shot only 35 percent from the floor and even worse from 3-point territory, to call Gardner-Webb’s victory an upset is almost like explaining to a person that I constantly beat in pool that the rare time that she does beat me is like Michigan State against Michigan in football.
A dime a dozen.
The Wildcats apparently believed in their hearts that, because this was a school of 4,000 that finished 9-21 the year before and was projected to finish 8th in the Atlantic Sun, that they could walk all over them because they had Kentucky jerseys and a guy who turned around the fortunes of Texas A&M and Texas-El Paso on their bench.
But, as we’ve learned from the college football season, regardless of what school you’re wearing on your chests, you’re nothing more than another giant waiting to be slayed by someone who is smaller, lighter, and slower than you.
More than likely when the pride of Boiling Springs, North Carolina head up to Madison Square Garden in a week or so, chances are that they’re going to be overwhelming underdogs again, simply because they’re Gardner-Webb.
But as Ms. McCaster, Appalachian State, Stanford, and my friend Jasmine has taught me, as well as others throughout the year, it doesn’t matter how big of an underdog you are.
In last night’s first exhibition basketball game of the season for the University of Kentucky, the Wildcats defeated the Pikeville College Whatchamacallits 99-64.
Not a big statement one way or the other but we were able to see the first samplings of a Billy Clyde-led basketball team and what may await this season.
Obvseravtions:
Jodie Meeks is not as good as advertised, he’s a helluva lot better. Strength of opponent not withstanding, Meeks was pretty much unstoppable and has an outside touch to be reckoned with — something that will not necessarily change as the competition increases. Jodie seemed to embrace the Kentucky tradition last year and stepped up late in the season but, at times, also seemed to be trying to do too much. That problem is no longer lingering as the kid from Norcross, Georgia put up 34 points on 10 of 12shooting.
Mark Coury is developing in to a great story for this season. Coury was a guy who was a 6th Man on his high school’s team and came out last night to start in the exhibition opener for the University of Kentucky - remarkable. His stat line is less than mesmerizing but he is a smart kid (4.0 G.P.A., I believe) and leaves it all on the floor. There is no doubt in my mind that the latter two characteristics have scored big, and will continue to do so, in the mind of Billy Clyde.
The overall shooting of the team seems improved from last year and though one could argue that the strength of opponent had something to do with it - and it likely did - but 61.8% from the field in the first real game action under a new head coach is something to see lots of optimism in.
Joe Crawford did not seem to sulk after being relegated to non-starter for last night’s game and actually seemed to embrace the role a bit, coming off of the bench with 15 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes to play. With Crawford having historical issues of becoming quite dejected, this was no doubt a positive sign and if Crawford remains as the team’s 6th Man once the season starts, there aren’t many teams in the nation that can boast a better first-off-of-the bench player. But look for Crawford to eventually regain his starting role as he continues to recover and improve from off-season surgery.
Other as-expected thoughts from the game: Ramel Bradley is clearly the leader of this team, Patrick Patterson likely got the largest ovation of the game and responded in kind with 21 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes of play, and Billy Clyde Gillispie looks like a guy who drinks Michelob Lights in a long neck coozie with a scent of heavy musk and rather short khaki shorts (loafers with no socks, of course) at your 4th of July barbecue.
It was enjoyable to see the boys back on the court again and a lot can be said for the team when a Sophomore and Freshman combined for 55 points (Meeks 34 and Patterson 21) while Senior stalwarts Bradley and Crawford dropped 15 a piece.
The next and final exhibition game for the ‘Cats is Saturday, November 3rd at 8:00PM at Rupp Arena against Seattle.
As some of you ‘TNB’ regulars might remember, I reported on the 12th of June, in an article titled Billy Gillispie: Real Estate Connoisseur, some inside information regarding the housing search for Kentucky’s newest floor general. In the article, I discussed housing and real estate that Gillispie was looking in to that fell within the $2.5 million dollar price range and was located on the outskirts of Lexington, Kentucky.
Well apparently the housing search has ended for Billy Clyde as Kentucky.com is reporting that Coach Billy Clyde has finalized the contract on a $1.45 million dollar house that was purchased on August 2, 2007. And although cheaper than I originally reported, it is clear that Coach Gillispie spared no expense for his personal comfort and is still living on the ‘outter rim’ of the city, as I noted six weeks ago:
Rivals.com is reporting that the University of Kentucky has received a solid verbal from 6′0” PG from DeSoto (TX) God’s Academy, K.C. Ross-Miller. The commitment is said to be on the heels of an unofficial visit to campus this weekend and the decision was reportedly made today (Sunday). Miller is in the 2010 recruiting class and an AAU teammate of uber-recruit Rotnei Clark (4 Star on Rivals.com) who reportedly made an official visit this weekend and is part of the 2008 class. Ross-Miller would join Dakotah Euton in the 2010 class, a class not yet rated and ranked in the Rivals.com database.
