The Best And Worst. . .Of Many Topics
Kentucky football coach Jerry Claiborne may have achieved a rare first for a Wildcat football coach as he compiled what folks may rate as both his finest and worst recruiting efforts of his era in Big Blue country.
It was his finest crop of signees because Claiborne signed the largest number of Kentucky blue-chippcrs in recent memory. There is little question he inked more quality players last week than any other class in the past decade or so.
The bad news is he lost more quality blue-chip Kentucky seniors than he has ever failed to sign during his previous five years at Kentucky.
Claiborne landed 15 Kentucky prepsters including such star athletes as Phil Logan. Jerry Bell and Billy Swanson. but lost prep All-Americans Frank Jacobs (to Notre Dame) and Jeff Ellis (to Ohio State).
Kentucky also lost a pair of All-Americans out of CincinnatiVinnie Johnson and Carlos Snow to Ohio State after the two earlier, according to one report, had told UK coaches privately that they were going to attend Kentucky. But that story appears to be a recurring one with players from that part of Ohio. They keep UK hanging until the end and the Wildcats end up being the proverbial bridesmaid.
You can put the recruiting harvest in perspective by saying that Claiborne did, indeed, enjoy his best recruiting season since his return to Kentucky.
But you must temper the enthusiasm with the fact that Kentucky did not have a great recruiting year, one which was certainly within reach because of the rare abundance of top-notch national talent located within the Bluegrass state.
While the cries ring far and wide about this being a basketball state and that the commonwealth does not produce large numbers of prospects, this year was certainly the exception.
And no doubt there were numerous long faces around the UK coaches' offices last week when Jacobs and Ellis decided to leave the state. Had they opted for UK, the Wildcats would have enjoyed practically a clean sweep and most likely a Top 15 ranking in the national recruiting derby. Now, UK earns a mere honorable mention.
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While Kentucky didn't get the "super" recruiting year Wildcat fans were longing for, there might be some consolation in knowing that the 'Cats certainly didn't lose any ground in what some media types around Kentucky predicted last year as an annual battle with Louisville.
More than one writer had predicted that Howard Schnellenberger would start having a big impact on UL's ability to sign Kentucky players outside Jefferson County.
Well. UL signed only two Kentuckians, and surprisingly, none out of Jefferson
County.
Louisville reports last week quoted UL officials as saying they had their "best recruting year yet" and better than Schnellenberger's first two classes when he was at Miami.
But those recruiting experts around the country say UL's crop, while better than previous seasons, is not considered that good.
What about Kentucky's comeback last Wednesday against Tennessee after being down 10 points with just 1:13 left in the game?
Several thousand of the 23,000 fans left long before the 'Cats fought back and won the game 91-84 in overtime. Rex Chapman's shot in the final seconds of regulation sent the game into overtime where the 'Cats won going away.
The comeback probably makes that particular win the most memorable victory for Rupp Arena which opened its doors for the first time in 1976, and erases UK's phenonmenal comeback against Kansas in 1978-79 as the most exciting comeback.
There may have been greater victories, a couple over Louisville, the one over Houston in 1984, several over LSU, Alabama and Indiana. But the two most memorable are the big comebacks.
The win over Tennessee also kept Kentucky's hopes of a high finish in the SEC race alive.
Kentucky's recent streak came to a halt in Gainesville Saturday when the Gators put a 74-56 loss on the 'Cats and for all practical purposes leaves UK fighting for a third-place finish at best.
Although Kentucky would have preferred a victory in Gatorland, the defeat certainly wasn't the end of the season either, just as it was anything but an 18-point game.
If Kentucky can post homecourt wins against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss while upsetting either LSU or Georgia on the road, it would set the stage for a big regular-season finale against Oklahoma on March 1.
Ironically, a win over Georgia may be more important to Kentucky's final standing in the SEC than a victory over LSU. The way the league race is shaping up, Kentucky and Georgia could be neck-to-neck by the end of next week.
After the weekend games, Alabama led the SEC with a 12-2 mark followed by Florida at 12-3 with Kentucky and Georgia tied for third at 8-6. Auburn and Ole Miss were tied for fifth at 7-7 with LSU seventh at 6-9 followed by Vanderbilt and Tennessee at 5-9 and Mississippi State at 1-13.
Both LSU and Vanderbilt were dealt serious blows in their drives to get NCAA tourney invitations this past weekend when LSU lost at home to Alabama. 60-52 and Vanderbilt was upset by Georgia. 75-59 in Nashville.
