Saturday night at Rupp Arena, I was running back and forth (don’t try to picture that) between the pressroom and the playing floor, watching two
great games.
When all the dribbling and cheering had subsided, Gongaza had been given a two-point victory over Western Kentucky University, and Covington
Holmes had won a thrilling two-overtime nail-biter to win the perennial contender’s first state boys basketball championship.
We’re in the middle of the greatest and most frustrating time of year, often at the same moment.
I’m proud of WKU and the way the Toppers played all season and in the tournament. One win and a two-point loss in the second round of the NCAA
Tournament is good for a 12 seed. It's not enough for teams with goals that extend much higher, though. Western should have played better defense on
the winning shot by Gonzaga. They should have hit more free throws. They also should have taken more free throws. They should have been granted that
final timeout they wanted and needed. It would be good if the officials were quarantined or placed in a vacuum except at game time so they can't find
out who is seeded higher. The games would be infinitely better if the higher seeded teams weren't given so many breaks. An even playing floor would
have not only been better but would have sent the Tops on to the field of 16 fot the second straight season.
When you list the greatest seasons of all time by a Western player, Sun Belt Conference MVP Orlando Mendez Valdez has to be near the top. Since
former WKU coach Darrin Horn really didn't want him to play many minutes, it would have been nice for OMV to have been redshirted one season so he
could play with A.J. Slaughter, Steffphon Pettigrew, Sergio Karusch, Jeremy Evans and an exciting recruiting class next year. Western's going to be
very good next year. With OMV still around, the reachable heights would have been extraorinary.
Pettigrew wrote on his Facebook Sunday: "When you play with heart...you have no regrets at the end." Amen!
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While new WKU coach Ken McDonald has put together a super season, Horn is one of several Bluegrass coaches to fizzle at the end of the season.
John Pelphrey's Arkansas Razorbacks lost 15 of their last 17 games, Horn's South Carolina Gamecocks fell in four of their final five outings, including
one in the NIT,: and Billy Gillisipie's Kentucky Wildcats had lost 9 of their final 13 games before being jettisoned to the NIT for the first time in
33 years.
On the other side, former UK coach Rick Pitino is doing pretty well. His Louisville Cardinals won both the regular season and tournament
championships in the Big East, arguable the deepest conference in basketball history. They are the number one overall seed im the NCAA Tournament and
have joined four other Big East teams in the Sweet Sixteen. With T Will leading the way, the Cardinals have as good a chance as any team to win it all.
Also on the good side of the success balance scale is Travis Fod, the former UK point guard who directed the fortunes of Oklahoma State this year.
His team played well in beating Oklahoma on the way to the semifinals of Big 12 Tournament, knocking off Tennessee from the dismal SEC in the NCAA
first round, and playing the seed off Pittsburgh in the second round Sunday before falling 84-76 in Dayton.
Travis would seem to be the most likely guy with a Kentucky connection to be the next coach in Lexington, but if UK cuts ties with Gillispie in
the next few weeks, it's unlikely that Ford would leave Stillwater after just one year on the job.
His dad, Eddie Ford, says Travis and his family are happy in the rural setting of Oklahoma. There's certainly a lot of pressure on any UK coach,
especially one who is as media clueless as Billy Clyde. I feel sorry for UK broadcaster Tom Leach when he tries to interview the UK coach before a
game. Even though Gillispie is paid to do the interviews, he often gives Leach four or five word answers. Multiple paragraphs are more appropriate.
Eddie and his wife were in Dayton for the Cowboys' opening win but brought Travis' children to Lexington that night to watch Elliott County play
in the state tournament. Eddie is loyal to his former HoopStars, and Elliott's revered Faulkner twins are among the HoopStar alumni. The Fords were
dressed in Cowboy orange.
Gillispie was at the state tournament. I didn't hear him booed, but neither did the crowd go wild when he walked by.
Among those in attendance were Landon Slone, the lovable walk-on from Paintsville, and Jon Hood, who became Mr. Basketball when he signed with UK
in the fall. Hood is in a walking boot, still recovering from a foot injury that kept him from playing with his Madisonville-North Hopkins team in
postseason action.
UK, or course, plays at Creighton tonight in the second round of the NIT.
Lots of people were wearing Big Blue clothing at the state tournament and around Lexington, although it appears to have faded.
Trey had on his WKU shirts and I wore my bright red WKU sweater. People kept speaking favorably of Western and wished the team well in the
tournament. Some said they would support Western, but cheering for Louisville was asking too much.
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One couple with mixed loyalties were the Hanns of Russellville. Tracy has a degree from the University of Illinois while Mindy is a WKU
alum. Those teams met in the opening round Thursday with Western winning. Mindy has the bragging rights.
Paige Golden Dockins of Russellville was pleased with the NCAA Women's Committee for their decisions in what teams to send to Bowling
Green. Paige, who works at Auburn Banking Company, grew up in Greeneville, Tenn., which is near Knoxville. She did her graduate work at East Tennessee
State University. Both UT and ETSU were playing at Diddle Arena Sunday, so she gladly dragged her husband Dave to WKU.
Dave's still paying (probably always will be) for leaving just as soon as they got back from their honeymoney for the 1996 NCAA Final Four in New
York, won by Pitino's Wildcats.
Unfortunately for those wearing Big Orange (which has joined Big Blue in a fade job this season), both UT and ETSU lost Sunday. It’s probably also
unfortunate for those trying to sell tickets at Western.
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Illinois is coached by Bruce Weber, who was an assistant at WKU in 1980 under Gene Keady. He spent almost two decades with Keady at Purdue. I told
McDonald how much I appreciate the way he answers questions after a game. Nearly 30 years later, I still have emotional and physical scars from the
looks and answers Keady gave me while he was on The Hill.
McDonald and Weber aren't the only former WKU assistants who were head coaches at Division I programs this year. Tom Crean is at Indiana and Pete
Hermann took over at Georgia when former Western coach Dennis Felton was axed in mid-year.
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Drew Kelley, whom Clay Turner and I have seen play twice this season against Hood and Madisonville-North Hopkins, has been named Tennessee’s Class
AAA Player of the Year. The Miami of Ohio signee outscored Hood in both games and his Centennial team beat the Maroons both times.
It has been a sad year for Drew and his family. His grandfather, Lake Kelley, died recently. Lake was the Austin Peay coach when Olmstead’s Clarence Mason played for the Governors. He was a class act.
Lake Kelley was at Warren Central in December for the first Centennial-Madisonville game. He was introduced to the crowd. Gillispie was there the
same night, but Central coach Tim Riley seemed just as pleased to have Coach Kelley in his gym as he was to have Billy Clyde.