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The pages of the Kentucky Kernel for Oct. 16, 2009. (A Section - Big Blue Madness preview)
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BIG BLUE MADNESS CELEBRATING 38 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 WWW.KYKERNEL.COM First issue free. Subsequent issues 25 cents. Newsroom: 257-1915; Advertising: 257-2872 PREVIEW A
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Page 1: 091016Kernelinprint

BIG BLUE MADNESSCELEBRATING 38 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCEFRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 WWW.KYKERNEL.COM

First issue free. Subsequent issues 25 cents. Newsroom: 257-1915; Advertising: 257-2872

PREVIEW

A

Page 2: 091016Kernelinprint

PAGE A2 | Friday, October 16, 2009

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Th i s weekend on ly !

Star recruits visiting forBig Blue Madness

By Metz [email protected]

When it comes to recruiting, thereare certain styles, visits and personalities thatclick for prospects. At Big Blue Madness, UKhead coach John Calipari and the rest of theCats are hoping that certain something clicksfor everyone in attendance.

Big Blue Madness is a practice put on un-like any other.

There’s a grand entrance of the head coachand team, a dunk contest and a scrimmage thatcould be considered one of the most relaxedgames of five-on-five UK will play this year.

For basketball recruits attending Big BlueMadness, this isn’t their typical campus visit.The everyday, run-of-the-mill practice or pick-up game taking place on the practice courtisn’t there. They won’t see the coach croucheddown, barking out orders in his normal prac-tice mindset. They’ll see the program and itsfans in a mood of sheer glee.

Though it’s a visit unlike any other theywill take, Jerry Meyer, a national college bas-ketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, saidthe impact an event like Big Blue Madnesshas on a recruit depends on personality.

“Some get into the ‘rah-rah’ stuff, somedon’t,” Meyer said. “If they’re captivated bythe event, it could be influential. Some aremore methodical in their approach. Some aremore influenced by the academic personneland the thought of getting their degrees.”

While recruits are constantly attendinggames and fans take opportunities to impress,Big Blue Madness is always a little different.In attendance will be some of the most prizedrecruits in the country.

Among the recruits expected to be in atten-dance are class of 2010 prospects TobiasHarris, Kyrie Irving and C.J. Leslie; the No. 5,No. 9 and No. 14 ranked players, respectively,in the country, according to Rivals.com. Also

expected to be in attendance are 2011 prospectsMike Gilchrist, Quincy Miller and AchrafYacoubou; the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 76 rankedplayers, respectively, according to Rivals.com.

In addition, Friday will be fans’ firstchance to be formally introduced to UK headcoach John Calipari, who has been makingheadlines weekly outside the court. The com-bination of the high-profile recruits scheduledto attend and Calipari’s introduction has made2009 one of the most anticipated Big BlueMadness events at UK since its inception in1982.

Two years ago current UK basketball play-ers John Wall, Jon Hood and Darius Miller,among others, attended Big Blue Madness. In2008, Hood was in attendance again, alongwith another current Cat, 6-foot-10 forwardDaniel Orton. Orton, who was ranked a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, committed to UKthe day after Big Blue Madness.

Meyer said Big Blue Madness is one ofthe best madness-type events in the countryand that it competes with the other elite pro-grams in how well it’s put on. Meyer saidwhat recruits look for in an event like thisvaries from person to person. However, onecommon denominator that plays a key role inthe eyes of recruits is the interaction of every-one present.

“They’re going to take it all in,” Meyersaid. “Anytime a recruit steps on campus he’sstudying the player-coach interactions, theplayers by themselves and what they’re like,the fans interactions, and the interactionsamong the fans, players and coach.”

Though only a glorified scrimmage, Mey-er said Big Blue Madness will present the re-cruits with a unique opportunity to see the dif-ferent parts of the program all on display atonce.

“The event will be more emotional, energypacked and exciting than probably any othervisit,” Meyer said.

TOBIASHARRIS

MIKEGILCHRIST

KYRIEIRVING

QUINCYMILLER

C.J. LESLIE

ACHRAFYACOUBOU

Power forwardHeight: 6’8”Weight: 220 lbsClass: 20105-star (No. 5overall)

Shooting guardHeight: 6’3”Weight: 200 lbsClass: 20114-star (No. 76overall)

Power forwardHeight: 6’8”Weight: 193 lbsClass: 20115-star (No. 3overall)

Small forwardHeight: 6’6”Weight: 190 lbsClass: 20115-star (No. 1overall)

Point GuardHeight: 6’2”Weight: 175 lbsClass: 20105-star (No. 9overall)

Power forwardHeight: 6’8”Weight: 205 lbsClass: 20105-star (No. 14overall)

All rankings and information received from Rivals.com

Recruits in attendance

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Friday, October 16, 2009 | PAGE A3

Big Blue Madness continues CalimaniaI wasn’t around for Beatlemania. It

sure sounded like fun, though.Hysterical fans waiting at airports,

crying. Hystericalfans watching TheBeatles in concert,crying.

