4
J&oerri/ye/*- c?, /pc?fr
Bennett's Injury May Influence Future Recruiting
|'Cats Now Have One Less Scholarship To Give
Winston Bennett's knee injury certainly has changed Kentucky's plans for the 1986-87 basketball season.
But the injury that will sideline Bennett this campaign will also have an impact on the 1987-88 season because Kentucky now has one less scholarship to offer.
"We wanted to do whatever was best for Winston," said James Dickey, UK assistant basketball coach. "It does mean we will have one less scholarship to offer because Winston will be redshirted and return next year.
"We won't have to withdraw any scholarship offers, though. We've only offered one scholarship to LeRon (Ellis) and have not committed to any other player."
Kentucky could face an interesting problem during the early signing period
				
	*		Larry Vaught Cats' Pause Columnist	
				
Nov. 12-18. Coach Eddie Sutton and staff could have more players wanting to wear the blue and white than they have scholarships to offer.
Counting Bennett, UK will have nine players returning for the 1987-88 season. That leaves six scholarships, more than most schools could fill in one season. ...     ^............ _____....
But Ellis, the 6-10 prep star from California, has already announced he'll accept UK's scholarship. And Kentucky is holding a spot for Reggie Hanson of Pulaski County, who signed last year but failed to meet the NCAA minimum requirement on his college test scores. He's currently enrolled at UK and if his grades are okay will join the team next season.
Throw in 6-10 Mike Scott as another signee. He left Wake Forest last December and is attending a junior college in Lexington. He will sign with UK as soon as he completed his required academic work.
That leaves only three scholarships for Sutton. And look at the potential candidates:
 Sean Sutton  The UK coach's son is rated among the nation's top point guards.
 John Pittman  The 7-0 Texas high school star could be the nation's best pure prep center.
 Sean Higgins  The 6-8 Los Angeles standout has UK among his final choices.
 Eric Manuel  The 6-6 Macon, Ga., guard is considered the nation's best prep backcourt player and he's interested in UK.
 Jerome Harmon  A talented 6-4 star from Gary, Ind., he also has UK among his final choices.
 John Pelphrey  The 6-7 Paintsville star likes Kentucky and is a smooth performer.
 Deron Feldhaus  The 6-6 Feldhaus is a rugged inside player at Mason County.
Maybe Coach Sutton could help the situation by having his son walk on at Kentucky. It would be a great public relations move, would ease the pressure of having his son play at UK and would give Kentucky a quality player without having to use a scholarship.
Kentucky's problem, however, is one most schools would love to have.
"It's a nice problem if you have more players wanting to sign than what you have scholarships to take," said Dickey. "What we have to do is just keep recruiting hard and then cross that bridge if and when we come to it.
"Any program in the country goes after more top players than just the number of scholarships it has available. That's the only way you can be sure of filling your quota with quality players.
"You have to make some tough recruiting decisions every year no matter how many scholarships you have. But I'd rather be in the position we are this year than having to scramble around to find players."
Dickey knows some rival recruiters might use Bennett's injury to try and discourage a high school forward from signing with Kentucky. "I'm sure some people will point out Winston's injury and return," said Dickey. "We just try to sell our program. We try to present a positive package and then let the young man make up his mind."
And Dickey wouldn't be surprised if UK fills all its available scholarships during the early signing period.
"We always like to do our recruiting in the fall," said Dickey. "That way you can concentrate on your team and start watching the top junior high
school players.
"We were hopeful all summer that we would close out our recruiting in the fall and we still feel the same way."
'Cats Still Pretenders, Not Contenders, In SEC Race
THREE STRAIGHT losses to Southeastern Conference foes proved once again that Kentucky is not ready to challenge for the top spot in the conference. But the Wildcats still believe they can compete in the SEC despite this year's losses to Mississippi, LSU and Georgia.
"There are no doubts in my mind that we are good enough to compete with SEC teams," said defensive back Tony Mayes. "We just haven't played very damn good football this year against SEC teams.
"I felt our game against Georgia was a must game. It was an opportunity for us to beat a good team and have a chance to go to a nice bowl.
"It just seems like every year we go into LSU and Georgia with a good record. Then we play LSU tough and lose and come back and lose to Georgia. We just can't make enough big plays to enable us to win those two damn games."
Has 'Dollar Bill' Been Devaluated?
IS SOMETHING wrong with UK senior quarterback Bill Ransdell? He just doesn't seem to have the same zip on his passes and the confidence he had in 1984 and 1985 seems to have disappeared.
Coach Jerry Claiborne insists nothing is physically wrong with Ransdell. Instead, he feels his star quarterback has thrown some bad passes but also notes that Ransdell's protection has not been terrific all season.
UK's Struggling Quarterback, Bill Ransdell
Still, Ransdell is not the same quarterback who opened the the 1985 campaign with three straight 300-yard passing games.
"I think the pressure of all the passing records and being team captain has hurt Bill," said one Wildcat. "He's doing okay but he's not doing the things he did last year.
"Maybe it's not all his fault. Maybe his receivers aren't getting open or maybe he doesn't have time to throw."
But wide receiver Eric Pitts isn't ready to abandon his quarterback, though. He said, "I still have 100 percent confidence in Bill Ransdell. I know his capability. He's a winner and he's our leader. He'll come back and play top-notch football."
Claiborne won't give up on Ransdell, either. Expect him to stick with his senior leader no matter what happens. Ransdell has made some big plays, played in pain and did his best to make UK a winner. Claiborne won't turn his back on that now that Ransdell is struggling.