Nov. 19, 2001
By STEVE BAILEY – AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – It doesn’t take Kentucky guard Keith Bogans long torattle off college basketball’s most devastating 1-2 punch.
“No doubt, that would be Tayshaun and me,” Bogans says before the questionis complete. “And as soon as the season starts, we’re going to showeverybody.”
Tayshaun is Tayshaun Prince, preseason All-American and reigningSoutheastern Conference player of the year. Together, he and Bogans share asimple goal – bringing an eighth national title to Kentucky.
“There’s no question we have the talent to challenge for a championship,”said Prince, a 6-foot-9 senior who averaged 16.9 points, 6.5 rebounds andjust under three assists per game last season. “We’re solid outside andwe’ve got a lot of threats inside. It’s nice to have that kind of team tocome back to.”
Popular culture is full of dynamic duos. Batman and Robin. Abbott andCostello. Thelma and Louise.
Now, Prince and Bogans.
“In my opinion, Kentucky is the best team in the country,” Florida coachBilly Donovan said. “They have great depth, size and two players in Princeand Bogans who really understand how to play.”
Kentucky fans breathed a sigh of relief – and SEC coaches certainly cursedto themselves – when Prince and Bogans withdrew their names from lastsummer’s NBA draft and returned to Lexington.
The pair combined to score 43 percent of the Wildcats’ points last season,making big shot after big shot as the team advanced to the East Regionalsemifinals where it lost to USC. That loss has Prince and Bogans looking forredemption.
“It left a bad taste in all of our mouths,” said Bogans, a 6-5 junior wholed the Wildcats in scoring last year at 17 points per game. “We know wedidn’t play as well as we were capable of playing against Southern Cal.”With Tay and me back, we feel like this is our time to win a championship.”
The two couldn’t be any more different on the court. Prince is a lanky, laid-back California native with a sweet stroke from theoutside, a silky smooth baby hook shot and a tendency to lead by example.Bogans is a more physical, fiery leader likely to put his head down anddrive to the basket through traffic or dribble around teammates on theperimeter to create just enough space to launch a 3-pointer.
“Keith’s scoring mentality is unbelievable,” Prince said. “When he gets hot,he’s going to hit from anywhere on the court. Sometimes you really have totry hard not to just get him the ball and watch.”
Bogans said the two make each other better players. “He’s the best player in the country,” Bogans said. “He may not be asemotional or vocal as some guys, but if he wants to make a point or takeover a game, he’s going to do it. He’s the whole package.”
Coach Tubby Smith is just glad to have his prolific pair in blue and whitefor at least one more season.
“Getting those two back was pretty big,” Smith said. “But it didn’t reallysurprise me at all that they decided to return. I didn’t think they wereready, but I told them they needed to investigate and decide forthemselves.”
Prince knew all along he wanted to return but put his name out there to seehow he stacked up against the nation’s top players.
“If I’m not 100 percent about something, I won’t do it,” he said. “Even ifthere’s just 1 percent doubt, I’m not going to do it.”
Bogans played in a pre-draft camp in Chicago before deciding to return forhis junior season.
“I had a great opportunity to come back to college and win a nationalchampionship,” he said. “There’s no place that has better fans thanKentucky. They have great teams here every year and more attention and mediacoverage than any school in the country. Who wouldn’t want to come back andbe a part of that?”
The common bond the pair share as stars has forged a friendship that likelywill last far beyond their stay at Kentucky.
“Keith and I have a great relationship,” Prince said. “We don’t focus on whogets more attention because everybody here gets attention. What’s importantis that teams can’t key on just one of us.”
“Tayshaun and me have always gotten along and our relationship is veryclose,” Bogans said. “If he sees me doing something wrong, he can scream atme and I know he’s doing it to help me. It’s the same if I say something tohim.”
Both agreed that they won’t be satisfied with anything less than a nationalchampionship. That quest begins Thursday night against Western Kentucky.”Our fans always have high expectations,” Bogans said. “But this year, noone’s expectations are higher than our own.”