Hysterical fansdrooling over wordof print and secondof broadcast with anyregard to theirbeloved Fab Four.

Is living in Lex-ington right now allthat different?

On March 31,some of the loudest-and-proudest UKfans — fans that would put teenage girlBeatles fans to shame — showed up atBlue Grass Airport on a cold, rainy day,just to catch a glimpse of the man appar-ently pegged to lead their program backto “where it should be.”

Fans stayed at Blue Grass for hoursafter the sun had gone down, the rainhad picked up and word had spread thatnew head coach John Calipari had notonly signed his contract, but had doneso after landing at R.J. Corman’s privateairstrip in Nicholasville.

Still, many stuck around for a while,talking to each other about basketball,starting some of Rupp Arena’s favoritechants, and breathing fresh air after a

short, odd, suffocating Billy Gillispie era.That was only the start of Calimania.

Once the fans claimed the air, they movedswiftly to The Final Frontier: the Internet.

On April 23, Coach Cal registeredhis Twitter account. Less than six monthslater, Cal has over 860,000 followers.

He’s the most-followed coach, proor college, and the eighth most-followedsports figure on Twitter.

Calipari’s Twitter account has yieldedhundreds of thousands to create their ownTwitter account, just so they can see whattheir coach is up to on any given day.

And Cal’s tweets now fuel hundredsof blogs, thousands of message boardposts and millions of basketball-famishedfans trying to kill time in the offseason.

It seems lost in it all, but Calipariand his hysterical fans are all fueled byone thing: basketball.

Even if nothing happens at Big BlueMadness — and nothing really does —the Calimaniacs will flock to Rupp Arenaon Friday to catch a first look at the newcoach and 13 players that will dominatetheir minds and dictate their emotions anddinner plans for the next seven months.

Sure, the fans that camped out to getMadness tickets — certainly some ofthe elite Calimaniacs — already haveseen Cal and the team up close and per-sonal, handing out breakfast treats andstaging cornhole tournaments. But theteam’s true unveiling is Friday.

And fans will be — and I try not touse this word lightly — crazy. Most willleave Rupp on Friday night without anyvoice to speak of.

Fans will bring their entire families,even the little ones born since Calipariwas hired, just to say they were there ona night when nothing happens, otherthan a few hokey videos and a fun-but-minimal-effort dunk contest.

Why all the trouble for an eventbilled as a practice, though the teamdoesn’t even really practice?

Because these members of the BigBlue Nation, the Calimaniacs, feel theyhave to. And as long as Calipari is intown, energizing the troops through hisinspirational tweet of the week and anyother method he may employ throughouthis tenure, fans will keep coming out.

If the scene at the airport this Marchwas wild, what will it be in April if theCats are flying back from the Final Four?

Surely fans would be hystericalwhile waiting for the team, maybe somewill even be crying. Already, those fanswould be itching for that next game anddrooling over every ounce of Cats cov-erage available.

I guess it’s oddly fitting “John”refers to both Lennon and Calipari.

James Pennington is a journalismsenior. E-mail [email protected].

JAMESPENNINGTON

Kernelcolumnist

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PAGE A4 | Friday, October 16, 2009

By Nick [email protected]

The UK women’s basketballcoaching staff has gone above andbeyond state boundaries, scouringthe nation for the top recruits, andthis season is shaping up to be nodifferent.

“Our recruiting philosophy iswe start in Lexington and then workour way out,” UK head coachMatthew Mitchell said. “We try todo a good job in the state, and makesure we’re doing a good job region-ally, then one of the real benefits wehave being at UK and being associ-ated with great basketball is that itgives a national presence that allowsus to go after the best players in thecountry.”

That was evident last year, asUK picked up a commitment fromone of the nation’s best prospectslast season, guard A’dia Mathies, theNo. 65 recruit in the country, ac-cording to ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz.Mitchell described Mathies as “oneof the best players to come out ofKentucky in many years.”

