Unless the unexpected develops, all the regular mainstays of the suspended 1952-53 team will be around this season. Only three seniorsHagan, Ramsey, and Lou Tsioropouloswere members of last season's combine, and, under the rules allowing four years of competition within a five-year period from the time of first enrollment, they have one season of eligibility remaining (1953-54). Other regulars returning to competition include Bill Evans, junior starting guard; Gayle Rose, also a junior guard who likely would have been the fifth man in the starting lineup if UK had played last year; and Willie Rouse, still another third-year guard who was a top reserve two seasons ago. That's the cream of the old faces that Kentucky's foes will be seeing again. (As this booklet went to press, Rouse was lost for the season due to a knee injury and starting forward Tsioropoulos also was being bothered by a strained knee that threatened to possibly keep him out of early season action.)
In the newcomer category, the Wildcats began practice last season with 16 freshmen on the roster. Normal departures have reduced the number, but it's likely that eight or ten will graduate to varsity action. It's even more probable that the top performers in this group will find the transition to high-level inter-collegiate play much smoother than most yearlings ordinarily experience.
Yearlings Developed Well
The one bright spot in the year-long layoff has been the rapid and encouraging development of Kentucky's freshmen cagers, according to the man who has guided the Wildcats to four national championships in the past seven years. He attributes this, among other things, to the left-handed compliment of the NCAA that allowed more time for practice. Whereas the team formerly got in only a couple of practices a week between games to work on fundamentals and the freshmen received comparatively little attention, last season was different. Practice went on every day with the frosh coming in for as much attention as the varsity. Fundamentals were stressed as much as needed, defense came in for attention exclusively a week at a time, new plays and defenses were developed and tested under simulated game conditions during four exhibition intra-squad scrimmages.
Already signed for the coming year are the state's top high school starsRay Mills of Clay County, a six-foot-four-inch center and stellar
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