CALIFORNIA SOUTHEAST ALL-STARS
vs. KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Exhibition Game
Nov. 2, 2000 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (23,000) – Lexington, Ky.
Seven Newcomers Make UK Debut
The Kentucky Wildcats continue preparations for their 98th season of college basketball as they open exhibition play at Rupp Arena. Coach Tubby Smith’s fourth UK team features six returning lettermen and seven newcomers, including six true freshmen.
For most newcomers, the exhibition game would mark their first appearance on the floor at Rupp Arena. However, Matt Heissenbuttel, Cory Sears and sophomore Marquis Estill all played in Rupp during their high school careers, helping their respective teams advance to the Sweet 16.
Heissenbuttel was on Lexington Catholic’s state runner-up team last season, earning Sweet 16 All-Tournament Team honors. As a sophomore, Sears was Corbin’s sixth man when the Redhounds advanced to the state tournament. Estill, a sophomore who missed last season as a partial qualifier, led Madison Central to the Sweet 16 during his senior season of 1999.
For the remaining newcomers – Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch, Cliff Hawkins and Jason Parker – the game will be their first in the 25-year-old facility. Daniels, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct. 10, will not play.
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 of the Memorial Coliseum ticket office. Tickets can be charged by calling 800-928-CATS or 859-233-3565 or by logging on to ukathletics.com. Seats also can be purchased for the Cats’ other exhibition game against Athletes in Action on Nov. 17 or UK’s home opener against Penn State on Nov. 25. The tickets were not claimed during UK’s student-ticket distribution.
25th Anniversary
This is the 25th season that the University of Kentucky has played basketball in Rupp Arena. The largest, built for basketball arena in the nation has seen the Wildcats achieve a 317-35 record, a sterling 90.1 winning percentage.
The Wildcats officially start the 2000-01 season in Rupp Arena on Nov. 25 when they play host to Penn State. UK has won 20 consecutive games in the city-owned arena named for Coach Adolph Rupp, including a perfect 14-0 home record last season.
Overall, UK has not had a losing season at home in 72 years, the longest streak in the nation. The winning seasons began in 1927-28 when the Cats were 6-2 at home.
The Wildcats have won 13 national attendance titles since the building opened, including the last five in a row.
98th Season Approaching
UK begins its 98th season on Nov. 9 when the Cats battle St. John’s in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Its’ the earliest start to the season on record at Kentucky. The following night, Nov. 10, the Cats will face either Kansas or UCLA.
In the past 97 seasons, UK has won seven NCAA titles — 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996 and 1998 – and totaled the most wins in college basketball as well as the highest winning percentage (76.4%).
UK also has captured three NCAA runner-up trophies, appeared in 13 Final Fours, made a national-record 40 NCAA Tournament appearances, won 40 SEC Championships, 22 SEC Tournament crowns and tallied a record 10 30-win seasons.
All-Time Wins
1. Kentucky 1,771
2. North Carolina 1,755
3. Kansas 1,712
California All-Stars Roster
There are two very familiar names on the California Southeast All-Stars’ roster. Rumeal Robinson played for Michigan, guiding the Wolverines to the 1989 NCAA Championship, a title run that came through Lexington. Rupp Arena served as the host site for the Southeast Regional that season, and Robinson, Glenn Rice and Company rolled past North Carolina and Virginia en route to Seattle.
Tommie Prince, who led Pepperdine to a first-round upset of Indiana last season, Bob Knight’s last game as coach of the Hoosiers, is the brother of UK swingman Tayshaun Prince. The older Prince is planning to join the upstart ABA in the near future but committed to play for the All-Stars in several exhibition games.
