,     condensed into two periods, and you can
e    V V,  _ _     ~Y V.   ‘°`:[   concentrate on coaching basketball, which
gt  ‘ ,,,_ °` `    V  V  — __, , A   _  t   B f·< .   is what you should be doing. We had a great
 *          I s , V ___, r   `r-· BB ..,.       »—=s.r ,__     tournament here at the university (the Ken-
   ,    i f   j  » V:’’  "  I ·· <·  ._ V _,,t   V V ,      -`=—  i t  tucky Prep All-Star Festival) sponsored by Nlr.
i `·».    V :    V B- i`’`       V   j _ V    Brown Badgett, so we got a lot of great pro-
   `V  ,, V   V;     jg. V V ‘t`` t ‘’`i*‘‘   spects here. We go around to different tour-
  i . , `  ..V j      IV ·»,V           naments like that. What we try to do is hit
  VV I    V VV Y  *  " i V ”—  V       _,V   ,     all the densely—popuIated areas, that way we
    B t     _   i‘,  V        T ` “ BB _ * . ,,.       kill a lot of birds with one stone. We’re cost-
I  V V  Q ;. V V        B   i s      B   V     conscious, every university is cost-
— “  ` ` B  °*      ·= ~     {   a     V`»`‘     .`t.=   Y   B ‘ l i    conscious—that’s why we hit California,
I - _,,-.        —· l     I-  ,    i`vr B_ `   i``   Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, New York, the
``C``    » l·i- · BB I   ' * ° is   .  V __V_VV       V   D.C. area, all ofthe densely-populated areas. .
    ’»‘‘     =.. B         Big B/ue Basketball: Lets pretend that rm
      V V  VV   ,_,.. VV   , ..,.i » BB     3 Prgrgpggt tnatthe University of Kentucky is
  ,   V ., V       I   thinking of recruiting. And as long as were V
§'B *`  I  B ` ··  -  ‘   I   .   pretending, /et's say /’m a high school All-
    ~  V        ·     American and /’ve been at the Nike Camp.
t  fj     ~ j   ,_ ’   . VV     ‘`~‘*   V  How early in my career will you contact me?
        V   ‘ »      }_       if ?  B Dwane Casey: We believe we have to con-
B   ...- A ‘ B · ·» B     U   VVVV V     ‘V-i   V VB tact you. . .if you’re a great athlete, you’ve
_ V B     ‘ ll'`lA';; A ».__   ‘       probably been earmarked during you
B    i i     V9     '   ` sophomore year, which is fairly early. But it’s
I . r     r V   V V   V V_V° not that early with the early signing date. So
j   V  t`l<   ¤ B, B   ’ V — virtually, players are signing before they even
  `   H   tg .   ° I . start their senior year, they’re signing one
    ` -V V B B   V. month into their senior year. Really, they’re
, j BV.; ,     ,;V   juniors, so you have to get started a little
V  VVV.   l‘Z` 6     »:B.V     earlier nowadays. And that’s one evil about
r   B.=B            _VV     early signing—it’s backed up recruiting a
, V t   _V_    I     B .V K  .VVV   couple of years and now you’re looking at
;_      Qi  V  *  »._VV   freshmen and sophomores, like you would
’   " V   I  VV_BB .     *  V  B  have been inthe past with sophomores and
‘ . , I ~  Q.  V`,   .   juniors. Now some athletes are even getting
’  .  .     ‘;tV   ,.·§   letters when they’re in eighth grade. 1 think
B { V     `V         '—BV V  ’ it's detrimental to contact anyone at that age
/     r     i‘=. .   because so many things can happen. But we
  VV__ V .     _.BB V V B t     start looking at people during their freshman
V     r VV    VV ‘   .V   VV     and sophomore year, evaluating talent, fin-
  ft V »   i?V;B?f;, V   V j   ;V   ding out as much about them as people as
V . · " V V VQ w   V   I   ·B; I we possibly can, finding out if they have the
    .g_j2V V   ‘   ):V;' i         right kind of chemistry to play at the Univer-
    V2.   V V ’     -V `   sity of Kentucky. Academically, we’re looking
V V I     B,B‘.·BV   ' V   very strongly at that, moreso than ever. So
  as it   Y Q  _   ii`i“ ’ r   that’s when we first make contact and start
V .VV.., V ·         i   B` ` building a relationship with them, but we’re
  .     VB:‘     not making commitments as far as scholar-
` ‘“f‘ `   A   ”   ships go at that time.
Casey Wants To BQ Known As "COElCh,rr NO{ ”R€Ct‘Ult€I‘" Big B/ue Basketball: Can you compare =
ing right now is the Nike Camp, which will and just go around the country to all the recruiting at Weerern and at UK? Dees Ken;
invite probably the best 200 prospects in the camps and try to pick and choose what recky Serr rrserr beeeuee er me great tree"
nation. So you can go there and save the players fit into Kentucky’s philosophy. The tent e rrrrre mere than Western?
university and save your budget a lot of type of person that fits into the University of Dwane Casey: Yes, it does. We can be a
money. And the Nike people do a good job Kentucky’s program. . .it takes a special per- little more selective at the University of Ken-
of promoting education, promoting anti-drug son. And if he’s a good enough athlete to be tucky, but everything‘s relative. Even though
programs, anti-alcohol programs for the at the Nike Camp then he’s a good enough we can be selective, so can Georgetown, so
V athletes. Not only do they teach basketball, athlete to be playing in a bit-time situation the can North Carolina, so can Indiana, so can
they teach you how to study, how to take the way it is here at Kentucky. So that’s what we UCLA, so can the other schools in our con-
SAT and ACT tests, which is a big issue right do during most of the summer. They’ve cut ference, now that we’ve established ourselves
now. They just do a great job. So not only that down now where we go out for about a as a basketball conference. So everything is
I from a basketball aspect do you learn a lot month in the summertime, which has helped relative. In the past coach Rupp had the lux-
about a young man, you learn what he does coaches coach instead of just going out on ury of holding tryouts, which you can’t do
— in an educationallacademic environment. So the road recruiting all the time. So that’s nowadays, but no more can you sit back and
l l‘Il go to that for a week and a half in June, great, I enjoy it a lot more. Your recruiting is say, "We’re the University of Kentucky." We
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