Young Ohioan thrills Gillispie

High school freshman Vinny Zollo's commitment to Kentucky on Monday made UK Coach Billy Gillispie shed tears of joy.

Literally.

"He got tears in his eyes," the prospect's mother, Robyn Curry, said on Tuesday in recalling Gillispie's reaction. "He grabs him and says it's the happiest day of his life."

That might seem like a mouthful, especially for a man who was coaching at a basketball backwater school like Texas A&M a year ago. Plus, a commitment from a high school freshman from the small Ohio town of Greenfield marked a personal pinnacle?

Apparently, it did.

"He told him he was thrilled when Patrick Patterson signed," Zollo's mother said. "And this was an absolute special moment, the happiest moment in his life.

"That made me feel good."

Time will tell what type of player Zollo will become. Chris Johnson, an evaluator for Hoop Scoop, rates Zollo the seventh-best prospect in Ohio's high school class of 2011. Johnson said Zollo, a 6-foot-9 forward, reminded him of a young Scott Padgett, a star forward for UK in the 1990s.

Kentucky fans might get a chance to make their own in-the-flesh comparisons. Zollo, who played for McClain High School as a freshman, is looking to transfer. Among the schools he's considering, his mother said, are three in Central Kentucky: Lexington Catholic, Dunbar and Scott County. He's also looking at Oak Hill Academy, Culver Academy in Indiana, and a high school in Dayton, Ohio, she said.

Gillispie's joy reassured Zollo's mother, who said she had "heard things" about the Kentucky coach.

When asked to elaborate, she said, "I didn't hear directly. But I heard he was arrogant.

"I saw none of that. He was very down to earth. He's not 32 ACT score, book-smart."

Noting she had a rural background, Curry added, "He didn't come across as someone talking down to you. ... I fell in love with him. He's the perfect fit for Vinny."

Gillispie was not the only UK official who made a winning impression on Zollo and his mother. So did UK President Lee Todd, who met with them for 30 minutes Monday. Later that day, Zollo committed.

Curry described Todd as an ideal personality for the job of college president. Most chief executives, she noted, "sit behind desks and are kind of stuffy."

Zollo's mother knows her way around a college campus and how education works. She played basketball and volleyball for Shawnee State and Rio Grande colleges. Now she teaches special education at McClain High. She's a third-generation teacher, following her mother and grandmother in the profession.

Zollo became the second 15-year-old to commit to Kentucky in the last week, and the second prospect to pick UK while still needing to select a high school. Earlier, eighth-grader Michael Avery of Southern California committed to UK.

Before casting his lot with Kentucky, Zollo visited West Virginia, Ohio State, Dayton, Xavier, Tennessee, Ohio and Miami (Ohio). The player has deep ties to UK and the Bluegrass State. He's attended Kentucky's summer basketball camps since the fourth grade, his mother said.

An uncle of Zollo graduated from the UK law school. His godparents live in Lexington. One set of grandparents and an uncle graduated from Morehead State.

Those ties made Zollo jump at the chance to accept Gillispie's offer of a scholarship, once he realized the UK coach was serious.

"Vinny's not a procrastinator," Curry said. "He likes to plan and know where he wants to be. I knew it wouldn't be a long, drawn-out process."uk basketball