LSU is now 16-12 overall while CM. Newton's Commodores are 14-12 overall. Although Vandy has upset both Indiana and Notre Dame, the Commodores aren't likely to get an invitation unless they win the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. Ditto for LSU.
Tickets to the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament are still available, but the event is likely to become a sell-out just any day now.
If it does, it will be only the second pre-tourney sell-out since the event was reinstated back in 1979. In 1984, the tourney was a sell-out in Nashville.
The two tourneys staged in Lexington (1982 and 1986) still hold the No. 1 and 2 attendance records.
Four schoolsKentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Georgiahave already sold their allottments for the tourney.
Three other schoolsAuburn. Alabama and Floridareportedly had less than 100 tickets each remaining early last week.
Only LSU. Mississippi State and Ole Miss are not expected to sell out their allottment.
Ticket books are $75 each and each book is good for one admission to all games.
More information can be obtained by writing or calling: Southeastern Conference, 900 Central Bank Building, Birmingham. Alabama 35233, The telephone number is (205) 252-7415.
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Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton rarely misses a trick and the Wildcat boss left some Florida fans calling for the return of Joe B. Hall last Saturday in Gainesville.
Gator fans are known nationwide for their verbal attacks on the opposition and rarely does an opposing coach escape the rath of these misfits. Such was the situation with Sutton during his initial visit to O'Connell Center last season, but Mr. Perm was all set for his second tour of combat last week.
As those fans behind the UK bench gathered to launch their verbal assault, Sutton began passing out Valentine cards signed by him, to them, leaving one to say "you're making it awfully tough to hate," and causing another to comment, "we wish Joe B. was back here. He was more fun to hate."
Prior to the game, Sutton had sent a manager to a local store to purchase the Valentines and then he signed them before heading to the arena.
"I kinda got a kick out of it," admitted Sutton.
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HITS AND MISSES . . . Kentucky's November recruiting crop of six signees continues to perform very impressively ac-#
cording to reports. LeRon Ellis. John Pittman and Eric Manuel are enjoying spectactular final seasons while Kentucky products Deron Feldhaus and Sean
Sutton are having banner years for their respective teams. Both are candidates for Kentucky's famed Mr. Basketball. The balloting should have Feldhaus, Sutton, PRP's Desmond Porter, Paintsville's John Pelphrey and Washington County's Kevin Ellery among the finalists, but don't look for Sutton to win the honor. Being the son of UK coach Eddie Sutton will wipe out any possibilities. Some media types around the state have been taking pot shots at the younger Sutton all season long. This isn't to say he should be Mr. Basketball, but obviously he can play the game or how else can you explain Henry Clay vaulting to the state No. 1 ranking since Sutton is the only returning starter from a year ago? Sutton had one of his finest stretches of the season over the weekend when he scored 39 and 21 points respectively against .Ashland and Boyd County, both on the road. Henry Clay defeated Ashland but lost to Boyd Country. Strangely, instead of staying overnight in Ashland on Friday, the Blue Devils returned to Lexington and then drove back on Boyd County on Saturday and suffered an upset as Brace Stai led the way for the Lions with 24 points. While Henry Clay was ranked No. 1 prior to the Boyd County loss, district rival Lafayette also is considered one of the top contenders for the state title. However, one of the two won't last beyond the first game of the district. The two clubs will play in the opening round with the loser going to the sidelines. Lafayette, led by star guard Prince Stewart, was the preseason favorite to win the 11th Region title. This game, in all probability, will be the top district game in the state. One of the preseason favorites, Hopkinsville's LaMonte Ware is out of the running, having missed much of the season because of injuries . . . Kentucky's fine assistant sports information director, Brad Davis, was in College Station, Texas, earlier this week interviewing for the head sports information director's position at Texas A&M. Davis made the trip at the request of A&M assistant athletics director Ralph Carpenter, who at one time was at Ole Miss. Although Davis made the trip, it's unlikely he'll leave Kentucky where he has a bright future, but you know how Texas is when those Texans decide they want something . . . The Louisville Courier-Journal published an entire page on the recruiting process of Kentucky signee Phil Logan, who kept a daily diary of the weeks leading up to his decision. Logan, in his own words, told his side of the story and how his visits went at such places as Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, and Tennessee. Logan said he probably would have signed with Alabama had Ray Perkins not left the Tuscaloosa school. In his opening comment on UK, [Continued On Page 22]
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