Video: Team Receives Message Before Practice From Dan Issel
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I love Issel. He always has and always will be a Wildcat through and through.
Other three are debatable, but he is certainly one of the four of Mt. Rushmore of Kentucky Basketball!
Well that can’t be. Cal doesn’t care about championships. Issel talked a lot about winning a championship at UK and said nothing about getting drafted. No way Cal was aware what he was going to talk about.
I don't "do" Facebook. Who were the other three mentioned as part of "the Mt. Rushmore of U.K. Basketball" ???
I got to coach against Dan in jr pro. He coached his son's team I coached my son's team. We won when we got outside I jokingly told my wife I beat Dan in his coaching debut. He was behind me never said a word I could of fell thru the floor. Didn't mean anything bad just joking.
The Big Horse was a tremendous player...it wasn't his fault the 70 team came up a little short. A great pro as well.
While we're all on board with who Issel is/was, I'm going to guess that the kids had no clue and just saw an old dude that used to play at UK, in the NBA, and coached in the NBA. If they want to send a message from someone UK, bring in the more recent success stories in AD, Booker, Cousins, KAT and Murray. People that these kids remember and will recognize (and that hold a job that they currently only dream about holding).
Best player I can ever remember playing for UK. Yeah, I know. If you never seen him play don’t chime in because you don’t know. He played 4 years, he played in a different time, but all around player he was the best. He played with Pat Riley, Dampier, and Kron. During one game his team wasn’t getting the ball to Dan. Rupp called a timeout and told his team “ I’d like to introduce you to the guy that is going to be Kentucky’s all time scorer” and he introduced the guys to Dan.
He was the top all time scorer, until Jodie Meeks broke his one game record of 51 points. Jodie scored 54 points in one game. Rupp would say things like this to his teams from time to time. Rupp ruled and no one, I mean no one ever challenged him. Issel was all about UK.
Another thing you may not know. Issel and Kenny Anderson (Bengals) grew up living next to each other. Kenny’s dad taught Dan how to dunk. He didn’t use a basketball for whatever reason, he used a volleyball. Dan is a great guy and always has time to talk to BBN fans. Check out his pro career he played in the aba and nba. If you consider his college and pro career and the ambassador he’s been for UK there is no better.
He was the top all time scorer, until Jodie Meeks broke his one game record of 51 points. Jodie scored 54 points in one game. Rupp would say things like this to his teams from time to time. Rupp ruled and no one, I mean no one ever challenged him. Issel was all about UK.
Another thing you may not know. Issel and Kenny Anderson (Bengals) grew up living next to each other. Kenny’s dad taught Dan how to dunk. He didn’t use a basketball for whatever reason, he used a volleyball. Dan is a great guy and always has time to talk to BBN fans. Check out his pro career he played in the aba and nba. If you consider his college and pro career and the ambassador he’s been for UK there is no better.
One of my best friends goes to Las Vegas every year, with some of his HS buddies. They were at the MGM sports betting venue, during March Madness week, three or four years ago, and Dan sat behind them. Since they all graduated from UK, they started talking with him and did so for most of the day/evening. Said he was a great guy, and, naturally, a huge UK fan.
Ocornett he did not play with Riley and Dampier and Kron. He played with Mike Pratt, Mike Casey and Larry Steele and Tom Parker etc. But yes he was the best player ever to wear a UK uniform. Sorry millennials,you have no clue. One of the all time best in ABA and NBA too. Great numbers.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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I recall Abdul-Jabbar stating that he dreaded guarding Issel when he played with Denver. Just an unreal talent offensively and could bang underneath with anyone.
Dan is a great guy! It broke my heart when JACKSONVILLE and Artis Gilmore beat us in the NCAA tournament.
I saw Dan play in Memorial coliseum. He was a very good player. One of the best.
If Casey hadn’t had that auto accident, we would have won it all!
Isn’t that the year that Western Kentucky was so good? I believe Rose was their guard, and they also had some tall guy on that team.
Western came within two Cazzie Russel FT's with about 1 or 2 seconds on the clock from playing Rupp's Runts in 1966. In 1971 Western killed UK 107-83 in a devastating blowout. That was my freshman year at UK. I think Western lost to Villanova that year in the FF and UCLA beat Nova in a fairly close final, 66-62 if my memory serves
Issel was the master of the head fake and he averaged almost 34 points a game his senior season.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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That has to be right up there with the Wisconsin loss. Win that game and we probably would have had another title.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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this does make a lot of sense, however, through a business connection, I happened to be with Dan yesterday at practice. His speech to the team was not scheduled, or he wasnt brought in for that. We just happened to be there and Cal asked him to address the team.
Dan was awesome. Very gracious. We talked basketball, bourbon, horse racing industry. He’s very well-versed in horse farms and racing. He told some funny Rupp stories.
he’s true blue, UK all the way. He watches every game. He knew all the players and their strengths and weaknesses. He told us that his 4 yrs at UK were the best time of his life.
He splits his time currently between Louisville and Denver.
couple practice notes. Dontae Allen was full go for the practice. He’s going to be good next year. He tried to dunk on Richards, but he actually blocked it. Juzang drained some treys effortlessly. Whitney is such an athlete. If he could just bust loose, it would be huge.
To the “Cal just rolls the balls out” “Cal does no prep work or film work of the opposing team” people, very specific plays, sets, defenses, out of bounds plays, etc. were being taught for Texas Tech. We all knew it, but I saw it firsthand.
best afternoon I’ve had in awhile.
Fortunate to see him play at UK. Definitely one of the all time greats that wore a KENTUCKY jersey.
My favorite player since watching the Cats starting in 66. Anthony Davis is the better talent but Issel was the most rock solid player day in and day out. Tough as nails and a jump shot to boot!
I met Big Dan at the recent Calipari luncheon. They say he was 6-9 but he must be growing cause that man is TALL ! He was very pleasant to talk to and even took time to have pictures taken with me and my guests. What a great ambassador for UK ! 
![[thumb2]](https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/891/1684387.png "Thumbs Up 2 [thumb2]")
...and Big Horse's college career was ended w/ one of the worst foul calls in the history of the game...(I've been hating on refs a long time, folks)
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