Jan. 23, 2003

Abney Headed to Football Writers Association of America Banquet: Wildcat kick returner Derek Abney will travel to Orlando, Fla., Friday and Saturday for the All-America Banquet sponsored by the Football Writers Association of America.

The banquet will be Friday night and the FWAA All-America team will be introduced during the Rotary Gridiron Classic All-Star Game on Saturday.

Abney has a busy calendar the next six weeks. He will attend the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America Weekend in February and also attend events sponsored by the Birmingham Quarterback Club and the Atlanta Touchdown Club. In December, he was introduced as part of the Camp All-America team at the ESPN/Home Depot College Football Awards Show in Orlando.

Abney returned six kicks for touchdowns in 2002 and broke or tied five NCAA records, nine Southeastern Conference records and 10 school records for kick returns. He averaged 15.1 yards per punt return, including four touchdowns (at Florida, at Arkansas, two at Mississippi State). He averaged 26.8 yards on kickoff returns with touchdowns at Florida and vs. Vanderbilt. He is the only player who ranked in the nation’s top 11 in punt returns, kickoff returns, and all-purpose yardage.

Abney also is a quality wide receiver. He caught 40 passes for 569 yards and four touchdowns this season and ranks third in school history in pass receptions and pass receiving yardage.

Wildcats in the All-Star Games: Wildcats participating in the post-season all-star games include wide receiver Aaron Boone, defensive end Otis Grigsby, tight end Chase Harp, punter Glenn Pakulak, and running back Artose Pinner. Here is a list of the games and the players who will participate/have participated in each game:

Senior Bowl (Pinner), played on Jan. 18; Pinner had three carries for 12 yards for the winning North team

Paradise Bowl (Boone, Grigsby, Harp), Sat. Jan. 25, 1 p.m. EST, St. George, Utah, televised by Fox Sports Network

Rotary Gridiron Classic (no UK players), Sat. Jan. 25, 2 p.m. EST, Orlando, Fla., televised by espn2

Hula Bowl Maui (Pakulak), Sat. Feb. 1, 9 p.m. EST, Wailuku, Hawaii, televised by ESPN. Pakulak also will be honored with the Mosi Tatupu Award as the National Special Teams Player of the Year during the week of the Hula Bowl.

Pinner Represented UK Well: An e-mail received by the UK Athletics Department indicates that Artose Pinner represented the Wildcats well both on and off the field during his trip to the Senior Bowl. We are reprinting the e-mail here with permission of the writer.

“My name is Dave Chinn and I am an elementary/middle school teacher and part-time journalist from Biloxi, Mississippi. I had an opportunity to attend some of the Senior Bowl events last week in Mobile, Alabama. During the week, I had an opportunity to meet Artose Pinner. As you probably aware, Artose is a running back for your school’s football team and he was a participant player at the game. By chance, I had an opportunity to meet Artose as I was in the lobby of the Adams Mark Hotel where the bowl game headquarters were located. I had with me my mentee/friend Winston Caesar and one of his friends. Winston plays high school football in our town and has ambitions of playing college football. The players were very busy during the week. Nevertheless. Artose took time out of his busy schedule and spoke to the young men about the value of education and the enjoyment of playing college football. Artose comes across to people that meet him as a very sincere and kind person. He patiently answered any questions that we had for him and made a very strong positive impression on the two young men and myself. He represented the University of Kentucky very well and he should be commended for demonstrating such a strong positive influence. Sincerely, Dave Chinn”