Nov. 10, 1999

 ATHLETES IN ACTION (2-4)            vs. #14 ~ #12 KENTUCKY WILDCATS  Exhibition Game Nov. 11, 1999 @ 7:30 p.m. ET Rupp Arena (23,000) @ Lexington, Ky.

Final Tune-Up Features AIA

“America’s Team of the Century” — the Kentucky Wildcats — inch closer to the start of their 97th season of basketball when they play host to the red squad from Athletes In Action in UK’s second and final exhibition game of the preseason.

Nine days ago, the Cats defeated the California All-Stars, 73-66, after leading by 15 points inside the final five minutes of the contest. The opener for the Wildcats, which also was the tour opener for the All-Stars, came just 17 days into practice.

Kentucky, 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. The contest against AIA and its roster of former college players will mark the Wildcats’ last chance to prepare for the regular-season opener next week. UK tips off the 2000 campaign next Wednesday, Nov. 17, in a first-round Preseason NIT matchup against Penn at Rupp Arena.

This is the third season of the Coach Tubby Smith era. Smith has led the Wildcats to a 63-13 record in his first two seasons, including:

* a 1998 NCAA Championship,
* two Southeastern Conference Tournament Championships,
* a 1998 regular-season SEC crown.

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

Probable Starters

 KENTUCKY
 No. Name            Pos.  Ht. Wt. Cl.  Ppg  Rpg      Hometown 21  Tayshaun Prince  G/F 6-9  215 So. 5.83  .8  Compton, Calif. 40  Jules Camara      F 6-11  223 So. 4.43  .2   Dakar, Senegal 42  Jamaal Magloire   C 6-10  260 Sr. 7.04  .4 Toronto, Ontario 11  Saul Smith        G  6-2  175 Jr. 5.0* 1.6      Athens, Ga. 32  Desmond Allison G/F  6-5  214 So. 4.7  2.0      Tampa, Fla. Stats from the 1998-99 season  ATHLETES IN ACTION 33Julian King         F   6-4  216 1st   Coppin State '97 40Duane Williams      F   6-5  178 1st   UC-Santa Barbara '98 52David Wood          F   6-9  230 4th   Nevada Reno '87 15David Daniels       G  5-10  200 7th   Colorado Christian '93 32Bryant Bond         G   6-2  195 2nd   Cameron '95  * Assists per game

Tickets Available

Tickets remain for the UK-Athletes In Action 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 first two Preseason NIT games (Nov. 17 & 19) at Rupp Arena should the Cats advance. Nearly 1,000 tickets remain for the UK-Dayton game on Nov. 29 at the Firstar Center in Cincinnati. Seats are $30 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster (Cincinnati — 513-562-4949, Lexington — 606-281-6644).

NIT Clarification

Some fans apparently are confused with the tournament format for the Preseason NIT. UK must win its first-round game to advance to the second round where the Wildcats would face the winner of Utah-Arkansas State in Rupp Arena. The Cats must then defeat its second-round opponent to advance to New York for the semifinals and championship game. Should UK lose either of its first two games, it would not play again until Nov. 29 against Dayton in Cincinnati. One additional note: if UK does not advance past the first round, there will NOT be a second-round game played at Rupp Arena on Nov. 19 (i.e. Penn vs. Utah/Arkansas St.). The NIT would designate a home site from among the two advancing teams.

If the Wildcats advance to New York, they will play two games at Madison Square Garden — Nov. 24 & 26 — regardless of wins or losses. The Preseason NIT’s “Final Four” includes a consolation game prior to the championship contest.

UK has played in the Preseason NIT one previous time. The Cats beat West Virginia in 1991 before suffering a second-round defeat to Pittsburgh.

The AIA-USA Red Team Tour

The Athletes In Action Red Team will have played seven games of its 10-game slate against Division I men’s basketball teams when it faces the Wildcats. Through its first six games, AIA was 2-4, earning wins over San Francisco State and Oregon State. It nearly earned a win over UK’s first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament last season, New Mexico State, before squandering an 11-point halftime lead to lose by three, 85-82.