The semi-complete roster follows:
1 Curtis Staples 6-3 Virginia2 Brandon Titus 6-4 CSU Long Beach3 Terrence Shannon 6-8 Elgin CC4 Tommy Prince 6-6 Pepperdine5 Rumeal Robinson 6-2 Michigan10 Roy Hairston 6-7 Purdue11 Ashante Johnson 6-8 Kansas12 Ceedric Goodwin 6-8 Colorado State14 Andre Larry 6-9 CSU Northridge |
All-Stars Tour
This is the second of 11 stops for the California Southeast All-Stars. The squad played Louisville on Nov. 1 and faces Xavier and Cincinnati the next two nights. The schedule:
Nov. 1 at Louisville
Nov. 2 at Kentucky
Nov. 3 at Xavier
Nov. 4 at Cincinnati
Nov. 6 at Western Ky.
Nov. 7 at Vanderbilt
Nov. 8 at Murray State
Nov. 9 at UAB
Nov. 13 at Wichita State
Nov. 14 at Kansas State
Nov. 15 at UTEP
One Year Ago
Exactly 12 months ago to the day, UK rang up a 73-66 victory over the California South All-Stars in Rupp Arena.
The Experience Factor
The experience factor for the Kentucky Wildcats is low. With the loss of two seniors and two sophomores from last season’s squad, UK has only one senior this season – Saul Smith – and seven newcomers, including six true freshmen. Nine of the 13 eligible Wildcats are freshmen or sophomores.
Three of the Wildcats’ starters from last season’s 23-10 team return. Tayshaun Prince, the starting power forward last year, should get the nod at small forward this season while the Cats return both starting guards – point guard Saul Smith and two-guard Keith Bogans. UK loses three of its top five scorers from last year – Jamaal Magloire (13.2 ppg), Desmond Allison (7.8 ppg) and Jules Camara (7.2 ppg).
Returning production includes:
Points 59.9%
Rebounds 44.6%
Assists 69.5%
Blocks 36.8%
Steals 70.6%
Hawkins No. 1
Freshman Cliff Hawkins becomes the first Wildcat in the modern era to wear jersey No. 1 for the Wildcats. The NCAA changed its rule last season allowing jerseys No. 1 and No. 2 to be worn in games. Previously, those numbers were prohibited due to confusion among official’s signals while reporting fouls, free throws awarded, etc.
Blue-White Scrimmage
The Wildcats combined to shoot 53.8% from the field and 41.3% from three-point range as the team held its annual intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday. Marquis Estill hit his first seven shots en route to a career-Blue/White-high 28 points as the White team won, 104-78. Estill was 11-of-16 from the field and two-of-three from three-point range.
Keith Bogans added 24 points, Tayshaun Prince and Marvin Stone each scored 20 and Jules Camara added 19.
Three Mania
While the Cats shot a record-low 29.2 percent from three-point range last season, they did manage to hit a three in every game, running their streak of consecutive games with a three to 407. It’s the nation’s fourth-longest streak, trailing UNLV, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, who have all hit a three-pointer in every game since the rule was adopted. The Wildcats’ last game without a three-pointer came against Seton Hall on Nov. 26, 1988, a three-point loss in the Great Alaska Shootout.
