Posted on Sun, Apr. 06, 2008

UK BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Choosing the right tribute is tricky

READERS WEIGH IN ON WHAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR KEIGHTLEY

By Jerry Tipton

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Jerry Tipton

There's a sentiment for Kentucky to honor longtime equipment manager Bill Keightley, who died suddenly on Monday. But how?

After last week's heartfelt farewell to Keightley, UK officials will ponder that question. A black patch on a shoulder strap of the jersey? Simple, classy and traditional.

Leaving his chair near the UK coach empty? Moving, but what if in the heat of a game a player -- gasp -- happened to sit in the chair.

Ideas from readers suggested enthusiasm for a much grander gesture. The ideas included:

• Adolph-sized adulation. "I hope that someday we can all enjoy watching UK basketball games in a modern arena named Keightley Arena," reader Phil Roberts of Frankfort wrote in an e-mail message. "The Rupp name will always be connected with winning basketball at UK, but what other name has been so closely connected to the UK basketball program longer than Keightley ... and for more wins than Coach (Adolph) Rupp? None that come to mind have more attachment to the UK program for so long of a period than Bill 'Mr. Wildcat' Keightley."

Roberts, 50, works for the Kentucky National Guard in Frankfort. Although he is not a UK graduate, he's been a lifelong fan of the Wildcats and now is a member of the UK Fellows Society.

• A Ledford-like laurel. The dedication of a portion of the court to the late, great Cawood Ledford inspired Greg Wilder, a security guard at Rupp Arena. That's the designation of "Cawood's Court" near the spot Ledford sat as he made the play-by-play radio call.

"I would very much like to see the area of the Wildcat bench where Mr. Keightley sat to be made into 'Keightley's Korner,' " Wilder wrote in an e-mail message. "After all, he sat here in this corner for many, many years. It will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be Mr. Keightley's corner.

"I only knew him from my work at Rupp during the UK practices and games, but I can tell you that he was one of the most kind, considerate and gentle human beings that God ever put on this earth."

• A simple, classy (if not traditional) tribute. "An idea on how to honor him would be to have the 'K' of 'Kentucky' on the uniforms be black with the rest being traditional white or blue," wrote Brian H. Dawahare, a Louisville-based financial strategist.

• Another reader asked for help in lobbying UK to start a holiday tournament and name it for Keightley. Or give the winner of the annual Kentucky-Louisville game the "Keightley Cup."

• Black shoes? Black laces? Black socks? Black towels?

With emotions riding high last week, UK officials hadn't decided whether to bestow a posthumous honor on Keightley. After all, he remains one of only two non-players or non-coaches to have a jersey hanging in the Rupp Arena rafters in his honor. Ledford is the other.

Is there a better honor in Kentucky basketball? UK officials will be pondering that question, too.

Patterson surgery

Patrick Patterson is "doing fine" in the first days after surgery, his father said. The pain associated with a stress fracture in the player's left ankle is lessening. He's in good spirits.

But Buster Patterson added that the original timetable on a 100 percent recovery remains the same. A cast for four to six weeks. A boot for four to six weeks. A gradual increase in activity. Overall, a four- to six-month process.

"He'll be a work in progress when the season starts," the elder Patterson said, "getting back in shape."

UK and the family wanted the best surgeon to perform the repair, Buster Patterson said. Dr. Robert Anderson of Charlotte-based OrthoCarolina is recognized as a leader in treating athletic injuries.

Anderson stabilized the stress fracture with four screws and a plate.

The elder Patterson playfully suggested another component.

"Put some springs in there, then he can jump out of the gym," he quipped.

High praise

Former UK player John Pelphrey recalled helping Bill Keightley get bags back into the equipment room after arriving home past midnight from a road game.

"He ... looked up and told me he was proud of me and that I was turning into a good player," said Pelphrey, now the Arkansas coach. "And for me, that really meant something because he had seen so many great ones before me and because he loved the jersey as much as I did."

Assist to Keightley

Kentucky's deputy director of athletics, Rob Mullens, worked at UK as an intern in the mid-1990s as he sought a master's degree. During a conversation with Bill Keightley, Mullens mentioned how he hoped to gain an interview for an entry-level position at Florida State.