At the rate Coach Billy Clyde Gillispie is going there won’t be any good players left for the rest of the nation. More to come as this story develops.
In a move that will definitely be one that bests Kansas University head coach Bill Self, as he was going after the same recruit, University of Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie has landed 5-Star recruit DeAndre Liggins for the 2008 incoming class. Liggins is listed as a six foot, five inch point guard and is the third ranked point guard of the 2008 class and the 18th overall player. This is a huge early commit for Kentucky, a commodity that has seemed to elude the Wildcats in recent history, and will hopefully get the ball rolling for other top tier players to want to add to a 2008 class that is out of the gates in a blaze of glory.
But the implications aren’t just Liggins himself because realize this: in a mere 82-days Billy Clyde Gillispie has locked up a 3-Star recruit (GJ Vilarino - 6′0” PG - 2009 Class), a 4-Star recruit (Alex Legion - 6′5” SG - 2007 Class: #10 at position and #43 overall), and two 5-Star recruits (Patrick Patterson - 6′8” PF - 2007 Class: #3 at position and #17 overall & DeAndre Liggins - 6′5” PG - 2008 Class: #3 at position and #18 overall — not to mention Dakotah Euton - 6′7” PF - 2010 Class: rankings are unavailable this early but he was also being recruited by Florida and Duke).
That is what I call some ‘leg work,’ kudos to Coach Gillispie.
Now that we have defeated Florida and Duke in getting Patterson and now Kansas in getting Liggins, I can see the rest of the coaches across the nation cowering in fear, muttering those famous words that a young Heather O’Rourke, playing Carol Ann Freeling, did in Poltergeist II: The Other Side:
I have a bit of ‘inside information’ from very reliable sources that says University of Kentucky men’s head basketball coach is shopping for real estate in the $2.5-million dollar price range going away from downtown out Winchester Road off of Walnut Grove Lane. With that property price, it seems as if Billy G. is trying out for the new season of MTV’s Cribs, but nonetheless, he has not been able to settle on an exact house.
My theory for his inability to decide on a house is the fact that, with his personality and work ethic, Coach would not be comfortable being that far away from the friendly confines of the Joe Craft Center. I feel that he will either reside in one of the new luxury apartments off of Maxwell Avenue or at the end of Euclid Avenue, very close to campus, or he’ll sleep under his desk in his office eating off of a George Foreman Grill.
It was also suggested that whatever multi-million dollar penthouse Coach Gillispie chooses on top of his local condominium may, in his mind, be a nice place to wine and dine a few big-name recruits. If so, this is just one more in a long line of ingenious recruiting tools Gillispie has concocted in a very short time.
In the end, I hope Coach Gillispie is happy with what he purchases and I will sleep easier at night knowing that “Billy Clyde” will be comfortably accommodated.
Andy Katz of ESPN.com is reporting that Orlando Magic head coach Billy Donovan has reportedly had second thoughts about the job, and has talked to Orlando Magic brass about getting out of his contract and heading back to Florida. Billy had signed a 5 year $27.5 million contract on Thursday to become the Orlando Magic’s new head coach.
He has let the Magic know that he has second thoughts about the job and it is now on Orlando management to decide whether or not to let him go since he is technically under contract with them.
I don’t know if Andy Katz is just reporting this to make Kentucky fans mad, (see article “Andy Katz hates Kentucky” by “The Nasty Boys’” Editor Matt) or if this is really serious but this is crazy if you ask me. He has a chance to make over $5 million a season to coach a team only 2 hours from his home in Gainesville and it’s a playoff team made up of young talent. YOU CANNOT ASK FOR A BETTER SITUATION TO WALK INTO!
If the Magic decide to let him out of his contract and he goes back to Florida, he will NEVER get another chance to coach in the NBA again. And I can also imagine there being A LOT of pissed off UK fans. More on this story as it develops.
Sometimes I find myself praying, almost unconsciously, that University of Florida head basketball coach, Billy Donovan, will finally pull the trigger and make the move to the NBA. I find myself waking up in the morning hoping that the first headline I see when I get on the Internet is “Donovan’s Magic.”
