Kentucky on verge of 2,000th victory
December 20, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)—The pressure to win at Kentucky started early. Reallyearly.
Back in 1903, W.W.H. Mustaine, the director of physical education at thetime, called some students together and passed around the hat until there was $3in it—enough to buy a ball. He then told them to start playing.
The first season got off to a bumpy start. The Wildcats went just 1-2, theironly win an 11-10 escape over the Lexington YMCA.
The next year, Mustaine was out.
From those modest beginnings, a powerhouse emerged.
Over a century later, what started with a handful of students and a singleleather ball has grown into one of college basketball’s biggest brands, one thathas woven itself into the fabric of the Bluegrass.
There have been 1,998 victories since that squeaker over the Lexington YMCA,including seven NCAA titles and 25 Southeastern Conference tournamentchampionships.
Now the program which proudly proclaims it has “the greatest tradition incollege basketball” can add another bullet point to its resume. A win overDrexel on Monday would make the third-ranked Wildcats (11-0) the first team inNCAA history to reach 2,000 wins.
While it’s an achievement that may be lost on the current players—juniorforward Patrick Patterson called it “no big deal”—coach John Calipariunderstands the greater meaning.
“It’s important to the Commonwealth,” he said.
Is it ever.
Like many Kentucky fans, Ashley Judd grew up listening to the familiarcadence of longtime play-by-play man Cawood Ledford calling out the exploits offormer stars Kyle Macy and Sam Bowie.
Later, as a student between 1986 and 1990, she dutifully showed up at RuppArena even as the program sagged under then-coach Eddie Sutton.
Reaching 2,000 wins is more than just a number to Judd. It’s a chance tolook back and appreciate the program’s rich tradition.
“It’s symbolic, it’s beautiful and we’d minimize it if someone else gotthere first,” the actress said with a laugh.
And maybe that more than anything else is the point.
Kentucky won’t be the only member of the 2,000-win club for long. NorthCarolina (1,992 wins) almost certainly will reach the plateau this year whileNo. 1 Kansas (1,980) could join both of them with a deep run in the NCAAtournament.
Yet for a few weeks anyway the Wildcats will stand alone, which is the waysome fans feel it always should be, said Van Florence.
Florence has spent the last 30 years as president of Kentucky’s “101Club,” an organization that provides the all the ushers in the familiar blueblazers during home games at Rupp Arena. He’s endured the good times and the badworking alongside every coach from Joe B. Hall to Rick Pitino to Calipari.
“Anytime Kentucky can beat North Carolina, if they can beat them to thebathroom, it’s a big deal,” Florence said. “Our fans feel like if we do itfirst, we’ve earned the respect.”
It’s a feat even Florence worried was in doubt last year as the Tar Heelsate into Kentucky’s lead while the Wildcats struggled under former coach BillyGillispie.
Funny, those days seem long gone with Calipari and freshman star John Wallat the controls.
Calipari is off to the best start ever by a first-year Kentucky coach—breaking Rupp’s 10-0 start during his first season in 1930-31—and the Wildcatsare crossing the 2,000-win mark as arguably the hottest team in the country.
“If it happened last year it might have been lost on us a little bit orperhaps used to justify and rationalize that the program wasn’t as down as itreally was,” Judd said. “We might have said ‘We’re just in a momentary lull,we’re still UK.’ I think that it has a lot more shine on it because we’rereaching it from such a giddy season.”
The program, whose motto is “respect our past, fear our future,” will tryto do both once it reaches the landmark number. Several former players areexpected to be in attendance Monday night, and there are plans for a postgamecelebration if the Wildcats win.
If it adds a little pressure to the players, that’s fine by Calipari. Thecoach has grown anxious as the Wildcats have surged, searching for ways to keepthem sharp until SEC play begins.
Ultimately he knows his team will be judged on what it does in March, notit’s ability to push the school’s wins odometer past 2,000. Still, the playersunderstand they have a unique opportunity to do something unprecedented.
“It’s not something I’m focusing on, (just) as long as we’re the first toget it,” Patterson said.
It’s a goal Patterson understands is more for the fans than for the players.That’s the way it’s been for years.
“As a player when we played, we understood how important it was for thestate for us to win,” said former Kentucky star Walter McCarty, who helped theWildcats to the 1996 NCAA title. “We understood what it meant.”
Don’t expect the players—or even the fans—to get too caught up in thehoopla. Once the Wildcats surpass 2,000 wins the attention will turn toward amuch smaller number: eight, as in when will the Wildcats win their eighth NCAAtitle?
“We do have a deep memory,” said Judd, who hopes to be in attendance withKentucky hosts Louisville on Jan. 2. “A lot of people were comparing theexpectations around this team to the 1944 squad, like that’s normal, like it’snatural to have a memory that stretches back that far.”
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