AIA was scheduled to play at Bradley on Nov. 10 prior to traveling to Lexington. Here is AIA’s schedule and results (thru Nov. 8) for the ’99 tour:

Nov. 1 New Mexico State L 82-85 Nov. 3 San Francisco State W 74-62 Nov. 4 Stanford L 77-90 Nov. 5 Oregon State W 80-71 Nov. 7 Indiana L 85-100 Nov. 8 Wisconsin L 54-73 Nov. 10 Bradley Nov. 11 Kentucky

The AIA Squad

The squad may have at least three players familiar to basketball fans across Kentucky. Guard Craig Brown led Florida to the 1994 NCAA Final Four. Lorenzo Coleman also paced Tennessee Tech as the Ohio Valley Conference’s MVP in 1997. Louisville’s Damion Dantzler played the first game with AIA but is no longer with the team. Mano Walsa, a 5-11 guard from Canada, was on the original roster but is playing for AIA’s Blue Team. Reggie Williams joined the team late. He’s a 6-7, 225-pound forward from Westmont College.

 No. Name          (Pos., Ht., Wt.) University (Yr.) 12  Craig Brown     (G, 6-2, 203)  Florida '94 14  Josh Hall       (G, 6-2, 170)  Warner Southern '99 15  David Daniels   (G, 5-10, 200) Colorado Christian '93 32  Bryant Bond     (G, 6-2, 195)  Cameron '95 33  Julian King     (F, 6-4, 216)  Coppin St. '97 40  Duane Williams  (F, 6-5, 178)  UC-Santa Barbara '98 42  Reggie Williams (F, 6-7, 225)  Westmont College 44  Lafayette Dorsey(F, 6-9, 242)  St. Martin's '95 51  Lorenzo Coleman (C, 7-1, 339)  Tennessee Tech '97 52  David Wood      (F, 6-9, 230)  Nevada-Reno '87 

Coach: Chuck Badger (Biola ’86)
Assistant Coach: Doug Pollock (Kent St. ’80)
GM: Sharm Scheuerman (Iowa ’56)

AIA Thumbnail Sketches
(Stats are from this season’s tour)

Craig Brown — NCAA East Region MVP, leading the Gators to the ’94 Final Four, 10.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg.
Josh Hall — 1999 NAIA Player of the Year, 2-time Florida Sun Conference MVP, 11.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg.
David Daniels — 7-year AIA vet, AIA’s all-time steals leader, 8.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.6 spg.
Bryant Bond — 2-time Division II Defensive Player of the Year, 3.6 ppg, 0.6 rpg.
Julian King — Played two years at Temple before transferring to Coppin State, Led the Eagles to a 41-19 record in his junior and senior seasons, 5.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg.
Dwayne Williams — Named USCB’s most improved player after his junior campaign, 12.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg.
Damion Dantzler — Five double-doubles at U of L, Scored seven points and seven rebounds against New Mexico State on this tour.
Lafayette Dorsey — Averaged 19 points and seven boards at St. Martins, Played professionally in Switzerland, Now a licensed minister, 3.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg.
Lorenzo Coleman — 2-time OVC MVP, Recorded 439 career blocks, which ranks fourth in the NCAA record book.
David Wood — Played five years in the NBA with Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Detroit, Golden State, Phoenix, Dallas and Milwaukee, Led Barcelona to the European Cup title game in 1990, Led AIA in scoring and rebounding in ’97, 12.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg.
Reggie Williams — Averaging 2.2 ppg and 2.0 rpg.

Coach Smith’s Numbers

Orlando “Tubby” Smith (High Point ’73)
Overall (8 years)187-75(71.4%)
at UK (2 years)63-13(82.9%)
SEC Tournament (4 yrs.)10-2(83.3%)
NCAA Tournament (6 yrs.) 15-5(75.0%)

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 %
Blocks63.8%
Steals:37.8%

Latest Rankings

The preseason rankings were released this week by The Associated Press, a weekly vote by the nation’s media, and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, a weekly poll of college basketball coaches. Kentucky was ranked 14th in the AP poll and 12th in the ESPN/USA Today poll. It’s the first time since the 1990-91 season the Wildcats have started the season outside the AP top 10. That season UK began the year unranked. In addition, since late in the ’92 season, this is the fourth time the Wildcats have appeared outside of the AP top 10, including one week during the ’94 season and two weeks last season.

The Cats finished last season ranked eighth in the final AP poll and fifth in the Coaches rankings. It was the Wildcats’ 34th finish in the AP top 10, a national record. Overall, UK has appeared in the AP top 10 in 126 of the last 130 weeks, dating back to March 2, 1992. UK has appeared in the AP poll 609 times out of a possible 798 weeks since the poll began in 1948-49. The Wildcats have spent 87 weeks at No. 1 and have appeared at the top of the final regular-season polls on seven occasions.

