My friends ... "old-timers" is a relative term ! It pleases me to no end to see some of you who were really too young to remember the '78 National Champs refer to yourselves as "old-timers." ! I, too, feel obligated to click whenever I see a reference to "old-timers" ... but that might be because I first saw a U.K. basketball game in person on January 30, 1954. I was 7 years old. U.K. beat Vandy in Nashville, 85-63. Frank Ramsey had 24 and Cliff Hagan had 22 ! Great stuff ! ! !
That was the year that U.K. went 25-0, and then declined an invite to the NCAA Tournament because the NCAA wouldn't let Hagan and Ramsey play in the tournament because they were grad students.
I was raised in southern Kentucky and we lived a lot closer to Nashville than to Lexington, so my father took me to several U.K. vs. Vandy games over the years. I remember the U.K. - Vandy game the next year, too - because that was Bob Burrow's first year at U.K. Some of y'all will remember that Burrow was a two-time first-team All-American at U.K. in '55 and '56. He transferred to U.K. from Lon Morris Junior College - a little Methodist school in Jacksonville, Texas.
Lots of U.K. memories ! I'm sure glad I've gotten to see Mark Pope take the head coaching job ! ! !
Go 'Cats ! ! !