BIG … BLUE … NATION …
Wow! Wow!!!! Can I just say, boy have I missed that roar …
What an incredible night this is to celebrate the return of college basketball. What a special evening it is to bring our basketball family together with you again to honor what makes this the greatest tradition in the history of college basketball.
Tonight is about YOUR dedication, YOUR passion, and YOUR support of this great program and these incredible young men. Tonight, as we tip off the new season, we remind everyone what separates Kentucky from everyone else.
And that is you, Big Blue Nation. Tonight, we celebrate you.
As I stand here before you tonight, I am reminded of how much we missed the energy you provide. We truly understand the advantage you provide us.
You embrace these young men and make them a part of your family for life, some of them who are here tonight. Darius Miller. Jodie Meeks. Wayne Turner. Goose Givens. Dominique Hawkins. And Dale Brown.
You create an environment unlike any other for our guys to perform, and support them along every step of their journey, cheering on our 43 NBA draft picks, 32 first-rounders and three No. 1 overall picks as they’ve reached their dreams.
You lift us up and you elevate us to another level in the biggest moments. You’ve been our heartbeat while we’ve gone to more Final Fours, more Elite Eights and won more NCAA Tournament games than any other program over the last 12 seasons. You’ve been there as we’ve won six SEC regular-season championships, six SEC Tournament titles and … the 2012 national championship. You have played a part in all those accomplishments.
You pack this arena for every game and you travel with us everywhere we go. You snatched up all the tickets in less than an hour just to see these kids practice tonight.
Have I told you this before? You people are CRAZY!?
You are also there for us in the darkest of times.
In April, we lost a son, a brother and a young man with his whole life ahead of him. Terrence Clarke came into the gym every day with a smile on his face and a spirt about him that rubbed off on everyone he touched.
To Terrence’s family, who are with us tonight – his mother, Osmine Clarke, his sister, Tatyana Gray, his brother, Gavin Clarke, and his grandmother, Ingrid Clarke – I am so sorry that Terrence didn’t get an opportunity to experience this in person, but I know he’s here in spirit with us tonight.
To the Clarke family, we want you to know that Big Blue Nation loved your son.
There have been a lot of changes in our sport over the last couple of years. The ground is shifting beneath our feet, and we have to be nimble and flexible.
But the vision of this program has not changed. Putting players first and helping them reach their dreams remains the mission. When they succeed, we all succeed.
We cannot do this without understanding the foundation upon which this program was built: Eight national titles. Seventeen Final Fours. Fifty-five All-Americans. The winningest program in the history of college basketball.
The teams and the players who have hung those banners hanging above us have created a legacy to follow. The Fabulous Five. The Fiddlin’ Five. The Unforgettables. The Untouchables. The Comeback Cats. The Draft Cats. How about our two teams that won more games in a single season than anyone in our sport – 38 games!!
From those teams, guys like John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Brandon Knight, Anthony Davis, Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyler Herro, PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson, Immanuel Quickley, Tyrese Maxey and I can go on and on and on. We now stand on their shoulders, as they stood on the shoulders of the players before them.
Our challenge to you today, Big Blue Nation, is let’s come together like never before. You have always been the difference maker for us, and I ask you tonight and this season to take it to a new level. We missed you last year and we look forward to taking the court in front of you again.
Before I go, because it’s been so long, let me hear that unmistakable chant that everyone knows and our opponents fear. Let’s do it together one time and show these young men what it feels like to hear Big Blue Nation roar.
GO. BIG. BLUE. GO. BIG. BLUE. GO. BIG. BLUE.
Thank you!
