July 23, 1999
Smith Coaches USA National Team
Coach Tubby Smith served as an assistant coach of the 1999 USASenior National Team that competed in San Juan, Puerto Rico during Julyto qualify for next summer’s Olympic games.
Smith is an assistant coach on a staff headed by Larry Brown ofthe Philadelphia 76ers and fellow assistant Gene Keady of Purdue. Forthe first time, the team, comprised of nine NBA stars and three collegeselections, had to qualify for the Olympics since last summer’s team didnot win the World University games in Greece. The US squad was hamperedlast summer by the absence of NBA players who were unavailable due tothe strike.
The top two teams from the Tournament of the Americas advance tothe Olympic games in Sydney next September. Should the USA team qualify,Coach Smith will serve as an assistant coach at the 2000 Olympic games.
Smith Named League’s Top Coach
In a media poll conducted by WNOX radio station in Knoxville,Tenn., in May, Coach Tubby Smith was voted the top coach in theSoutheastern Conference. Smith, one of only three coaches to receive afirst-place vote, outdistanced the league’s other coaches with 13first-place votes. Arkansas’ Nolan Richardson received two and BillyDonovan of Florida got one.
The next five coaches behind Smith were Richardson, Donovan, JimHarrick of Georgia, Cliff Ellis of Auburn and Eddie Fogler of SouthCarolina.
Saul Smith An SEC All-Star
The Southeastern Conference has selected a player from each ofthe 12 member schools to participate in a tour of Japan from Aug. 5-15.
Saul Smith was chosen by the coaches — Rod Barnes of Ole Missand John Brady of LSU — along with Tubby Smith’s input, to representthe Wildcats. The junior joins a roster that includes Sam Haginas(Alabama), Brandon Dean (Arkansas), Doc Robinson (Auburn), Major Parker(Florida), Adrian Jones (Georgia), Jabari Smith (LSU), Marcus Hicks (OleMiss), Tang Hamilton (Miss. State), Tony Kitchings (S. Carolina),Vincent Yarbrough (Tennessee) and Darius Coulibaly (Vanderbilt).
The team will play five games against the Japanese National Teamin five different cities. The Japanese squad will evolve into theJapanese Olympic team for next summer in Sydney, Australia.
Magloire Tests NBA, Returns To UK
In May, Jamaal Magloire put his name in the hat for the June NBADraft. One week prior to the Draft, he withdrew his name, citing hopesto return to Kentucky and win another national title.
“I’m glad I had that opportunity to see what the NBA has tooffer,” Magloire said at a news conference to announce his return. “I’vedecided to wait a year in order to compete for another nationalchampion-ship.”
Magloire is one of two seniors on the UK squad for the 1999-00season, joining former walk-on Steve Masiello. Together with Saul Smith,they’re the only three upperclassmen returning from the Cats’ 1999 EliteEight team.
Padgett Continues UK Draft Success
Senior Scott Padgett became the latest Wildcat to be picked inthe first round of the 1999 NBA Draft when he was taken 28th by the UtahJazz. The 6-9 Padgett was UK’s only player selected in the June draft.
He became the seventh Wildcat in the last four years to beselected in the first round. In 1996, Antoine Walker (6th pick), TonyDelk (16th) and Walter McCarty (19th) were all selected in the firstround, in ’97 Ron Mercer (6th) and Derek Anderson (13th) were chosen andin ’98 Nazr Mohammed was selected with the final pick of the first round(29th).
In addition, Mark Pope was a second-round choice in ’96 and JeffSheppard was signed as a free agent and finished the ’99 season with theAtlanta Hawks.
Wayne Turner, a member of UK’s last four teams, is playing onthe rookie squad this summer for the Boston Celtics.
‘The Game’ Brings 18,000 To Rupp
“The Game,” a matchup of UK’s 1996 NCAA Championship team vs.the ’98 champs, packed 18,437 fans into Rupp Arena on July 10.
The contest was the brainchild of Derek Anderson (’97), whodecided to bring back the former players from both squads to decide”once and for all” which Kentucky team was the best.
The ’96 team included Walter McCarty, Mark Pope, Ron Mercer, TonyDelk, Jared Prickett, Anthony Epps and Anderson, while the ’98 team hadScott Padgett, Heshimu Evans, Cameron Mills, Jeff Sheppard, NazrMohammed and Allen Edwards. While the ’98 team dominated most of thecontest, and even led 71-55 at halftime, the ’96 team rallied to cut thedeficit. With 16 seconds remaining, Anderson knocked down athree-pointer to tie the game at 130-130, and Sheppard ran off the final10 seconds at midcourt to force a future rematch.
The game benefitted both the Derek Anderson Foundation and the UKBasketball Museum as both charities earned more than $100,000 from theevent. At halftime, former Wildcats from throughout the past wereintroduced, including members from each of UK’s seven NCAA Championshipteams.
In a game that featured plenty of offense and little defense,Mohammed led all scorers with 51 points and 18 boards. McCarty led the’96 team with 31 points and 10 rebounds.
Masiello Awarded Scholarship
Steve Masiello, a 6-1 guard who walked on at UK in 1997, wasawarded a full scholarship by Coach Tubby Smith for his senior season,Smith announced in June.
Masiello, who played in 14 games last season and has now loggedaction in 55 contests, has totaled 41 points, 18 rebounds and 17 assistsin 157 minutes played throughout his career.
“We want to reward him for what he’s accomplished and hiscontributions to the team,” Smith said. “We respect what he’s done. He’smade sacrifices the same as any other athlete.”
The native of White Plains, N.Y., is a crowd favorite who was aformer ballboy for Coach Rick Pitino and the New York Knicks. Team of the Century
The Wildcats own an unparalleled tradition of success. Since1903, the University of Kentucky has fielded 96 basketball teams. Thefirst national championship was an NIT title in 1946. The first NCAAChampionship came in 1948 and the latest, No. 7, occurred in 1998. Noother program can claim the unparalleled success that matches theWildcats’ 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 1,748 2. North Carolina 1,733 3. Kansas 1,688
Own the highest all-time winning percentage of any team incollege 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 as “Team of the Decade” with a nearlyunprecedented success during the 1990s. Only two NCAA Division I schoolscan claim two national titles during the last 10 years, UK and Duke.
NCAA Championships 2 Final Four Appearances 4 NCAA Runner-up 1 NCAA Tourney Record 31-6 (8) NCAA Tourney Winning % 83.8% Decade Wins 282 Decade Winning % 81.7% 30-Win Seasons 4 Losing Seasons 0 AP Top-10 Finishes 9 All-Americans 3 NBA Draft Picks (1st Rd.) 10 (8) SEC Championships 3 SEC Tournament Titles 7
Rupp Arena
The Kentucky Wildcats will begin their 24th season of basketballat Rupp Arena when they take the floor against Penn in the Preseason NITon 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 withonly one defeat since Rupp Arena opened in 1976-77. The Big Blue earnedits 300th victory in the 23,000-seat gymnasium on Jan. 30, 1999, an86-62 win over LSU.