In addition to Mathies, UKpicked up commitments from AnnaCole from Wisconsin and BrittanyHenderson from California and No.46 prospect Jeniece Johnson, ac-cording to HoopGurlz, who has de-ferred her enrollment at UK untilthe spring of 2010.

The path of UK’s recruiting trailreaffirms Mitchell’s belief that a re-cruit’s distance from the UK campusdoes not stop the UK coaching stafffrom targeting the players they de-sire.

“If a team only goes after thetop recruits they’re shooting them-

selves in the foot,” said ChrisHansen, the national director ofprospects for ESPN’s HoopGurlz. “Isee no harm in UK staying in therace (for top recruits) as long as pos-sible, if (UK) takes care of theirbusiness in-state.”

Hansen added that UK has beena “bridesmaid” in several of the bat-tles for blue-chip recruits, butshould be able to get a player “whomakes a good recruiting class agreat class” in the near future, possi-bly even this season.

With Big Blue Madness quicklyapproaching, the Cats certainly hopeto sway potential recruits into seeingtheir future on the court at MemorialColiseum.

“What I think (Big Blue Mad-ness) can do is if it’s your first expo-sure, on an unofficial visit, it’s agreat way to see the passion forKentucky basketball,” Mitchell said.“If it’s a player who we have devel-oped a relationship with then theyget to experience what we’ve beentelling them.”

Mitchell added that Big BlueMadness is not a substitute for allthe time and effort required to de-velop a relationship with a recruit.Instead, Big Blue Madness acts as atool that might solidify a recruit’sdecision.

Jennifer O’Neill, a 5-foot-6point guard at Saint Michael Acade-my in New York City, and the No.30 prospect in the Class of 2010,will be visiting UK for Big BlueMadness, according to HoopGurlz.

O’Neill’s decision is likely tofollow soon after this weekend, thelast of her official visits, having tak-en trips to California and Georgiaalready.

UK is also in the mix for anoth-er point guard from the EmpireState, Bria Hartley, the No. 14prospect, according to HoopGurlz.

Hansen describes O’Neill andHartley as “program-changing kids”should UK be able to land one, orboth, of them in the ultra-competi-tive New York City recruiting scene.

So far, UK has verbal commit-ments from Nelson County HighSchool (Ky.) center SamanthaDrake, the No. 74 prospect, accord-ing to HoopGurlz, fellow Kentuck-ian Sara Beth Barnette and Maegan

Conwright, a point guard from Ar-lington, Texas.

Aside from Big Blue Madness,Mitchell sees UK’s 10 televisedgames this season as a prime oppor-tunity to reach out to non-localprospects.

“When people see a gamebroadcast from Memorial Coliseumand see that we are one of the topteams in the country in attendance,and they can see the players they’dbe playing with and the style ofplay, that’s a huge recruiting advan-tage,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell added that UK’s recordof five straight post-season appear-ances has also helped entice recruitsto view the program in a positiveway. And he said he can’t understatethe initial buzz UK head coach JohnCalipari has made in getting UK’sname national media attention.

“It’s a special time to be in-volved in this program,” Mitchellsaid. “The conditions are right forsome of the top players in the coun-try to come in and make a big differ-ence and take us to a level we’venever previously been.”

UK hoops sets sights on nation’s top recruits

STAFF FILE PHOTOUK women’s basketball head coach Matthew Mitchell makes his entrance at Big Blue Madness last year. Mitchell and hisstaff have targeted some of the country’s top players in recent years.

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Friday, October 16, 2009 | PAGE A5

