PAGE 8   THE CATS' PAUSE. APRIL 8, 1978
Cats On Verge Of Big Recruiting Sweep; Lee Praises Griffith
HITS AND MISSES . . . Dave Dorr of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had the following comment  on Kentucky's national   championship   last week: "The national championship that Joe B. Hall promised St. Louis University when he was that school's head coach for six days in 1969 is his today. Ironically, he won it in the city that he jilted to return to Kentucky as the successor to the legendary Adolph Rupp" . . . Hall was sympathetic to Duke Coach Bill Foster, who was tagged with a technical foul by official Jim Bain in the championship game. Foster, questioning a play when he thought Truman Qaytor had walked with the ball, signaled a walking sign with his hands and was whistled for a technical. Two days earlier, Hall was tagged with a technical by the same official for questioning a  call by signaling his arms. For those who don't remember, Bain also officiated the Kentucky-North Carolina game in the East Regional a year ago . . . You won't get the UK staff to admit it, but the coaches'  faces were dragging Sunday when they learned that Bain would be working the final game. And wonder how Foster feels now? . . . One Wildcat fan said he overheard athletics director Cliff Hagan say ''he'd give an arm to see Kentucky win the championship. '' And some may believe he was serious if they've seen Hagan the last couple of days. He has his left arm in a cast. No, he really didn't give away his arm, just had an old injury operated on. ' 'I broke the arm a couple of months ago and decided to wait until after the NCAA before I had it operated on," said Hagan. And it's not true anyone broke it, trying to get Joe Hall a big, new raise ... In fact, Hagan told The Cats' Pause in St. Louis that he, as athletics director, had recommended a sizeable raise for Hall prior to the game with Florida State: By the time you read this edition, Hall's new contract with a hefty pay raise should be official . . . The UK basketball house has been .the target of much talk in recent weeks and a University committee recommended last week that it be named the ' 'Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge" after receiving a petition from the team players, as we mentioned earlier here. The UK Board of Trustees was scheduled to make it official on Tuesday of this week... It's recruiting time in collegiate basketball and don't be surprised if Kentucky consumes all three scholarships on the first day, April 12. Dwight Anderson has already signed an SEC-ACC letter with Kentucky and it's a good bet Kentucky will land Clarence Tillman of West Philadelphia, one of the most sought-after players in the country this year. Tillman, at 6-7, and Anderson both were named to Parade's Ail-American first team Sunday . . . Vince Taylor, the pride and joy of Lexington, will sign (if he already hasn't) with
Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Why not Kentucky? Most experts feel Taylor's decision was compounded with wanting to get away from home  to  establish  his own identity.   No   doubt,   he probably scanned the UK roster which contains Kyle  Macy,  Jay Shidler, Truman Qaytor, Dwane Casey and Anderson. Only Qaytor and Casey will be seniors next year. Kentucky did offer Taylor a scholarship and he was recruited heavily, according to Hall. Probably the first bad omen for the Wildcats was when media reports surfaced that Taylor might become a walk-on at Kentucky his first year so the Wildcats would still have three scholarships. That, supposedly, infuriated his family, especially when Notre Dame and other schools pointed out that Kentucky must not think too much of Taylor to ask him to walk on. "We wanted him very badly," said Hall Sunday, "and we never asked him to walk on. We offered him a scholarship. I think that shows how much we wanted him when we had only three to award. But I wish him the best of luck. He's a great kid and he'll be a great success wherever he goes. I just hate that we weren't fortunate enough to get him.'' Taylor wants to play guard in college, but many feel his best suit will be a swing post because the Tates Geek product is expected to grow from his 6-4 size to about 6-7. Since Taylor wants to play guard, Kentucky couldn't guarantee him a starting spot for a couple of years and Hall wasn't about to mislead him . . . Speaking of Parade All-Americans, Mount Hope West Virginia, sophomore Earl Jones was named to the first team, the first sophomore since Lew Alcindor 15 years ago, to make the squad. And while colleges cannot contact players until after their junior year in high school, not too many people are going to be beating the doors down in West Virginia. Why? Because most everyone agrees Jones will never visit a college campus, let alone play on one. He figures to turn pro without ever facing the NCAA tug-o-war . . . More dope on UK recruits. Look for Anthony Lee of Tyler, Texas, to cast his lot with Kentucky although he probably won't be  consuming one  of the three scholarships UK has to offer this season. Still high on Kentucky's list are such players as Rudy Woods of Texas; Chuck Verderber of Illinois; Micah Blunt of Metairie, Louisiana; and several others. The Cats' Pause will present its All-American selection and Top Fifty week after next . . . All lower arena seats for the World Invitational Tournament game at Rupp Arena this Sunday have been sold. Upper arena tickets at $5 each are still available in good seat locations. No mail orders are being  accepted this week, but tickets are on sale daily at the UK ticket office and at Rupp Arena
. . . Don't be too surprised if Hall plays his Wildcats as a five-man unit rather than mixing them up with the other all-stars. After Sunday practice, Hall pointed out the Kentucky players play better when as a unit. Hall and his assistant, Dick Parsons, are considering the possibilities of starting the Kentucky five Sunday in Lexington as a final salute to the national champions.   However,   they   are   a bit concerned because the game with the Russians will be televised nationally and they don't want to be accused of taking any glory away from the other great stars in the toumey . . . The crowd will be mostly UK fans, but the Wildcat followers should make it a special point to cheer one young man in  Sunday's   game.   He's Darrell Griffith from the University of Louisville. He's a great guy and showed his class by accepting the invitation to play here. Wildcat fans should respond likewise because they'll be seeing the  "Doctor of Dunks" in action. Even James Lee smiled after watching Griffith dunk a few for a photographer Sunday. As Darrell left the floor, James joked and said, "When he hits the floor, I just sit back and watch. He's the greatest when it comes to dunks.'' Who says all the fun is going out of basketball?  .  . . Arkansas' star Sidney Moncrief says he doesn't agree with the reporters who label Kentucky as "too physical and brutal." Moncrief, playing in the tourney games this week, told The Cats' Pause, "I didn't think Kentucky was rough at all. Notre Dame? Now, that's a different story. I thought they did a lot of cheap stuff."... Everyone was laughing when the all-star practice concluded Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. After about eight minutes of scrimmage, James Lee halted action, called time-out and loped over the side-lines and proclaimed "I'm tired.'' One bystander quipped, "He's been waiting four years to do that in practice." Lee has to be in hoop heaven right now, having won the national championship and then won MVP honors in the SEC-ACC All-Star game Saturday in Charlotte," North Carolina, when he scored 28 points and hauled down 12 rebounds. And the NBA scouts were waiting . . . The daily mail to the UK Wildcats has been running about 100 letters per day since the Cats won the big one in St. Louis . . . Mike Phillips is in Hawaii this week to play in the Aloha Qassic which pits the best East seniors against the best West seniors . . . The senior Wildcats will begin a month-long bam-storrning tour of the state next week against the Marathon Oil team. Playing against the Wildcat seniors will be such former Wildcats as Larry Johnson, Merion Has kins,   Larry  Stamper  and Jim Andrews ... All four senior Wildcats are expected to go high in the NBA (Continued On Page 21)
Dunkin'Darrell