April 4, 2003
National Student-Athlete Day Sunday
Hundreds of events around the nation will mark Sunday, April 6, as the 16th annual National Student-Athlete Day, including activities sponsored by the University of Kentucky. This Sunday, the UK gymnastics team marks the occasion with a bingo game at the UK Children’s Hospital at 6 p.m.
The day is designed to bring attention to National Student-Athlete Month which occurs each April. All month long, members of UK’s 22 varsity athletics programs will participate in community-wide projects. Among them are Boys and Girls Club activities, Hope Center functions, service projects at the Ronald McDonald House, and involvement with Special Olympics.
National Student-Athlete Day honors student-athletes and the network of parents, coaches, teachers and school systems that make it possible for young people to strike a balance between academic and athletic achievement. The day, established by the National Consortium for Academics & Sports, is co-sponsored by the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations.
For more information, contact UK Athletics’ outreach coordinator Martina Martin at 859-257-1897.
Museum’s Limited Edition Items Still Available
Exclusive UK items are still available through the University of Kentucky Basketball Museum’s membership drive that is designed to help keep the museum open for many years to come.
A limited-edition Maker’s Mark bottle that commemorates the Wildcats’ 100 years of basketball is included in the gift package. In addition, new lifetime members also will receive a 100-years leather-bound basketball, a 100 years of Kentucky Basketball book and an exclusive poster. None of the items can be purchased elsewhere. Only 1,000 of the Maker’s Mark bottles were produced.
The lifetime membership is all-inclusive for just $1,000. Contact the UK Basketball Museum at 800-269-1953 or e-mail at info@ukbballmuseum.org. The museum is located in the Lexington Civic Center, adjacent to Rupp Arena.
Hanson Advances, Smith Upended in Fashionable Tournament
UK assistant coach Reggie Hanson has advanced to the “Fashionable Final Four” among college assistant coaches, according to collegeinsider.com.
Hanson, known as one of the nation’s best dressed coaches, will battle it out with Tennessee’s Kerry Keating, Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Tony Jones and Central Connecticut State’s Patrick Sellers for the honor of being the nation’s best-dressed assistant coach for 2003.
“I need to thank our new assistant coach Scott Rigot, because with what he wears, I look that much better sitting next to him on the bench,” Hanson noted.
Meanwhile, Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith was upended in the Elegant Eight. Smith, which the cyber site noted was the “SEC’s most sensational” dresser, is widely recognized by his trademark blue shirt with white collar ensemble. In the “Runway to the Fashionable Four,” Smith had outdressed Buffalo’s Reggie Witherspoon, Arizona State’s Rob Evans and yes, even Louisville’s Rick Pitino in the field of 64 before being upended by upstart Willis Wilson of Rice.
Said Smith of his Elegant Eight upset, “I must have lost points when I pulled off my suit coat in the Midwest Regional.”
