Laettner comes to Rupp as villainous coach taking on former UK stars

Posted: 12:00am on Oct 24, 2011; Modified: 10:33am on Oct 24, 2011

Rajon Rondo drove to the basket as former UK players now in the pros played the Dominican National Team at Rupp Arena on Aug. 15, 2011. MARK CORNELISON | STAFF

  • Big Blue All-Stars vs. The Villains

    Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.com or by calling the Rupp Arena box office at (859) 233-3535.

    The game will not be televised, but Gary Ball and Kenny Walker will team up for the radio broadcast on WVLK-FM 101.5. Pre-game programming begins at 7:10 p.m. with tip-off at 7:30.

What would happen if Christian Laettner showed up for a game in Rupp Arena?

Monday night, those who come out for the Big Blue All-Stars vs. The Villains charity basketball game are going to get an answer to that question.

Laettner, the former Duke star who famously broke the hearts of Kentucky fans with a buzzer-beating shot in the East Regional finals of the 1992 NCAA Tournament, will serve as coach of a team of "villains" of the Kentucky program.

The game is a benefit for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Laettner's team includes the "villainous" — former North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough and ex-Louisville standout Terrence Williams — as well as the presumably friendly — ex-Bryan Station/Butler University guard Shelvin Mack and former Morehead State rebounding machine Kenneth Faried.

The Villains will be opposed by a team of former University of Kentucky players who were supposed to be opening their NBA season a week from Tuesday before those games were canceled by the owners who are locking their union out amid foundering labor negotiations.

Rex Chapman, who scored 1,073 points during his two-season UK career in the 1980s, returns to Rupp Arena as coach of the Big Blue All-Stars.

Another highlight for Kentucky fans will be the Rupp Arena debut of Enes Kanter, the big man from Turkey who spent his freshman season at UK in 2010-11 but was not able to gain eligibility because of issues related to his amateur status.

BIG BLUE ALL-STARS
Keith Bogans
DeMarcus Cousins
Josh Harrellson
Chuck Hayes
Brandon Knight
DeAndre Liggins
Jodie Meeks
Nazr Mohammed
Enes Kanter
Tayshaun Prince
Rajon Rondo
John Wall
Coach: Rex Chapman

THE VILLAINS
Corey Brewer
Kenneth Faried
Rudy Gay
Eric Gordon
Tyler Hansbrough
Shelvin Mack
Zach Randolph
Nolan Smith
Terrence Williams
Coach: Christian Laettner

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