Who was your first favorite UK player?
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Yep, for kids of a certain age in Ky the late 70s it was Kyle Macy for nearly all of them. Back then it was a statewide daily ritual at all elementary and middle schools for the boys to pretend to be Macy, and for the girls to be in love with him.
Macy just seemed to epitomize what Kentuckians of that era wanted a UK player to look, play and act like. The only other example where I think a player provoked the same sort of statewide rock star adoration was the Rex-mania thing, except to be honest, there were plenty of things about Rex (the gold chains, attitude, wild shot selection, etc.) that turned some Kentuckians off. Whereas the only thing that kept Macy from being completely perfect in the locals eyes was the lack of a home state address. If Kyle had only been from a small town in Ky, instead of Indiana, his image would've been entirely perfect.
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Cliff Hagan, as I got older my favorite was Louie Dampier, Pat Riley, James Lee, Rex Chapman, Jack Givens, Tony Delk.
Andre Riddick, from what I remember. Would block my own shot on my crappy little in-garage basketball goal acting like him. What a long career overseas he had too.
My technical answer is Kenny Walker at age 6 in 1985 because I liked his dunks and thought he was Luke Sywalker's brother. 
oops: ). I thought his name was Kenny Skywalker.
But Mash was my boyhood hero (age 11-14) because it was an era where I couldn't get enough of the game. I was amazed at Mash's ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Great rebounder. Great teammate.
oops: ). I thought his name was Kenny Skywalker. But Mash was my boyhood hero (age 11-14) because it was an era where I couldn't get enough of the game. I was amazed at Mash's ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Great rebounder. Great teammate.
My technical answer is Kenny Walker at age 6 in 1985 because I liked his dunks and thought he was Luke Sywalker's brother.
But Mash was my boyhood hero (age 11-14) because it was an era where I couldn't get enough of the game. I was amazed at Mash's ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Great rebounder. Great teammate.
Tayshaun Prince when I was 10. And I really liked Chuck Hayes too. I liked UK and would watch parts of the games with my Dad and he took me to some games at Rupp. I would really get into the tournament (I won my moms work pool in 5th grade-being handed $50 at 10...that's basically hitting the lotto) but I didn't really start getting into it until I was 14. It was rough because my high school years were Tubby's decline and BCG years, just another thing to get picked on about. My freshman year of college was Calipari's first season, and even though I didn't go to UK, it was still amazing to see guys from my high school class taking UK back to the top, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for me to transition from fan to diehard.
Great memory I have is 5th grade, at my Moms apartment in downtown Cincinnati right after my parents got divorced. I turned the TV on and was flipping through channels, didn't know a UK game was on and wasn't looking for it specifically, but they were playing so I watched. Wish I could remember who they were playing put Tayshaun was tearing it up, I think he dropped 40. I think Tayshaun sank a three and the opposing coach called a timeout, right before they went to the commercials they show the replay of three and the announcer says something like, "Tayshaun Prince is playing like a KING!". I just remember that made me so excited and it was one of those games where Prince could've pulled up anywhere and it was going in. In that moment, at that age, Tayshaun Prince was a God. That whole week at school and after school I drew so many pictures of Tayshaun and Chuck Hayes, those guys were superheroes to me.
Great memory I have is 5th grade, at my Moms apartment in downtown Cincinnati right after my parents got divorced. I turned the TV on and was flipping through channels, didn't know a UK game was on and wasn't looking for it specifically, but they were playing so I watched. Wish I could remember who they were playing put Tayshaun was tearing it up, I think he dropped 40. I think Tayshaun sank a three and the opposing coach called a timeout, right before they went to the commercials they show the replay of three and the announcer says something like, "Tayshaun Prince is playing like a KING!". I just remember that made me so excited and it was one of those games where Prince could've pulled up anywhere and it was going in. In that moment, at that age, Tayshaun Prince was a God. That whole week at school and after school I drew so many pictures of Tayshaun and Chuck Hayes, those guys were superheroes to me.
Tom Parker is still on my top five list of all time UK players. I think I enjoyed watching him play more than any player before or since and even though I remember a log of great players that came before him I think my first really favorite player was Cotton Nash. He seems to get forgotten when people talk about the all time greats but, overall, he may have been the best.
Dan Issel for me. I still feel pain over the Jacksonville loss. I remember being so naive about college basketball as this was during UCLA's run and I noticed that Kentucky was ranked very high in one of the national polls and asked my dad if this was the UK that I had heard of. When he said yes was my first realization that "my" Kentucky was on equal footing with the mighty UCLA.
I started listening to Cawood call the games and soon was hooked for life.
I started listening to Cawood call the games and soon was hooked for life.
Love Walter. Talked with him for about 15 minutes last year in Memphis at his team hotel (celtics). He wanted to sign everything we had from UK and talked about Cal and how things were. Said he misses the hell out of UK. Great guy.
Ronnie Lyons.
I really didn't get into the Cats until Hall and the Super Kittens came on the scene, Grevey is my all time favorite.
I really didn't get into the Cats until Hall and the Super Kittens came on the scene, Grevey is my all time favorite.
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