xt79057cs115 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79057cs115/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1986 Volume 10 -- Number 32 athletic publications  English Wildcat News Company Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Cats' Pause UKAW University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1985-1986) coaches Sutton, Eddie players Harden, Roger NCAA investigation three-point shot University of Kentucky Football (1986) Claiborne, Jerry Moseley, Doug statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  "May 24, 1986" text The Cats' Pause,  "May 24, 1986" 1986 2012 true xt79057cs115 section xt79057cs115 NCAA Talking To Ex-Wildcat Players
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NCAA, Grant And WHAS All Hot Topics
Never is there a dull moment around the University of Kentucky campus and topics such as the WHAS controversy, Harvey Grant and the NCAA have added new meaning to the'traditional off season.
We talk about a few of the topics today.
It was five years ago this summer we got into some hot water with UK officials for revealing then Governor John Y. Brown, Jr.'s attempt to fire then football coach Fran Curci and replace him with ex-NFL coach George Allen.
Today, we again are the messenger of unpleasant news, that of the NCAA being in Lexington.
It really comes as no great surprise, but TCP is the first to confirm the presence of NCAA investigators at UK since The Lexington Herald-Leader's investigate artciles last article.
UK president Otis Singletary said in March that the University had completed its inhouse investigation and had forwarded its findings on to the NCAA. He said the University would have no further comment until the NCAA responded to the University.
There has been nothing but silence.
Earlier this week, TCP learned that at least one NCAA investigator has been in Lexington for at least a week and that investigator has reportedly told several former UK players that he expects to spend at least two or three weeks more in the Lexington area, interrogating various persons concerning accusations made in stories published by The Lexington Herald-Leader last October.
The good news to this story is that the NCAA has wasted little time in turning its attention to the UK situation. For Kentucky, it's better to get on with any type of a probe, learn the findings and deal with any problems head on instead of letting them drag on and on.
UK Coach Eddie Sutton has been quoted several times as saying he wants the NCAA to resolve the situation as soon as possible so recruiting won't be affected over a long period of time.
What is known is that all current Kentucky players were interviewed by UK lawyers earlier in the year.
Of course, all the major accusations leveled in the newspaper articles came from former players, many of whom have since said they were either misquoted or taken out of context in their statements.
Many former players have declined requests for interviews by the NCAA, but one who agreed to talk with the NCAA reportedly was ex-Wildcat Tom Heitz.
One former player, who asked not to be identified, said he has been contacted by the NCAA at least five times, by both telephone and in person. He said he was told by the NCAA representative that he (the NCAA) would bump into him (the ex-player) sooner or later.
The ex-player said he was reluctant to talk with anyone after he was misquoted in the newspaper article. "I just don't want to talk
with anyone about it. I've got other things to do," he said.
Another former player said he has no intentions of talking with the NCAA. "I didn't say anything before and I don't have anything to say now," said the former UK eager.
Juco All-American Harvey Grant won't be playing in a Kentucky uniform after all. For many of you TCP subscribers living outside the friendly confines of the Commonwealth, this isn't much of a surprise since many of you probably didn't even realize he had ever signed.
Actually, we had to tear up a page of this edition of TCP just before it went to press. Earlier this month, Grant signed a SEC scholarship letter to attend UK this fall. Later, it was learned that Grant had signed similar Georgia State and Nevada-Reno.
But Coach Eddie Sutton was confident that Grant would honor his signing at UK and be in Lexington this fall. Actually, none of the Grant signings are binding because he signed a national letter of intent out of high school with Clemson.
Rules and regulations of the national letter of intent allow a player to sign only one national letter. All others are invalid. So when a player signs one out of high school and then transfers to a junior college, he is not officially tied to another senior school until he actually enrolls and attends one class.
Since Grant had signed with Clemson (he left Clemson after one year) all he could do
NCAA Probing UK Hoop Program
with another school was sign a scholarship which obligates the school but not him.
Those were the minor problems. Then the bombshell.
On May 13 Grant and two of his teammates at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, were charged with burglarizing campus buildings.
