Brassow had a promising freshman campaign, averaging 6.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 17.3 minutes played per game.
With only three scholarships available because of UK's NCAA sanctions, Pitino
recruited at three different
positions. Jamal Mashburn,
a 6-8 forward from Cardinal
Hayes High School in The
Bronx, N.Y., is the most
highly-touted of the three.
Mashburn averaged 26.3
points, 10.5 rebounds and
4.3 assists per game this past
year for Cardinal Hayes,
leading his team to the
Catholic High School
championship, its first title in
46 years. He was named
Player of the Year by
Newsday and was first-team All-New York by both the
New York Daily News and the New York Post.
Gimel Martinez, a 6-9 center from perennial power Miami Senior High School, joins Mashburn on the front line and gives Kentucky the center it has been missing for several years. Martinez averaged 24.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists per game his senior year, leading Miami to a 33-3 record and its second consecutive
IT'S A LOCKE
Pilino made history in the off-season by hiring the first female assistant coach ever at a Division I basketball program. Bernadette Locke, former assistant coach for the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs, will be on the UK sideline this fall. Along with her day-today coaching duties, Locke's special assignment will be meeting with Kentucky business leaders on a regular basis to assist UK players in career placement after graduation.
sanctions from the 1989 NCAA probation end?
UK's one-year ban from live television is over. The Wildcats will reappear on the tube this season.
UK's scholarship cap is also over. Kentucky was limited to three new scholarships per year for two seasons, but will be back to the normal NCAA limits this season.
The Wildcats may not appear in the 1991 SEC or NCAA Tournaments. In 1992, however, Kentucky will be eligible to compete in both.
Florida 4A state title. Carlos Toomer, a 6-4 guard from Corinth (Miss.) High School, is Kentucky's third scholarship signee. Toomer averaged 13.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game this past season, leading his team to a 36-3 record and its second consecutive state championship.
Henry Thomas, a 6-4 freshman guard, makes his debut on the Kentucky roster after being redshirted for a year after knee surgery. Thomas averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game his senior season at Clarksville (Tenn.) High School. Thomas was recruited by UK Athletics Director CM. Newton when he was the head coach at Vanderbilt. Pitino, who hasn't seen Thomas play, doesn't know quite what to expect from the freshman, but is optimistic based on the assessments of other players on the team. Thomas might play off-guard or small forward.
"We will have more people this year, so that is certainly a big bonus from last season, "Pitino says. "Last year, we didn't have enough bodies for substitutions. This year we
"Gimel is someone who, at 6-9, gives us size that we didn't have last season. It's tough for a freshman to break into who the starting lineup, but he has that "a opportunity here. He has been very P'a well-coached in high school, he's Pa fundamentally very sound. I think because of the fundamentals he possesses he will be able to start as a freshman."