And deep down, I would like to think that Billy D. is heading for Orlando and then, in my own personal reality, recent Florida commit, Jai Lucas, would try, disparately, to get out of his Letter of Intent to Florida. Florida, of course, would oblige and this chain of events would vault Kentucky right back to the forefront for Lucas’s services. Of course this scenario is not nearly as important, or pressing, since Kentucky landed uber-recruit Patrick Patterson and the whole idea of it all is not very probable either.
However, this little scenario, conjured up mainly by my imagination, lead me to one fundamental question: What is the difference between Florida and Kentucky? By this I mean what makes me so sure that Jai Lucas would be dead-set on leaving if Billy Donovan flew the coop, while I was confident everyone would stay with Kentucky even though Tubby Smith departed. After some consideration, I came up with one definitive answer:
Billy Donovan makes Florida a program where Kentucky makes [insert coach] a superstar.
Billy Donovan IS Florida basketball and thus everything relies on his presence. Kentucky, on the other hand, makes it’s coach, and thus is not completely dependent on the presence of any one head coach for success; Kentucky is nearly a self-sufficient program as I outlined in my article “Tools Of The Trade.” Where Billy Donovan came in to Florida to build a program and create his legacy, coaches, save Adolph Rupp, come to Kentucky to merely build on a legacy already in place and to be built in to a superstar by the program itself.
Adolph Rupp set the wheels in motion many years ago and coaches hired at Kentucky are, at times, simply riding the coattails of his legendary success. Coaches at Kentucky are inclined to stay in Lexington because of the history, tradition, and support of the basketball program here in the Bluegrass, on top of fine facilities and a “decent” salary. Donovan’s only inclinations to stay are dollar figures and the possibility that, sometime in the distant future, Billy is looked back upon as a modern-day Rupp for the University of Florida. However, there is no true way of determining how history will remember you, so the only tangible binding factor for Donovan is money, and it is common knowledge that the grass is definitely greener, financially, in the NBA.
Furthermore, continuing with the fundamental differences between the two programs, if Billy Donovan IS Florida and he leaves, it is relatively conceivable that the recruits who came merely to play for him would want to leave as well. However, if a Kentucky coach leaves the players still have the honor and privilege of playing for “Kentucky;” not just the University of Kentucky as a proper noun, but all of the intangibles brought to mind when the word “Kentucky” is spoken in the collegiate basketball world.
Will Billy stay or will Billy go? This is the premier question in the college basketball at this juncture and my heart says he’ll go (wishful thinking), but my gut and instinct says that he’ll stay (the unfortunate reality). Either way, remember this:
Florida’s success in basketball almost completely hinges on the presence, or lack thereof, of Billy Donovan. Whether its this year, next year, or a couple of years down the road, when Billy D. leaves, we may see the fall of a short-lived empire. Whereas Kentucky’s complete dominance may come-and-go in cyclic fashion, it’s success has never hinged on the presence of any one coach to the point where, at times, a coach’s success actually hinges on Kentucky.
Kentucky almost dictates it’s own success over time, name of head coach notwithstanding, and that, my friends, is the true difference between Florida and Kentucky.
Yesterday was the 15th annual Staff Appreciation Day here at the University of Kentucky and seeing as I am an employee of the College of Agriculture I had an open invitation to attend.
It was your normal, run-of-the-mill, mass-staff “appreciation day.” The packaged deal included a free lunch, free bottles of water, and lots of vendors’ booths handing out free advertising memorabilia such as the circular pieces of rubber that are used to “open jars” but never actually get used.
The free food prepared for lunch was, overall, terrible. When they say “there is no such thing as a free lunch,” well they’re right. Try choking down what could pass as a soy burger without cheese or condiments; luckily I was getting paid for my time there. To that point I was nearly down and out, the only comfort that I had was knowing that there were two free t-shirts coming my way as soon as I could track down the booths passing them out and that meant two days longer that I could wait before I had to do my laundry.
And then it happened.
I spotted a giant cardboard sign that read, “Large,” I could only assume that meant sizes of t-shirts and not appetites, so I wondered over there and asked the nice gentleman for a t-shirt, “can I please have a…OH!”
And there stood University of Kentucky head basketball coach Billy Gillispie. It was indeed not an employee, it was none other than Coach Billy G.
Now, despite the fact that I am 23-years-old, let’s be honest, I am still a huge kid and I am easily star-struck by sports personalities. However, I tried to gain my composure because, after all, not only am I a student here at the University of Kentucky, making Coach Gillispie mycoach, I am also an employee here and that makes Billy Gillispie my colleague (different pay scales I’m told).