Preseason Rankings
Among the many preseason polls, UK is picked by the “experts” to finish anywhere from 10th to 16th. Neither the AP or the USA Today/ESPN poll have been released yet. Kentucky finished 19th in the AP poll last season, 22nd in the coaches poll. Keep in mind, in some of these same preseason polls, Ralph Nader was predicted to win next week’s presidential election
Lindy's/CBS Sportsline Vitale/ESPN Mag.1. Arizona 1. Duke2. Duke 2. Arizona3. Maryland 3. North Carolina4. Michigan State 4. Kansas5. Tennessee 5. Stanford6. Kansas 6. Maryland7. Stanford 7. Illinois8. North Carolina 8. Seton Hall9. Illinois 9. Mich. State10. Seton Hall 10. Tennessee11. Kentucky 11. Wake Forest 12. Connecticut 13. DePaul 14. Florida 15. Notre Dame 16. KentuckyFoxSports.com Basketball News1. Duke 1. Arizona2. Arizona 2. Duke3. Seton Hall 3. Kansas4. Illinois 4. Maryland5. Tennessee 5. Illinois6. Maryland 6. North Carolina7. North Carolina 7. Michigan State8. Kansas 8. Tennessee9. Stanford 9. Stanford10. Michigan 10. Seton Hall11. Wisconsin 11. Kentucky12. KentuckyThe Sporting News HoopsTV.com1. Duke 1. Duke2. Arizona 2. Arizona3. Michigan State 3. Illinois4. Stanford 4. Maryland5. Maryland 5. Michigan State6. Tennessee 6. North Carolina7. Kansas 7. Kansas8. Illinois 8. Seton Hall9. Seton Hall 9. Tennessee10. Kentucky 10. Kentucky |
Tubby’s Commitments
Just this past Monday, Coach Smith spent the day in Chicago as a member of an NCAA Committee to studying basketball issues. Smith is one of several active coaches on the committee, which also includes Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Oregon’s Ernie Kent. The committee is studying a number of different issues, including summer recruiting and the 5/8s rule, which allows schools to sign eight student-athletes over a two-year period but no more than five in one season. In June, Smith spoke before members of Congress on the issue of sports gambling. He teamed with South Carolina’s Lou Holtz and U.S. presidential hopeful John McCain on eliminating legal wagering on college sporting events. This past summer, he was an assistant coach for the US Olympic Basketball Team which captured the gold medal at the summer games in Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, coaches are not given a gold medal, but as WHAS Radio personality Terry Meiners said, “Smith came home with a freezer full of kangaroo meat.”
Player Catnips
J.P. Blevins
Cats’ leading returning three-point shooter.
List favorite Tubby phrase in the current UK basketball media guide as, “J.P., get in!”
Keith Bogans
Lost 20 pounds over the summer by cutting out fast food. Also lost all comparisons to Vinnie Johnson, the former pudgy guard for the Detroit Pistons.
Predicted to lead the Cats in scoring by fans on a catspause.com online poll.
Jules Camara
Is scheduled to sit out the 2001 season as a redshirt after violating UK’s Student-Athlete Alcohol policy. Case is still under appeal. Meanwhile, he’s been allowed to practice with the team. Will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Erik Daniels
Underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee on Oct. 10. Began running drills last week. May resume practice later this week.
Could become the first Wildcat to adopt the “Rasheed Wallace headband.”
Marquis Estill
“He shed a person,” according to Tubby Smith, dropping from 285 pounds down to 235. Some estimated he weighed closer to 300 pounds as a senior in high school, nearly big enough to play quarterback at UK.
Has inside-outside offensive skills, a la Scott Padgett. However, doesn’t talk quite as much as the current member of the Utah Jazz.
Gerald Fitch
First UK signee from Georgia since Saul Smith.
Cliff Hawkins
First to wear jersey No. 1 at UK.
A quick learner, he’s been seen wearing a Cleveland Browns No. 2 jersey on campus, even though he hails from Redskins’ country.
Matt Heissenbuttel
Former ball boy at UK for Coach Rick Pitino.
Suffered a pulled hamstring during preseason conditioning, but began practicing when camp opened Oct. 14.
Admits he was never recruited to play hoops at Lexington Catholic.
Tayshaun Prince
With the loss of Jules Camara, will have to play some at power forward, a position he played most of last season.
The oldest of three southpaws on the UK squad this season – Prince, Hawkins, Daniels – which should give the Cats an instant advantage.
Cory Sears
Already tired of comparisons to former UK star John Pelphrey. Claims to be better looking.
Saul Smith
Could move into top 10 in career assists at UK.
Plans on attending law school after completing his finance degree next summer. Hopes to manage father’s money no chance according to eldest son G.G.
Also plans to vote twice next Tuesday.
Marvin Stone
Looks forward to playing both power forward and center.
Knocked down his only three-pointer he’s ever taken in a college game… last Saturday in the Blue-White scrimmage. Claims he can do it with regularity.
Also looking forward to playing without a broken thumb.
Todd Tackett
May redshirt this season while rehabilitating knee. Underwent surgery last April to repair torn cartilage.
Will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Spends so much time in training room, has considered applying for student trainer’s position.
