Jamaal Magloire andthe Wildcats tip offagainst the California All-Stars Tuesday at RuppArena.

Men’s basketball hosts California All-Stars in first preseason game.

LEXINGTON, Kty – The Kentucky Wildcats, the winningest team of the 20th century, take another step toward the start of their 97th season of basketball when they tip off against the California All-Stars in the first of two preseason exhibition games.

UK, which earned an Elite Eight berth last season before falling to Michigan State in the Midwest Region final, started practice on Oct. 16 with its annual Midnight Madness festivities. Now, the Wildcats will face a collection of former college basketball players as they prepare for the start of the regular season — a first-round Preseason NIT matchup with Penn at Rupp Arena in 15 days.

It’s the start of the third season of the Coach Tubby Smith era. Smith has led the Wildcats to a 63-13 record in his first two seasons, which included:

a 1998 NCAA Championship;

two Southeastern Conference Tournament Championships;

a 1998 SEC crown.

Overall, Smith is beginning his ninth season as a head coach with a 187-75 record on his resume.

CALIFORNIA SOUTH ALL-STARS
vs.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS

Exhibition Game
Nov. 2, 1999 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (23,000) – Lexington, Ky.

UK Radio Network — 6:30 p.m. ET Ralph Hacker, Sam Bowie, Dave Baker

UKTV — Delay (Check local listings) Rob Bromley, Martin Newton, Dick Gabriel

Kentucky’s Probable Starters

No. Name            Pos.  Ht.  Wt.  Cl.  Ppg  Rpg  Hometown21  Tayshaun Prince G/F   6-9  215  So.  5.8  3.8  Compton, Calif.40  Jules Camara    F     6-11 223  So.  4.4  3.2  Dakar, Senegal42  Jamaal Magloire C     6-10 260  Sr.  7.0  4.4  Toronto, Ontario11  Saul Smith      G     6-2  175  Jr.  5.0 *1.6  Athens, Ga.32  Desmond Allison G/F   6-5  206  Fr.  4.7  2.0  Tampa, Fla.

Stats from the 1998-99 season
* Assists per game

Tickets Available

Tickets remain for the UK-California All-Stars exhibition game. The upper arena seats are $15 each and can be purchased at the Rupp Arena box office or the Memorial Coliseum ticket office. Tickets can be charged with a Visa or MasterCard by calling 800-928-CATS or 606-233-3535.

Seats also can be purchased for the Athletes In Action contest (Nov.11) and the first two Preseason NIT games (Nov. 17 & 19) should the Cats advance.

All-Stars Tour

The California South All-Stars are opening their 10-game tour in Lexington against the Wildcats. The team comprised of former college basketball players will face three UK opponents on their ’99 tour — Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and Florida.

Nov. 2  at KentuckyNov. 5  at ClemsonNov. 6  at VanderbiltNov. 9  at Georgia TechNov. 10 at NebraskaNov. 11 at Texas A&MNov. 12 at FloridaNov. 14 at Florida StateNov. 15 at South FloridaNov. 16 at Texas

The All-Stars

At least three of the California All-Stars played against the Wildcats during their college careers — Eddie Shannon of Florida, Troy Smith and B.J. Flynn of Louisville.

No. Name                Ht     University (Yr.)10  Eddie Shannon      5-10    Florida '995   James Mosley       6-3     Masters College '9821  Shaddrick Jenkins  6-3     South Florida '9923  David Morris       6-5     Prairie View A&M '8731  Derrick Higgins    6-5     Cal State-Northridge '9833  Keith Higgins      6-6     Cal State-Northridge '9744  Mark Sanford       6-9     Washington42  Kenyatta Clyde     6-8     Southern Utah '9950  Robert Conlisk     7-1     Arizona State '9555  Cornelius Holden   6-8     Louisville '92    B.J. Flynn         6-2     Louisville '97

Coach: Pete Cassidy
Assistant Coach: Ramon Laconico

Less Experience… Youthful Talent

Seven of the 11 Wildcats are freshmen and sophomores on the ’99-2000 roster. UK lost its top four scorers, its top three rebounders and its top three assists men. The Cats’ leading returning scorer and rebounder is senior Jamaal Magloire, who averaged 7.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg, while the leading returning assist man is Saul Smith, who averaged 1.6 apg last season. The only returning starter is Desmond Allison.