Additionally, I had to gather myself because, face it, this could be my one moment to introduce myself, my one moment to get that candid interview while no other Press was around. I could ask the tough questions and be the first to break an epic news story; “The Nasty Boys” would vault up the sports-media world. I knew this was it, so I approached Coach Gillispie, free t-shirt in hand, ready to do the exclusive interview and all I could muster was:
“Could you please sign my t-shirt…sir…?”
And he did.
I had blown my one chance at making it big and as he handed my t-shirt back I casually took it in hand and went scurrying off with my tail between my legs.
The level of appreciation I had felt from the University was sub-par prior to this moment, but after my brush with greatness I fully understood how much the University of Kentucky appreciated my hard work. Or maybe I was just in awe of Coach Gillispie and wanting to believe that he’ll remember me forever.
And just like that, it was over. The man who kept the Big Blue Nation on the edge of their seat for days, weeks, months, and even years, finally made his choice: The University of Kentucky. In a mere moment, the losses occurred on “Black Monday” just two days prior were not even a blurb on the radar and almost instantly, were all but forgotten.
There are not words that describe the importance of taking Patrick Patterson from the University of Florida. If Patrick chooses Florida, he joins an already Top-5 recruiting class and leaves Kentucky with their then-ranked recruiting class of 96th. Patterson joins the University of Kentucky and instantly, their recruiting class breaks in to the Top 25 on Rivals.com.
Furthermore, Kentucky went on the national stage with one of the most highly-touted recruits in some time and took down the evil forces of Duke and Florida. This proves, once again, that Kentucky will be a forced to be reckoned with in the recruiting world. Coach Gillispie has truly turned a corner.
Taking a look back at the week’s events, there are some questions worth asking and even if the answers are not apparent, it is interesting to speculate.
What would have happened if Beas Hamga and Michael Sanchez DID commit to Kentucky on Monday? Does a sudden influx of big men affect Patterson’s decision, if even a little? It was a well known opinion that his decision seemed to fluctuate by the minute and it is possible that some facets of “Black Monday” may have helped us.
Considering the unexpectedness of the decisions of Hamga and Sanchez, and seemingly coincidental manner in which the choices were made, it is worth wondering if Coach Gillispie contacted the two, or at minimum Sanchez, and told them “thanks, but no thanks” because a Patterson signature was imminent? Did the Kentucky brass have some sort of comfort about the situation as early as Monday, and that is what lead to all of this?
What happens if Jai Lucas waits to make his decision until AFTER Patterson commits, does he suddenly have a change of heart and makes the move to Lexington? It was well documented that Lucas and Patterson would have liked to play together, but it is possible that Lucas was far more enchanted with the idea than was Patterson. Furthermore, did the Lucas committal to Florida seal the deal for Kentucky because Patterson did not want look like a follower?
These are all fun, interesting questions but at the end of the day I guess it is better to not over think things as we landed Patrick Patterson and we should all just be happy with his decision. It seems as if the biggest reason was family and considering Lexington is just over two hours from Hunington, West Virginia, it will make it easy for Patterson’s friends and family to come watch him play.
Additionally, not enough credit can be given to Coach Gillispie and his staff. According to Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio, during the McDonald’s All-American game, Patrick’s Mother said that Kentucky was then a lame duck with the exit of Coach Tubby Smith. Just over a month later, Gillispie did the recruiting work that usually takes months, if not a year or more. The Big Blue Nation can be thankful to the Patterson family for waiting until the end of recruitment to allow Coach Gillispie to plead his case; and successfully so.
The future looks bright in Lexington as there is now a core to our team, something to build around. Hopefully this is one of many McDonald’s All-Americans that will attend Kentucky under the tutelage of Billy Gillispie and know this:
Remember my little article, Dick Drops The Ball? Well to refresh your memory quickly, the Dick Vitale article was quoted:
“It would give Kentucky a big lift to add these talented players. Gillispie’s club will have the likes of Joe Crawford and Jamal Bradley, plus a star in the making in Jamal Meeks.”
Well in an ESPN.com article from today, Andy Katz calls Ramel Bradley, “Jamel Bradley,” and yet again I am convinced that Andy Katz and ESPN hate the University of Kentucky.
Reread the aforementioned article about Dick Vitale to get my thoughts on Andy Katz. Unbelievable.
Jamal Bradley? Jamel Bradley? Just call him “Smooth.”
Matt
Charlie Hustle
Condo
Doc Hancock
Bob Swerski
Vega