The charges stemmed from a March burglary where some television sets, VCRs and other electronic equipment were taken from the college media center, and another about May 3 in which musical equipment was taken from the fine arts center.
As soon as Sutton (who was out of town attending Southeastern Conference meetings at the time) could get a handle on the situation, he phoned Grant and discussed the matter. A short time later, Sutton announced in a one sentence statement that he and Grant had mutually agreed that it would be best if Grant did not attend the University of Kentucky.
Before the ink could dry on newsprint, word filtered its way to the Bluegrass that former Southern Cal freshman star Tommy Lewis (who was recruited hard by Kentucky for a year and a half) had been deported from the USC campus and that he was interested in talking to UK.
For the third time in eight months Sutton uttered those increasingly famous words, "thanks, but no thanks."
It all goes back to the Tito Horford days of last but Sutton has wisely made the correct decision each time. Quite frankly, either of the three (Horford, Grant or Lewis) could
Although there has been no notification to the University of Kentucky of an official investigation, The Cats' Pause has learned that the NCAA is in the Lexington area and expects to be here for the next three weeks.
Several former UK basketball players report they have been contacted in recent days by an NCAA official who wants to discuss allegations made in a series of articles published by The Lexington Herald-Leader last October.
NCAA officials neither confirm nor deny any ongoing investigation of a school.
However, John Darcy, general counsel for the University of Kentucky, told TCP Tuesday he has "no comment" on the report that NCAA investigators are in Lexington.
Darcy did confirm that the University completed its inhouse investigation of the basketball allegations back in March and reported to UK President Otis Singletary at the time.
In that report, the investigating group said 67 persons inside and outside the United States had been contacted by UK. Of that group, 36 were former or current UK players. All but eight of those were interviewed. The eight not interviewed were former players who declined the request.
In addition to those, the report said 18 current and former employees (which included coaches) were interviewed and the report
noted that all were cooperative.
Another thirteen people were also called by the UK committee. These people were non-employees, non-players. In other words, boosters. Eight were interviewed and five declined to be interviewed by the committee. Neither Singeltary nor the university made any comment on the university's findings.
According to the university, that report was forwarded to the NCAA shortly after its March 3 presentation.
Several former players say they have been called numerous times by an NCAA investigator as recently as last weekend. At least one fromer player (Tom Heitz) has been questioned.
According to NCAA rules and regulations, the current investigation has to be in the preliminary stages because a university must be notified in writing before an "OI" (or official inquiry) can be issued. Darcy says UK has received no such notification.
The current visit by the NCAA is not unusual in cases like these says one former NCAA official. He terms it as a "bird dog" trip to see if there is enough evidence to warrant a full-scale probe.
UK head coach Eddie Sutton was out of town and could not be reached for comment although any probe would most likely be directed to the pre-Sutton days.
have been an instant solution to the absence of Kenny Walker. Sutton certainly has placed a great deal of emphasis on quality over ability by his actions.
The WHAS Radio controversy!
Take your pick on this one for there are many phases. First and foremost to most Kentucky fans is whether or not the Louisville station will carry Wildcat football and basketball broadcasts. Second is the ongoing negotiations to sell the station.
Earlier this month, the UKAA board of directors voted unanimously to offer the broadcasts on a simulcast basis to both WHAS and WAVG Radio in Louisville. If WHAS doesn't want to accept the broadcasts on a "shared" basis, then the games would go to WAVG exclusively.
WHAS has balked at the offer, insisting that it will take the games only if it has the games exclusively. Trouble brewed with WHAS' decision to give UL top billing which means that UK games would sometimes be tape delayed when the two schools play at the same time.
Kentucky, which has enjoyed No. 1 status for the past fifty-plus years on the station, obviously didn't enjoy that decision. WHAS wants to move the conflicts games to its sister FM station, WAMZ and then rebroadcast the UK games at a later time on WHAS.
UK's board members were very emotional when it came voting time at its meeting to determine who would win the broadcast rights in Louisville.