Date Opponent Time TV

Oct. 28 Blue/White Game 7 p.m. FS South/BBSN

Nov. 2 Campbellsville 7 p.m. FS South

Nov. 6 Clarion 7 p.m. FS South

Nov. 13 Morehead State 6:30 p.m. ESPNU

Nov. 16 Miami University 7 p.m. FS South/BBSN

Cancun ChallengeNov. 19 vs. Sam Houston State 7 p.m. FS South

Nov. 21 vs. Rider 1 p.m. FS South

Nov. 24 vs. Cleveland State 4:30 p.m. TBD

Nov. 25 vs. Stanford/Virginia 7/9:30 PM TBD

Nov. 30 vs. UNC Asheville (at Louisville) 7 p.m. FS South

Dec. 5 North Carolina 12:30 p.m. CBS

SEC/Big East InvitationalDec. 9 vs. Connecticut 9:30 p.m. ESPN

Dec. 12 at Indiana 12 p.m. CBS

Dec. 19 Austin Peay 4 p.m. CSS

Dec. 21 Drexel 7 p.m. ESPNU

Dec. 23 Long Beach State 1 p.m. FS South

Dec. 29 Hartford 7 p.m. ESPN2

Jan. 2 Louisville 3:30 p.m. CBS

Jan. 9 Georgia 4 p.m. SEC Network

Jan. 12 at Florida 9 p.m. ESPN

Jan. 16 at Auburn 4 p.m. SEC Network

Jan. 23 Arkansas 4 p.m. SEC Network

Jan. 26 at South Carolina 9 p.m. ESPN

Jan. 30 Vanderbilt 4 p.m. ESPN

Feb. 2 Ole Miss 7 p.m. ESPN

Feb. 6 at LSU 4 p.m. SEC Network

Feb. 9 Alabama 9 p.m. ESPNU

Feb. 13 Tennessee 9 p.m. ESPN

Feb. 16 at Mississippi State 9 p.m. ESPN

Feb. 20 at Vanderbilt 6 p.m. ESPN

Feb. 25 South Carolina 9 p.m. ESPN or ESPN2

Feb. 27 at Tennessee 12 p.m. CBS

March 3 at Georgia 8 p.m. SEC Network

March 7 Florida 12 p.m. CBS

SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.)March 11 SEC Tournament First Round TBA SEC Network

March 12 SEC Tournament Quarterfinals TBA SEC Network

March 13 SEC Tournament Semifinals TBA ABC

March 14 SEC Tournament Finals TBA ABC

Men’s Schedule

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PAGE A6 | Friday, October 16, 2009

Players out to help recruiting after watching MadnessBy Metz Camfield

[email protected]

It can mean all the difference in the worldfor a recruit.

That’s the impression the UK men’s bas-ketball team gave when talking about BigBlue Madness. In one of the most elaborately-planned practices in the country, some of thecountry’s best high school basketballprospects will see the “Mecca” of college bas-ketball dressed up for a good time.

When the Cats take the court for the firsttime on Friday night, the basketball team willbe suited up to put on a show for 24,000 rabidfans, and numerous recruits in search of whereto play their college ball.

“It can have a big impact,” freshman pointguard John Wall said. “I think that’s one of theways you can get somebody to sign. You seehow the fans support — I mean it’s probablygoing to be cold (Friday) night and they’re go-ing to come out there with their shirts off andKentucky painted on them. And then see howwe play as a team and how the offense is runand how crazy the fans are. That can getsomebody to commit.”

Wall, then the No. 1 recruit in the countryaccording to Rivals.com, was in attendancetwo years ago for Big Blue Madness. As a re-cruit searching for what school to attend, Wallsaid it was “crazy” just to be in the stands see-ing all the fans cheering on their team likethey did. Now, as a member of that team, andone of the most popular players on that team,Wall said there will be a big difference, partlybecause instead of being recruited, he’s the re-cruiter.

“I’m basically just trying to bring peopleon with me,” Wall said. “I’m trying to bringthe next best point guard, the next best playersin the country to come here and keep this tra-dition going. Since this is the school I cameto, Kentucky, I don’t want them to start slack-ing off and not getting those good players andnot keep getting better.”

While this recruiting class is billed as one

of the best in college basketball history bymany college basketball recruiting analysts, itdoesn’t mean they’re all immune to gettingnervous.

Freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins,also known as Big Cuz and Dancing Bear,said he was nervous for the event.

“It’s crazy … 24,000 (people for a prac-tice),” Cousins said. “I’m gonna go have fun.I’m anxious to go out there.”

Junior forward Patrick Patterson, sopho-more guard Darius Miller, and freshmanguards Jon Hood and forward Daniel Ortonwere all high school prospects that attendedBig Blue Madness.

“Once you come for Madness you seeeverything that Kentucky has to offer from abasketball standpoint, you can just come hereright off the bat,” Patterson said. “I knowwhen the recruits come down (the steps) andthe fans start screaming their names they’ll belike ‘How does he know me? I don’t knowhim.’ Their mouths are going to drop, they’rejust going to be amazed and it’s just more rea-son for them to come.”

Big Blue Madness will be different thisyear, UK head coach John Calipari said. Forone, he said he will talk to the crowd, some-thing he won’t do as much in the future be-cause he wants events like this to be moreabout the players. He also said there will be asurprise guest along with the normal dunkroutine and scrimmage.

With the record setting number of peoplethat camped out to attain Big Blue Madnesstickets, Calipari and the players said they wantto show them a good time and show themhow much they appreciate their support.

