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Week In Pictures
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The first thing you might recognize about the 2008 University of Kentucky football team is the fact that Andre Woodson, Keenan Burton, Jacob Tamme, Wesley Woodyard and Rafael Little are no longer in uniform.
But that's not the only way the Wildcats will look different next fall, as UK will break out new uniforms for the 2008 season.
UK didn't have prints of the new uni's available for the public, but they aren't a drastic change from the most recent model which made their debut in the 2004 season. The lettering and numeral design will remain the same, with the most notable differences coming on the sides. The big stripe down the side of the jersey and pants has been replaced with a smaller, more traditional set of diagonal stripes around the rib cage area.
The new uniforms will also feature more black trim, particularly around the sleeve and collar areas. Since the big stripe going down the pants has been eliminated, UK will also be able to mix combinations. For example, the Cats could wear the white jerseys with blue pants or blue jerseys with white pants. The helmets will remain the same.
Representatives from Nike meet with coaches across the country several times a year to discuss equipment and apparel, and UK Coach Rich Brooks played a big part in the new design.
"We just decided to tweak them a little bit," Brooks said. "It's not a major change. I think we have established a little bit of identity with our uniforms, and we didn't want to go too far from that."
UK assistant athletics director of marketing Jason Schlafer said the new jersey replicas should be available in stores sometime in early May at a suggested retail price of $60. Jersey replica screen-printed T-shirts ($24) will be available in early June with the upgraded silhouette game jerseys ($75) hitting shelves in early July.
The women's basketball team will also be sporting new jerseys next season, with the replica jerseys ($55) available in early May, and fitted T-shirts ($30) and fitted twill jerseys ($70) available in early June.
Williams on Outland Trophy watch list
UK offensive tackle Garry Williams has been named to the pre-season watch list for the prestigious Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in college football.
Williams, a senior from Louisville, has been a two-year starter at left tackle with the responsibility of protecting the blind side of now-departed quarterback Andre Woodson. He was named second-team All-SEC by league coaches last year and was also was the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance in the win over Florida Atlantic.
The Outland Trophy is selected by the Football Writers Association of America and has been awarded since 1946. In 1950, Kentucky's Bob Gain was the first SEC player to win the Outland.
Clayton named NSCA All-American
Terry Clayton, a senior linebacker on the 2007 Kentucky football team, has been named a Strength and Conditioning All-American by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Clayton, under the guidance of Marc Hill, UK's director of strength and conditioning, had a 635-pound squat lift, 400-pound bench press, and 335 pounds in the power clean among his top weight room efforts. Rendered deaf at the age of five because of a high fever associated with a severe case of chicken pox, Clayton walked on at UK and played from 2003-07.
As a senior, he won the inaugural Rudy Award, which recognizes the most inspirational walk-on player in the nation and was also a three-year member of the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
Clayton is the 26th player in Kentucky history to be named an NSCA All-American. This is the seventh consecutive year that a Wildcat has been selected.
Cats after Finch
UK is one of several schools hot on the trail of St. Xavier junior running back Rolandan "Deuce" Finch.
The 5-foot-10, 205-pound running back got his first offer from Stanford in December, and Louisville and Kentucky followed shortly thereafter. Finch also has offers from Northwestern and Cincinnati. Auburn, Illinois, Tennessee and Georgia Tech have shown interest.
"There's a lot of schools on board," Finch said.
St. X Coach Mike Glaser said Finch may end up being the most highly recruited player he's had in 27 years as head coach.
"I think he's right up there with Bernard Jackson (a 1998 University of Tennessee signee)," Glaser said. "He's a good one, and he's working really hard right now."
Finch has made a name for himself by bowling over tacklers at the high school level and now wants to show colleges that he has the speed to break off big runs during the May evaluation period.
"I like to run with power, and I've been labeled a physical runner," Finch said. "I was a linebacker in middle school, so I like contact. But I've got more speed than people think I do. I ran a 4.51 as a freshman, so I think I'll be OK."
Finch's UK recruitment has been handled by offensive coordinator/future head coach Joker Phillips.
"He's real cool," Finch said of Phillips. "They're right up there. After the May evaluation period, we'll see who's serious, and then I'll start to narrow it down."
UK low on scholarships for 2009
The University of Kentucky coaching staff will hit the road Monday for the spring recruiting period, but once again, the Wildcats will be operating with less than the full allotment of 25 scholarships.
Brooks said that barring major defections, UK currently has 16 or 17 scholarships to offer in 2009. Kentucky signed 20 players in its 2008 class.
Ex-UK player to appear on Montel Williams
Former UK receiver Harold Dennis will appear on the Montel Williams Show on Wednesday. The topic of the show is "Living Well: Beating the Odds." Dennis is a survivor of the 1988 Carrollton bus crash who went on to earn a football scholarship at UK. Dennis helped put together The Phoenix, a movie about his life that is currently on the independent circuit.
Former UK coach Bill Curry will appear with Dennis on the set of the Montel Williams Show.