Returning production includes:

Points: 35.8%
Rebounds: 38.9%
Assists: 33.1 %
Blocks: 63.8%
Steals: 37.8%

Rule Changes

Timeout format for radio/TV games — five 30 second timeouts for the game. The first called by either team will be 75 seconds. Four timeouts can be carried over to the 2nd half. In overtime, an additional timeout will be granted. TV timeouts will continue to occur after the 16-, 12-, 8- and 4-minute marks.

The “held-ball rule” was rescinded after one season. Now, all held balls will be awarded according to the possession arrow.

Uniform numbers “1” and “2” are now legal.

A three-foot coaching line will extend onto the floor to enable the officials to clearly monitor the coach’s box.

After a double foul, the team in possession of the ball at that time shall have the opportunity to put the ball in play from a spot nearest to where the foul occurred. Previously, the possession arrow was used.

Administrative technical fouls now include artificial noisemakers during a live ball and the use of a laser pointers by a fan at any time.

Points of emphasis: calling the intentional foul, particularly in the closing minutes, rough, low-post play, rough play away from the ball, palming and the coaching box.

Team of the Century

The Wildcats own an unparalleled tradition of success. Since 1903, the University of Kentucky has fielded 96 basketball teams. The first national championship was an NIT title in 1946. The first NCAA Championship came in 1948 and the latest, No. 7, occurred in 1998. No other program can claim the unparalleled success that matches the Wildcats’ efforts throughout the century.

For example, the Cats:

Have won seven national titles (1948, ’49, ’51, ’58, ’78, ’96, ’98);

Are the all-time winningest team in college basketball.

1. Kentucky        1,7482. North Carolina  1,7333. Kansas          1,688

Own the highest all-time winning percentage of any team in college basketball — 76.4% (1,748-538-1);

Have three NCAA runner-up trophies;

Have made 13 appearances in the Final Four;

Have made a national-record 40 NCAA tournament appearances;

Won 39 SEC Championships;

Won 22 SEC Tournament titles.

Team of the Decade

Kentucky staked its claim for the title of “Team of the Decade’ during the 1990s. Only two NCAA Division I schools can claim two national titles during the last 10 years, UK and Duke.

NCAA Championships          2Final Four Appearances      4NCAA Runner-up              1NCAA Tourney Record        31-6 (8)NCAA Tourney Winning %     83.8%Decade Wins               282Decade Winning %           81.7%30-Win Seasons              4Losing Seasons              0AP Top-10 Finishes          9All-Americans               3NBA Draft Picks (1st Rd.)  10 (8)SEC Championships           3SEC Tournament Titles       7

Rupp Arena

The Kentucky Wildcats will begin their 24th season of basketball at Rupp Arena when they take the floor against Penn in the Preseason NIT on Nov. 17. With a 12-1 mark last season, the Wildcats are now 303-35 (89.6%) in the facility.

UK has recorded seven perfect home seasons and four years with only one defeat since Rupp Arena opened in 1976-77. The Big Blue earned its 300th victory in the 23,000-seat gymnasium on Jan. 30, 1999, an 86-62 win over LSU.

News from the Summer Drought

The ’99-2000 schedule includes 17 teams that played in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, including Final Four qualifier Michigan State. There may be 14 home dates during the regular season should Kentucky advance in the Preseason NIT. The Cats could appear on national TV 18 times, including 12 times on ESPN or espn2 and five games on CBS. SEC games televised on “Super Tuesdays” by ESPN will begin at 9 p.m. instead of 9:30 p.m.