“It’s the perfect picture,” Wall said. “Tosee all those fans sitting outside when it’sfreezing cold, and it’s raining outside andthey’re in their tents just eating food, just sit-ting there waiting to get their tickets to BigBlue Madness. It’s great. I love the fans hereand I’m glad that I chose this school.

“I’d camp out too to see this team play if Iwas one of them.”

PHOTOS BY ADAM WOLFFBRANDT | STAFFAbove: Junior forward Patrick Patterson attended Big Blue Madness when he was a senior in highschool. Below: Freshman point guard John Wall said he’ll be trying to recruit the next great UK playerwith his performance at Big Blue Madness.

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Friday, October 16, 2009 | PAGE A7

Women’s scheduleDate Opponent Time TV

Nov. 9 Blue & White Scrimmage TBA

Nov. 13 Boston University 11 a.m.

Nov. 15 Butler 1 p.m. BBSN/FSN

Nov. 17 at Morehead State 7 p.m.

Nov. 22 UT Chattanooga 6 p.m.

Nov. 25 at UC Santa Barbara 3 p.m.

Nov. 28 McNeese State TBA

Dec. 1 Miami (OH) 7 p.m.

Dec. 4 at Cincinnati 11 a.m.

Dec. 13 Florida A&M 1 p.m. BBSN/FSN

Dec. 20 Louisville 1 p.m. BBSN/FSN

Dec. 22 UT Martin 7 p.m.

Dec. 28 at Middle Tennessee State 8 p.m.

Jan. 1 Mississippi Valley State 7 p.m.

Jan. 7 at Georgia 7 p.m.

Jan. 10 Vanderbilt 1 p.m. BBSN/FSN

Jan. 14 at South Carolina 7 p.m.

Jan. 17 Alabama 2 p.m. SEC Network

Jan. 21 Arkansas 7 p.m.

Jan. 24 Auburn 2 p.m. SEC Network

Jan. 28 at LSU 8 p.m.

Jan. 31 at Mississippi State 3 p.m.

Feb. 4 Ole Miss 7 p.m. BBSN/FSN

Feb. 7 at Arkansas 3 p.m.

Feb. 11 Georgia 7 p.m. FSN

Feb. 14 at Vanderbilt 6 p.m. ESPNU

Feb. 18 Florida 7 p.m.

Feb. 21 South Carolina 2 p.m.

Feb. 25 at Tennessee 7 p.m. FSN

Feb. 28 at Auburn 3 p.m.

SEC Tournament (Duluth, Ga.)March 4 SEC Tournament TBA

March 5 SEC Tournament TBA

March 6 SEC Tournament TBA

March 7 SEC Tournament TBA

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PAGE A8 | Friday, October 16, 2009

By Ben [email protected]

For each of the last twoyears, a relative unknown hastransformed himself into ascrimmage superstar duringBig Blue Madness.

Unheralded recruitMorakinyo Williams shinedin 2007. Matthew Pilgrim, atransfer player who had to sitout last season, wowed fanswith his performance in 2008.Teammates pegged seniorguard Mark Krebs, a formerwalk-on, as a candidate tobreak out in this year’s scrim-mage at Big Blue Madness.

Krebs registered just 25minutes all of last season, butsurvived the housecleaningnew UK head coach JohnCalipari did when all the oth-er walk-ons were cut after hisarrival.

“The past three years, hehasn’t been playing much,”senior forward Perry Steven-son said. “But he’s gotten awhole lot better.”

Even though he fits themold of a Big Blue Madnessbreakout star, he was still sur-prised that his teammateschose him as the leading can-didate to exceed expectationsin the scrimmage.

“I hope I surprise (thefans),” Krebs said. “I do thesame thing every time. I justtry to go out and have fun andplay as hard as I can and I hopeeverything works out, but I’mglad they said that about me.”

Junior forward Josh Har-rellson named some moreconventional candidates asplayers who could shine Fri-day night. He said highly-touted freshmen John Walland DeMarcus Cousinsshould put up impressive per-

formances.Krebs accepted the praise

from his teammates eventhough the distinction of beinga standout at Big Blue Mad-ness might be considered adubious honor: Williams sawlittle playing time in his fresh-man season before transfer-ring to Duquesne and Pilgrimleft the program for OklahomaState after last season beforehe even became eligible toplay for the Cats.

But Krebs wasn’t worriedabout that, and neither werehis teammates.

