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Oscar Combs
(Continued from page 3)
Jock scratched the old Wildcat wound just a tad. "You know, he's really changed since he got away from those fanatics."
Someday, Jock will get well, both physical and mentally.
? ? ?
HITS AND MISSES . . . Officials at the Big Four Classic announced a record crowd of 45,214, but someone had to have goofed because about 3,000 to 4,000 empty seats in the Kentucky section were obvious. Also, officials said it was a basketball record for the Hoosier Dome, but the official must have forgotten about the NBA All-Star Game held there . . . Controversial sportscaster Dick Vitale will have an autographing session on Dec. 19 at Gateway books in the Lexington Mall of his new book on college basketball. It'll be interesting to see his reception the night before the Kentucky-Indiana game which he will be doing for ESPN. Most of UK's top brass were in Indianapolis for the big event, including president David Roselle, acting athletics director Joe Burch and vice-president Bernie Vonderheide . . . Speaking of UK officials, the list of media giants wanting to do exposes on the UK basketball program continues to grow. Last week, CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" inquired but was promptly told that Roselle was and is granting no interviews. I hardly doubt that will stop the "60 Minutes" folks if they decided to pursue the matter. A Washington Post writer was in town as were representatives of New York Times and the Cable News Network. Stories have already appeared in Newsday, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal and Sports Illustrated . . . The plight of UK basketball is beginning to take its toll on the turnstiles too. As of last week, less than 9,000 of Freedom Hall's 20,000 seats were sold for the Austin Peay game and several thousands tickets are unsold for next weekend's UKIT . . . Our prayers go out to Judge and Mrs. Armand Angelucci whose son, Joe, died as a result of a gunshot a couple weeks ago. Judge Angelucci's family has been a longtime supporter of UK athletics. Joe, who was planning on becoming a laywer, was working as a deputy in Lexington and was serving a warrant when a suspect shot him with his own gun.
Notre Dame 81, Kentucky 65
VIEWPOINT
Lottori To The Editor
Russell Rice.
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The junior center bullied his way over LeRon Ellis with a dunk.
On the play. Paddock was fouled but missed his charity opportunity. Not to fret, because Notre Dame was in position for the rebound which was later turned into another dunk, this time by LaPhonso Ellis.
Those two dunks lifted Notre Dame back into its 12-point easy chair, 36-24. Another dunk by Paddock and a driving layup by Jamere Jackson just before halftime ignited the Irish to their biggest lead so far 40-25.
ALMOST AS eye-catching as the halftime score (40-27) were the figures in the rebounding departmentNotre Dame 30, UK 13.
"I was surprised that we were up by 13 at halftime and I was surprised that we won by double figures," admitted Phelps. You shouldn't have been so surprised, Digger.
Notre Dame continued to dominate in the second stanza. The closest Kentucky got was 11 points on two occasions. And with the score 60-44 with 9:14 remaining, the Irish rudely blasted the 'Cats out of the Hoosier State with an embarrassing defeat.
?A baseline jumper by Fredrick upped the count to 62-44.
?Next, near midcourt Tim Singleton picked the pocket of guard John Pelphrey. Pelphrey. now on defense, was forced to foul the runaway Singleton. The Notre Dame guard hit on one of two63-44.
?Hanson, next, forced a shot and the, Irish, not to anyone's surprise by this time, grabbed another rebound. Notre Dame came down the court and again had its way inside the paint. Two misses quickly were turned into two points when Robinson scored on a putback. Make it a 21-point hurdle for the 'Cats (65-44). . .A hurdle UK had no chance to climb.
"We were very tentative on our offense," said a dejected Sean Sutton in the locker room. "I don't think they're that much better than we are. It was just a matter of them getting ahead and things started clicking."
Notre Dame-UK Notes
There were several "reunions" at the Big Four. Former Pulaski County teammates Reggie Hanson and Louisville Shannon
Fraley got a chance to talk about old times. So did Notre Dame's Keith Adkins and John Pelphrey, who were teammates at Paintsville High School. . .Asked if this loss was tougher to take than the 76-41 thrashing at the hands of LSU two seasons ago, Derrick Miller said: "All losses over 20 points equal up to the same. The LSU loss was probably worse because we had more older guys on the team. But when you put it all together it counts the same.". . .About Kevin Ellery's performance, here's what two Kentucky players had to say. First, Sean Sutton: "Players that want to come to schoolsyou know they don't get offered scholarshipssometimes come back to haunt you. He's a great basketball player and he played a great game." Deron Feldhaus on Ellery: "I was pretty surprised. I knew Kevin had really been working on his shooting. I played with him in all-star games and he could shoot then. But he's really improved his shot. That just shows you how much you can improve if work on something.". . .While Ellery was burning the nets, Hanson, usually a dead-eye shooter, was having trouble finding the target. He hit on one of 10 from the field. However, he did make seven of eight from the free throw stripe. . .Sean Sutton and Richie Farmer, like LeRon Ellis, also were feeling the effects of the flu bug. Sutton said he got sick at halftime of the game and still felt queasy in the second half. . .Said Chris Mills of his offensive problems in the first half: "They sort of had a box-and-one spread on me at the beginning. I wasn't really getting the ball and the other guys were taking the shots. Some of them were falling and some of them weren't.". . .Farmer's two free throws in the second half were his first two points as a Wildcat. . .Reportedly, UK sent back 1,900 tickets of its 9,300 given for the Big Four event. Last season the Wildcats sold all of their allotment. . .Color commentator Dick Vitale was loudly booed by the UK section. Vitale, who said last month that Eddie Sutton and his staff should resign whether guilty or innocent of wrongdoings charged by the NCAA, blew kisses to the Wildcat fans.
