ey Mike Estep
  {  j When you reflect back on Kentucky’s
  f   championship season of 1978, immediately,
$ E   all the great stars come to mind: All-
    Americans Jack Givens, Kyle Macy and Flick
» lj   Fiobey; Mike Phillips, who teamed with
l     Fiobey to form Kentucky’s first "Twin Towers"
  ? Q  _‘ combination; super sixth-man James Lee.
  _ I  QL But even though he spent the season in
      the shadows, little-known reserve Dwane
5 C    Casey played as big a pan in the drive to the
A t    title as anybody.
  G   "(Dwane was) one of the most important
    I 1 people on the team that year," Givens was »
      quoted as saying in Ben Nelli’s book The '
Eff IY Winning `Hadition: A History of Kentucky ,
E Q     ;€ VW/dcat Basketball. "Everyday in practice and  
  · ,     every minute he was in a game he showed  
T     more heart and desire than any guy l have I
Q ever seen. Considering the limited amount
_ ,,,.,..-· of time he got to play he could have com-  
~ plained and caused dissension. Instead he l
was always the happiest and most optimistic ;
· member of the team."
ln those few words, Givens managed to
describe Casey perfectly.
Heart. Desire. Happy. Optimistic. You can
add determination, dedication and leadership
_, to that list, too.
_; .. -‘ A two-time all-state selection at Morgan-
Q; ?;f f field’s Union County High School, Casey
Ԥ W gt followed his best friend, Larry Johnson, to
°‘ "   " Kentucky in 1976. And although he was never
able to attain star status as a Wildcat——for his
four—year career Casey scored 125 points and
grabbed 51 rebounds in 95 games——he was
always an integral part of the club.
"I’ve got a little special All-American team
in the back of my mind," former UK coach
  Joe Hall once said. "You won’t find the usual
   1 _ high-scoring stars on it because these .
U   H  dw    Q players are the ones whose contributions off
.5* ii_‘  -{ Q the floor exceed their contributions on the
  * floor. Dwane Casey is right there."
V  3 Dwane Casey is still right there. Only now
    C he does his thing as one of college basket-
  ’ E  l _       ball’s best young assistant coaches.
? M;  A  Following his playing career, Casey spent
  a year as a graduate assistant under Hall,
ti?}   LJ d B H • F • before moving to Western with coach Clem
t Haskins. After some soul-searching-he left
,   V     Q Western briefly to work for a Lexington TV
A   station, only to return a few months later-
i , Casey started a coaching career that would
5   •   A       eventually lead him back to his alma mater.
, y y Always considered an excellent recruiter
. l at Western, Casey was recently selected by
   ‘ a national publication as the best recruiter in
  iii -» the college game today, an honor he accepts
    d   O H Q     Q reluctantly-
 , Casey was able to find time in his busy
    , schedule—he says his work days often
’ • • stretch from daylight to midnight—during the
. Natton s Best Asststants  w m 
    ln the following question—and—answer ses-
  .tAi   sion, Casey talks about his playing days, his
    coaching career and his plans for the future;
ifi.  . 1 ) A (
  Iriut ’