“I think that’s a coinci-dence,” Stevenson said.“(Krebs) will be here.”

For a Kentucky native

like Krebs, any time he getson the court at Rupp Arena isspecial. He approaches everygame, practice or scrimmagethe same.

“It’s the most amazingthing to see so many fans outthere to see you,” Krebs said.“It’s so awesome to see that.”

Krebs’ plan is to go outand enjoy himself. Afterworking as a walk-on forthree years and finally earn-ing his place on the team, hebrings a different perspectivethan any of the returning starsor hyped freshmen.

“I’ve always got the samephilosophy,” Krebs said. “ Ijust go out there and havefun.”

STAFF FILE PHOTOForward Matthew Pilgrim impressed fans at last year’s Big BlueMadness but never saw the court for the Cats.

Former walk-on top choice forthis year’s Madness superstar

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Friday, October 16, 2009 | PAGE A9

ESPNU selects UK as part of coveragefor Midnight Madness special

UK fans who didn’t camp out fordays waiting on Big Blue Madnesstickets won’t have to miss out afterall.

ESPNU has selected UK as one ofnine schools to be showcased for its an-nual Midnight Madness special on Fri-day.

ESPNU will broadcast its MidnightMadness special from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.,and ESPN2 will show a simulcast ofthe ESPNU coverage from 11:30 p.m.to midnight.

Along with UK, North Carolina,Duke, Georgetown, Washington, Con-necticut, Michigan State, Kansas andNorth Dakota State will be showcased

in the special. ESPNU will providelook-ins of each event along with inter-views of coaches and players fromacross the nation as part of the basket-ball special.

Dave LaMont and Jimmy Dykeswill be ESPNU’s commentators atRupp Arena.

Big Blue Madness to bestreamed live

UK athletics will stream Big BlueMadness live on UKathletics.com. Itwill also be televised on the Big BlueSports Network.

Fans will be able to access thestreaming broadcasts free of charge.

Army ROTC to give away BBM T-shirts

UK Army ROTC will give away500 special edition UK basketball T-shirts before Big Blue Madness.

Shirts will be available in the ArmyROTC department of Barker Hall toanyone with a ticket to Big Blue Mad-ness. There will also be 200 shirtsavailable at Big Blue Madness. Fanswho are not on campus can get shirts atthe US Army office on 112 S. MountTabor Road.

There will also be a table on theconcourse at Rupp Arena where fanscan enter to win prizes.

— BEN JONES

October 1982 — Madness debuts at UK as “Midnight Special.”

1985 — The Eddie Sutton era is introduced.

1989 — The Rick Pitino era is introduced.

1991 — The Cats are eligible for postseason play for the first time under Pitino after beingplaced on probation by the NCAA on May 19, 1989. All four recruits who attended Madnessthat year — Rodrick Rhodes, Jared Prickett, Tony Delk and Walter McCarty — verbally com-mitted to UK the following week.

1995 — Seniors McCarty and Delk scale down on ropes from high above dressed as “Catman” and Robin.The two seniors would help lead the Cats to their sixth national championship later in the season.

1997 — The Tubby Smith era is introduced. Smith made his appearance in the seconddeck of the arena. Smith wound up guiding the Cats to their seventh national champi-onship that year and second in the last three years.

2000 — Tickets were offered on the Internet for the first time. All 700 were distributed in 13 minutes.

2001 — UK celebrates Big Blue Madness’ 20th anniversary.

2002 — UK celebrated its 100th season of basketball. Beloved equipment manager Bill Keightley poppedout of a giant birthday cake and many UK legends were introduced to the crowd.

2003 — For the first time, new women’s basketball head coach Mickie DeMoss is introducedat Big Blue Madness.

2005 — Big Blue Madness is held at Rupp Arena for the first time. 23,000 tickets weredistributed in less than 48 hours and Big Blue Nation set a national attendance record fora practice.

2007 — The Billy Gillispie era is introduced as giant white curtains were droppedfrom the center of the court to reveal Gillispie standing in the middle. The

event was televised live throughout the region on FSN South.

Information courtesy of UK athletics

Big Blue Madness through the years

kernel. we do it daily.

Send your Big Blue Madness photos to [email protected]

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PAGE A10 | Friday, October 16, 2009

AND THE MADNESS BEGINS

STAFF FILE PHOTOJunior forward Patrick Patterson is introduced to the Rupp Arena crowd as he runs through a line ofteammates.

STAFF FILE PHOTOJunior point guard Amber Smith dribbles past a Georgia defender last season.