Tubby Smith spent nearly all of July as an assistant coach for the 1999 USA Senior National Team. After winning the Tournament of the Americas in Puerto Rico, the squad qualified for the 2000 Olympics next September in Sydney, Australia. Smith continue to serve on that staff as well, coaching such NBA greats as Tim Hardaway, Kevin Garnett, Steve Smith and Gary Peyton.

Point guard Saul Smith competed for the SEC All-Stars, which toured Japan in August. Smith helped the team to a 4-1 record against the Japan National Team.

Steve Masiello was awarded a scholarship for his senior season. The former walk-on from White Plains, N.Y. has been a member of UK’s ’97 NCAA runner-up squad, its ’98 NCAA Championship team and the Elite Eight qualifier last season.

Jamaal Magloire declared his intentions for the NBA Draft in May, but withdrew one week before the event and decided to return to UK for his senior season.

Scott Padgett became the seventh Wildcat in the last four years to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft when he was taken 28th by the Utah Jazz. Padgett was one of 11 Wildcats currently on NBA rosters as of this week. In addition, seven other Cats are playing professionally, including Heshimu Evans, who is participating in a French league this winter. (See pages 154-157 of the 2000 UK Media Guide.)

Blue-White Action

UK’s annual intrasquad scrimmage ended in a 78-78 overtime tie last Saturday at Memorial Coliseum. The 11 Wildcats were interchanged among the two teams. Jamaal Magloire led all scorers, totalling 33 points. Saul Smith added 16 points, nine assists and two turnovers and Tayshaun Prince finished with 28 points and eight rebounds. Other stat totals include:

Keith Bogans (18 points, 9 rebounds), Jules Camara (10 points, 13 rebounds), Marvin Stone (11 points, 9 rebounds), Desmond Allison (11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), Todd Tackett (13 points), JP Blevins (9 points, 7 assists, 2 turnovers), Nate Knight (7 points, 7 rebounds), Steve Masiello (3 assists).

Preseason Rankings

Among the preseason publications on the market, the Wildcats are ranked anywhere from 13th to 26th. Neither the AP poll or the USA Today/ESPN poll have been released yet. UK has only appeared outside of the AP top 10 four weeks since 1992.

 Street & Smith      Basketball News     Dick Vitale 1. Cincinnati       1. North Carolina   1. Michigan St. 2. Michigan St.     2. Michigan St.     2. Connecticut 3. Connecticut      3. Auburn           3. Cincinnati 4. North Carolina   4. Cincinnati       4. North Carolina 5. Auburn           5. Kansas           5. Florida 6. Florida          6. Connecticut      6. Auburn 7. Temple           7. Arizona          7. Duke 8. Ohio State       8. Ohio State       8. Temple 9. Florida          9. Florida          9. Arizona10. Stanford        10. UCLA            10. Kansas11. Duke            11. Temple          11. UCLA12. Tennessee       12. Oklahoma        12. Stanford13. Kentucky        13. Tennessee       13. Kentucky14. UCLA            14. Georgia Tech    14. Ohio State15. Illinois        15. Duke            15. Illinois                    26. Kentucky

Lindy’s Sport 1. North Carolina 1. Michigan St. 2. Auburn 2. Ohio St. 3. Michigan St. 3. Connnecticut 4. Cincinnati 4. Temple 5. Connecticut 5. Duke 6. UCLA 6. Auburn 7. Temple 7. Cincinnati 8. Connecticut 8. Florida 9. Ohio St. 9. Arizona10. DePaul 10. Kansas11. Syracuse 11. St. John’s12. Purdue 12. DePaul13. Tennessee 13. Syracuse14. Kansas 14. North Carolina15. Tennessee 15. Kentucky20. Kentucky

Did You Know?

In the last four years, UK has a 20-2 record in the NCAA Tournament.