Led by former Kentucky Govenor A.B. "Happy" Chandler (who said "we ain't good enough for them, they ain't good enough for us"), the board appeared to quickly change its attitude of one favoring the powerful 50,000-watt, clear-channel station to stronging opposing WHAS.
One board member, obviously seeking control of emotions, commented, "I'd like to have the first dance, too, but sometimes the second dance is better than none at all."
To which UK vice-president Ray Horn-back snapped, "but not when you've been to the previous fifty dances."
Rumors were spreading that Kentucky was prepared to swallow its pride and accept No. 2 billing to UL on WHAS just minutes prior to the meeting in a move obvious to salvage what UK could on the Louisville station.
But that changed quickly.
As one board member later commented, ' T was for anyone except WHAS. We don't have to take that kind of treatment from anyone."
During the meeting, it was pointed out that UK basketball will not be affected that much if WHAS doesn't join the network this year.
WLW Radio, the powerful 50,000-watt, clear-channel station in Cincinnati has already agreed to become part of the UK network for Kentucky basketball this year.
There is no question that football will be the sport to suffer the most since WLW has said it probably won't carry UK football this season. However, 50,000-watt stations are
(Continued On Page 9) Ox
May 24, /yS>f
A Reader's Viewpoint
Touching All The Bases
By Dean Perkins
For an ole basketball junkie like myself this time of year really brings on the bias. Of course, golf helps to soothe the sadness of heart that will prevail until the roundball bounces in full force again in October. This is not to say that I won't enjoy Coach Jerry Claiborne's football team come this fall. . .However, it is the University of Kentucky basketball season that really turns me on. It has been this way for so many years.
TJie Cats' Pause, under the superb guidance of Oscar Combs has been a real pleasure to read over the years.
Many of us (UK fens) don't have the opportunity to get the daily news about UK (the 'Cats) as we live out of the state. . .The Cats' Pause really has filled many a heart with joy just to see it in the mail box when we arrive home from work.
I really feel proud of what Oscar has accomplished for himself and UK fans everywhere. There are some topics of concern about UK and some people relating to the UK program (with-in and outside of) that I'd like to address at this time. Before doing so. I'd just like to say that these are my opinions and are made in the same manner as Jock Sutherland would. . .you know. . .nothing to get mad over. Having said that, I'm sure somebody is going to get upset. Never-the-less. . .here goes.
WHAS And The UK Network
The UK Network as is, does the job needed for the UK faithfuls throughout the state of Kentucky. However, the many Kentucky supporters outside the state can't enjoy the many fine programs on the network because WHAS is not a part of that system anymore.
That is sad.
WLW in Cincinnati is also a 50,000 watt clear channel station and it has been said that WLW will become a part of the UK Sports Network for the upcoming football and basketball seasons. That may come to pass but knowing Cincinnati, WLW and that the area tends to support pro football and pro baseball leaves me to believe that the University of Kentucky will not have the complete coverage that it needs.
The signal of WLW itself, for many, is stronger than WHAS but the loss of the pregame, postgame, weekly coaches shows and other programs is something of much concern to coaches Claiborne and Sutton. I'm not happy about the loss of WHAS and I think the Bible mentions something about the impossibility of having two masters
 something about loving the one and hating the other and vice versa.
I think this is the problem over at WHAS. Van Vance is the voice of the Louisville Cardinals and he has his own sports talk show almost every week day evening.
Jock is on enough with his 'hate Kentucky venom' each week that even if a UK fan wanted to be nice to Louisville it would be most difficult to do so.
If it was possible to license a new 50,000 watt clear channel station, I'm sure some wealthy UK fan would do so. No luck there as too many people in high places want to get rid of the ones we already have. So WHAS passes in review:
WHAS. . .The home of the Kentucky Wildcats!!!! WHAS. . .The home of the 'Cats and the Cards!!!! WHAS. . .The home of the Cards and the 'Cats!!!! WHAS. . .The home of the Louisville Cardinals!!!!
And then it springs to mind, that statement made by Joe B. Hall and Cliff Hagan
 "somebody wants something we've got!" Kool Hand Luke strikes again, and Louisville has WHAS all to themselves. We are living in times of great change. This is one I don't like.