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the new A.D. Larry is a native of Ashland and formerly a standout high school player on a state champion. Later he was a valued member of UK's favorite team, Rupp's Runts. 1 believe his father was renowned as an official in the SEC and has instilled the senses of cooperation, sincerity and integrity in his son.
Conley is the right age to provide long-term leadership and possesses the appearance, energy, charisma, strong marketing and promotional abilities to do the job. He has a strong alliance with our storied basketball tradition and knows the importance of all our athletic programs to our fans. Larry would be able to move and work easily and confidently into the position from his familiarity with UK officials, teachers, alumni and supporters. As a respected television broadcaster he has developed working relationships with the media and other universities along with their athletic departments.
Obviously, he is articulate, well-spoken and accompanied by strong public relations abilities from his work in broadcasting and business marketing. These talents are sorely needed in UK's athletics department.
Larry Conley is held in high esteem by all associated with UK and could rekindle the powerful, legendary spirit and tradition of the university. I sure hope he is available and interested.
Bill Hines Louisville
Larry Donald.
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ternational Universities Tournament in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Bryant gave UK its brightest football era, compiling a 60-23-5 record and taking the Wildcats to four postseason bowl games before departing for Texas A&M after the 1953 season.
?WELL-KNOWN ON THE NATIONAL SCENE,
Shively was a member of the NCAA Executive Committee at the time of his death. He also had served the past 15 years as president of the SEC Coaches and Athletic Directors Association, and was a past chairman of both the NCAA Basketball Tournament Committee and the NCAA Summer Baseball Committee. Fourteen years after his death, he became a member of the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame.
On the night before his death, the Wildcat basketball team defeated Pennsylvania 64-49 for its fifth straight victory in as many games. During that game, he assisted a fan who was stricken by a heart attack during the game. While watching a professional football game the following afternoon, Shively suffered a fatal heart attack.
?NEXT WEEK: A time of turmoil as Robert L. Johnson, vice president for student affairs, takes over as interim AD while football coach Charlie Bradshaw and assistant basketball coach Harry Lancaster marshall their forces for an all-out takeover bid.
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celebrating...
?It is the 10th anniversary for the Big East and the truth is no conference has ever achieved what this group has done in just one decade. From a splintered group of independents to one of the most powerful amalgams in college basketball is the storyline here. And credit goes to just one man, commissioner Dave Gavitt. He saw what was coming in college basketball in the 1970s and sold his package to nine schools which, believe it or not, were relucant to give up their own turf...
?I watched a recent NBA game between Detroit and Indiana in which there were no less than four traveling violations called. I'm sure that is a record. Interestingly, one of the officials in that game was former collegiate whistle-tooter Joe Forte. Is there a connection?...
Temple's John Chaney, who informed the media that Mark Macon would not be speaking the press this season, has taken a step back on that stand. He says now the moratorium was only for the preseason and that the media misunderstood him. It would be a mistake on Chaney's part to mis-estimate the hearing capacity of writers and broadcasters. Anyhow, Philly writers will be able to hear from Macon this winter, which is the point after all...
Books, books, books. Dick Vitale has one out. John "Season on the Brink" Feinstein has another offering. Michigan coach Bill Frieder and Purdue's Gene Keady also have their chronicles on the market. The fact we have so many books probably speaks to the ever-increasing fascination this nation has with college basketball. The two best unwritten books are Al McGuire's autobiography and a season with LSU coach Dale Brown. I doubt either can be far behind.
Todd Hallum
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the regular season becomes secondary. If this is the case, don't bet against gambling entering the picture. And college basketball definitely doesn't need another scandal on its hands.
TODAY, PLAYERS PREPARE for basketball season year around. By expanding the size of the tournament, the rewards by schools with excellent regular season records would lose some of its glory. Let's preserve the efforts of hard working teams which win conference championships with high seeds in the tournament, along with fewer touranment games.
I for one would more or less like the NCAA Tournament to keep its present format. Sure, there will be oc-cassions where a team or two will feel slighted by the tournament committee. But the 64-team field is big enough as it is. Hopefully, college basketball won't fall into the category of the NBA where the league's current playoff system has been critized for years with too many rounds to get to the championship.
College basketball needs to stabilize itself and continue to reward the fans with exciting regular season and postseason play. I don't know if the tournament needs to cut back the amount of teams it accepts but it certainly does not need to open it to everyone! In fact, if you want to open it up to everyone let's just start the season in mid-January with a few warmup games until the tournament begins in March.
Hopefully, the NCAA's 10-year moratorium, that of not increasing the NCAA field, will be a part of college basketball's long term future.