The top-10 finish in the Coaches poll last season was UK’s 30th top-10 finish, the most by any team.

Magloire Earns Preseason All-SEC Honor

Media members at last week’s Southeastern Conference Media Days in Birmingham picked the Wildcats to finish second in the Eastern Division behind Florida and selected Jamaal Magloire to the preseason All-SEC team. Auburn, which returns Chris Porter and Doc Robinson from last year’s Sweet 16 team, was chosen to win the regular-season crown.

SEC Media Day Predictions

Champion(Votes)
Auburn 29
Florida 10
Kentucky 5

 Eastern Division    Western Division Florida  (30)227    Auburn   (40)240 Kentucky  (3)188    Arkansas     177 Tennessee (7)181    Alabama      142 Vanderbilt   100    Miss. State  121 Georgia       85    LSU           67 South Carolina56    Ole Miss      58  All-SEC G - Tony Harris, Tennessee    27 G - Doc Robinson, Auburn      41 F - Chris Porter, Auburn      49 F - Mike Miller, Florida      37 C - Jamaal Magloire, Kentucky 17  SEC Player of the Year Chris Porter, Auburn  45 Doc Robinson, Auburn   1 Mike Miller, Florida   1 

Last Game

In UK’s first exhibition game of the season nine days ago, the Wildcats edged the California All-Stars, 73-66, after leading by 15 points inside the final five minutes.

Tayshaun Prince led Kentucky in scoring, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds. Jamaal Magloire tallied 17 points and 13 rebounds, and led UK in blocked shots with six. His mark would have tied his career high had the game not been an exhibition. The Wildcats also would have broken the school record for blocks in a game with 18.

The All-Stars were led by Mark Sanford’s 23 points and 14 rebounds. Sanford was a college star at Washington, who had joined the squad after participating with the Sacramento Kings during the NBA preseason. Earlier this week, he led the All-Stars to a wins over Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.

UK held the athletic All-Stars to 32.8 percent shooting and forced the group into 25 turnovers. But the young Cats were outrebounded 50-47 and committed 23 turnovers.

Vitale Contest

The UK Basketball Museum will have Dick Vitale on hand next week to help tip-off the 1999-2000 college basketball season. Vitale, the colorful commentator from ESPN and ABC Sports, will serve as the analyst for the UK-Penn game on Wednesday. Currently, fans can visit the Museum, located in the Lexington Center Mall, adjacent to Rupp Arena, and give their best Dickie V. impersonation at the Museum’s broadcast booth. The contest closes Nov. 13. Judges will narrow the field to three and Vitale will pick the winner during his appearance there next Wednesday afternoon.

An autograph session will be conducted after the contest and the Museum will present Vitale with a contribution to the Jimmy V. Foundation, named in honor of the late former N.C. State coach Jimmy Valvano. Vitale serves on the Foundation’s board, which is dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.

The winner will give his impersonation at halftime of the UK-Penn contest.

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        1,748 2. North Carolina  1,733 3. 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           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 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.

Preseason Magazine Rankings

Among the preseason publications on the market, the Wildcats are ranked anywhere from 12th to 26th. 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. Arizona 10. Stanford     10. UCLA          10. Kansas 11. Duke         11. Temple        11. UCLA 12. Tennessee    12. Oklahoma      12. Stanford 13. Kentucky     13. Tennessee     13. Kentucky 14. UCLA         14. Georgia Tech  14. Ohio State 15. Illinois     15. Duke          15. Illinois 26. Kentucky  Lindy's           Sport              Playboy 1. North Carolina 1. Michigan St.    1. Connecticut 2. Auburn         2. Ohio St.        2. Michigan St. 3. Michigan St.   3. Connnecticut    3. Auburn 4. Cincinnati     4. Temple          4. Ohio St. 5. Connecticut    5. Duke            5. Temple 6. UCLA           6. Auburn          6. Kansas 7. Temple         7. Cincinnati      7. North Carolina 8. Connecticut    8. Florida         8. Florida 9. Ohio St.       9. Arizona         9. Duke 10. DePaul       10. Kansas         10. Cincinnati 11. Syracuse     11. St. John's     11. Arizona 12. Purdue       12. DePaul         12. Kentucky 13. Tennessee    13. Syracuse       13. Syracuse 14. Kansas       14. North Carolina 14. DePaul 15. Tennessee    15. Kentucky       15. Utah 20. Kentucky 

Did You Know?

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

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 will 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.)