Jim Host where are you?
loe B. Hall
I won't spend much time on this gentleman as he is no longer with the program. My good friend, Charlie Metcalf sent a letter to Coach Hall and it was printed in The Cats' Pause last year. Everything said. . .1 say amen to.
I never was a 'Yes' man for anybody but some of my UK buddies seemed to think I went overboard in my support for Joe. In fact, even when calling or receiving a call from them, the comment is, "Is this you, Joe?" I take it as a compliment. Joe B. never got credit for much at UK. But I tell everybody that the flame keeper did one heck of a job. Ask UCLA.
I don't say he was the greatest coach that ever lived but he deserved better than the Kentucky fans who booed him at Rupp Arena.
In closing on Joe B., let me tell you about two of the many tickets that Joe had access to while he was the head coach at UK.
Two years ago this last February I lost a brother to the dreaded big 'C. Cancer is a terrible thing. My brother was a great athlete in his time; good enough to be offered a full ride scholarship to the University of Tennessee for basketball. His name was Marion O. Perkins and my other brother Clifton was going to UT on a football grant.
Misfortunes entered the scene with our home burning down and World War II causing problems. My brothers did not go to UT but to war.
The years passed much too fast for the brothers from Ashland, Ky.
One day I called Joe B. I told him my brother was dying because of Cancer and asked him if it would be possible to get two tickets for him and his wife to come see the 'Cats at Rupp Arena? Joe said, "Sure Dean, I'll fix it up and I'll also have him and his wife meet the players."
The conversation went on and on and I told Joe how much I appreciated it. My brother and his wife (Kaye) went to Rupp Arena, enjoyed the game and met the players and all the coaches. Later, I talked to my brother a month before he died. He spoke of how nice Joe and the players treated him and his wife.
My brother was a fighter. He lived two years beyond the six months they said he would. He didn't cry much. I don't either.
Dan Issel, in his book, Parting Shots mentioned that when Joe B. Hall retired there were no tears. When my brother told me how he enjoyed the trip to Rupp  the game, but especially the treatment and attention of Coach Hall and UK players  he was emo-
tionally caught up for the moment. But, he didn't cry. Thanks Joe  a class gentleman and program.
.that wasn't his style. . .but I did.
The Killer Instinct
Much has been said about the failure of UK not winning any NCAA championships after 1978 and the University of Louisville having won two in the 80's already.
Many thought that UK should've won a couple along the way and many thought with the team of Turpin, Bowie, Walker, Master and Dicky Beal, Kentucky should have won hands down. Of course Georgetown had something to say about that. . .and did.
Many people blamed Coach Hall. They said UK would have won had Kenny Walker been up to par. Many reasons (or excuses) were given but there was always the one that stuck with me  Kentucky doesn't have that killer instinct.
Well, whoop-te-do! How can a team have a killer instinct when the atmosphere at UK was love everybody else but dislike the head coach.
Cawood Ledford likes Bobby Knight! Ralph Hacker loves Denny Crum(b)! What is going on?
Hey people, if Knight and Crum(b) are friends of the UK program, then we don't need any enemies! Jock Sutherland in TCP??!?
Those people would love to bury UK basketball. All I ever hear is the unfair advantage that UK has when Louisville plays at Rupp Arena? Denny forgets pretty easy the advantage he gets at Freedom Hall. Count up those free throws Denny. Shouldn't be too dificult for a math major to figure out.
Coach Bob Boyd, who just left Mississippi State, had to put up with Coach John Wooden's overstocking of ball players (high school Ail-Americans) at UCLA for years. So, he comes to Mississippi State and he has this great chance to get a fantastic home grown ball player named Kenny Payne.
Now, Kenny not only has MSU after him but a lot of other schools, too. Kentucky for one and hold on here, another big-time school is after Payne. Who is it?
The Louisville Cardinals that's who.
Boyd figures he will win this one as he knows the Cards don't have any more scholarships available. Right? Wrong!
Barry Sumpter has a grade average that passes NCAA standards but not U of L's. Presto!  one more scholarship coming up for the Cards. . .and goodbye Bob Boyd. Killer instinct? I bet Bob Boyd has one.
Hey, I'm not saying play dirty but I'll tell you something, over the last few years some of our players are so nice to the opposing teams' players that they are helping them off the floor before they fall!!! Come on!!!! Give me a Winston Bennett every time.
I'd love to see somebody try to take his job come October. No way!! In the famous words of Bugs Bunny  "Of course you know this means war.". . .so be it.
If you wear a Kentucky uniform you are going to be the target of every opponent you face; not just his foe but his season. If a team beats Kentucky its season is made.
Bobby Knight never would've started an all-bench team against UK like he did against Illinois. I heard Denny made his boys practice over the holidays because he wanted so bad to beat the 'Cats. It goes on and on. How do you get this killer instinct?
You hone the tools of talent you already have. You work on your weaknesses until they become your strengths. You put on that uniform that says Kentucky and you say to yourself and to the world  "I did not come to the University of Kentucky to play basketball for the No. 2 program in the state of Kentucky. I came here to play for the No. 1 basketball program in the world!!"
That takes some kind of dedication.
My Family Doctor
In the Dayton, Ohio, area there are many UK fans. They're everywhere. Now and again you also will come across a U of L fan. Having moved from the Englewood area to Vandalia area, I changed to a new family doctor. Guess what? Dr. Charles F. Wilcher Jr. went to Medical School and is a graduate of the University of Louisville.
We got acquainted as he noticed my blue UK shirt and walking shorts, my blue and white socks, all white sneakers, and mostly white insignia cap. He gave me a physical check up.
He says my sugar is way too high. I say if it was good enough for Adolph Rupp it's good enough for me.
He doesn't appreciate my wit. He tells me to lay down on the bench then he pushes real hard in the groin area. The good doctor seems to almost smirk as he tells me I don't seem to like pain. I also don't like the 'Cardinal Cannonball'.
He tells me I ought to trade that UK blue for U of L Red as Louisville is now THE school in Kentucky. He says that U of L just signed a seven-footer and Kentucky is in trouble from now on.
He doesn't know yet that I receive in the mail: TCP, Basketball Times, Basketball Weekly, Blue Ribbon, and have access to about every scouting service known to man. I let him gloat for now.
He is a fine gentleman other than being a Cardinal fan. . .but I'm telling Coach Eddie Sutton and the UK players right now that they mean to bury us in Freedom Hall next season.
Please James, work on the free throws. Cedric work on those weights. Richard get tough. Robert work on the shot. Winston don't go soft on us. Ed put the 'D' on Kevin Walls.
All of you guys not only work for Louisville but for the season as well.
My gosh, I just thought of something. . .does Chapman, Hanson, Miller and Grant
[Continued On Page 21] May 24, /$6>fr
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The Bottom Line On UK Basketball May 24, /ptff
Memories To Ponder During Off-Season
.While The Future Holds Many Questions
As another school year comes to a close this month, followers of the University of Kentucky can now rest for a while. During these lazy days of summer Big Blue fans can sit back and recall many of the events which took place during the 1985-86 session. Good or bad those memories seem like only yesterday.
Reminiscing Last Season's Events
With your favorite beverage in hand and relaxing by the pool, beach, or underneath an Oak Tree while reminiscing during the off-season you might remember being . . .
Nick Nicholas
Cats' Pause Columnist
. . .confused  with the somewhat bold predictions of how strong the football Wildcats would be in '85. . .and then watching the unforeseen problems occur as the schedule progressed, resulting in a dismal 5-6 season.
. . .stunned  when Brian McClure led his Bowling Green Falcons to a last-minute touchdown, resulting in a 30-26 upset conquest of Kentucky. . .
. . .surprised  with Don Weber's lady cross country team capturing an SEC championship with four freshmen runners.
. . .over-anxious  while waiting day by day for Eddie Sutton's official debut as Wildcat coach to become a reality. . .
. . .ignorant  to why two sneaker organizations (Nike and Converse) w