Keightley immediately picked up the phone and asked Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton to help Mullens. Hamilton, the former UK assistant, put in a good word. Mullens got the interview and then the job.

Oklahoma State?

To put it bluntly, the speculation about Billy Gillispie being interested in replacing Sean Sutton as Oklahoma State coach makes no sense.

Sportswriter Mike Jones of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently criticized how Oklahoma State officials treated Sutton and speculated on the next coach.

"I'd hope Bill Self has too much character to insult the Sutton family, T. Boone Pickens' rumored $40 million package be damned," Jones wrote. "Billy Gillispie says going to OSU 'is not going to happen.'

"Whoever jumps into this cesspool better think long and hard about it. Do it to one of their own, they'll do it to you."

At Anaheim, Calif., Gillispie spoke at length about how he enjoyed his first season as UK coach. UK officials say they are confident the Oklahoma State job doesn't interest Gillispie.

Overwhelming response

Bill Keightley'ssudden death generated a huge response. Here's how the sign-ins on his Herald-Leader Web site page compare to other big news events of recent vintage.

The online Legacy Guestbook for the crash of Comair Flight 5191 has recorded 184 pages of comments, with 10 comments per each page. People have been signing that Guestbook since the Aug. 26, 2006, crash. Comments were still being left, as of March.

The guestbook created after the death of Barbaro has recorded 145 pages of entries, again with 10 per page.

The guestbook created after the death of another race horse, John Henry, has recorded 67 pages.

As of 7 p.m. Saturday, the guestbook for Keightley had recorded 316 pages of entries. The comments are from all over Kentucky and the country.

Abundant coverage

The Herald-Leader published 12 stories and an editorial in its coverage of Bill Keightley's death.

When Adolph Rupp died in 1977, the Herald-Leader published 16 stories and an editorial.

Sock it to me

During his turn at the memorial-service podium, UK Coach Billy Gillispie supported Kevin Grevey's memory of Bill Keightley as a frugal equipment manager. To help make the point, Gillispie pulled a single white sock from inside his sport-coat pocket.

"The last three weeks of the season, I went to practice with one sock on and one sock off," he said.

On the first day, Gillispie went to Keightley and showed the equipment manager the one sockless foot. Keightley laughed.

"The next day I was expecting I was going to have some socks," Gillispie said. "The next day, I go to my locker trying to get a couple socks and I don't have any socks."

The UK coach went to Keightley and said, "Did you forget?" Again, Gillispie showed that he had one sock on and one sock off.

"(Keightley) said, 'No, I didn't forget,' " Gillispie recalled. So the coach again asked whether he could get some socks, to which Keightley replied: "I gave you three pair in October."

"We've got a really good Nike contract here," Gillispie told the crowd. "You'd think I could get a fourth pair of socks."

In retelling the exchange, Gillispie amended himself.

"He said, 'Hey, Bubba, I gave you three pair in October.' " Gillispie said. "When he wanted to make a point that he was getting serious, he either said: 'Well, wait a minute,' or 'Hey, Bubba.' When he said those things, I knew he was serious. So when he said, 'Hey, Bubba, I gave you three pair in October,' I knew I wasn't getting any more socks unless I went and bought them."

Refund check

When a tornado drove last month's SEC Tournament from the Georgia Dome and into the on-campus arena at Georgia Tech, the league agreed to a ticket refund.

So how fast can fans expect to receive the refund? A check with Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom brought this response.

"Depends on the mode you bought them," Bloom wrote in an e-mail message. "If by mail, then there is a little longer transition period. Everyone should be taken care of this month."

Kareem's blog

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes in a blog for the Los Angeles Times. In a recent posting previewing UCLA's advancement to the Final Four, he noted his admiration for the Western Kentucky program.

"... Because Western Kentucky did an exceptional job in speeding up the integration of college basketball and hasn't been given a lot of credit for it," he wrote. "Although I'm a Bruin in heart and soul, I was rather torn while watching this game. Western Kentucky is my oldest son, Kareem Jr.'s alma mater. Another connection I have to WKU is (alumnus) Greg Smith, who was my teammate on the Milwaukee Bucks for two years and the starting forward on our 1970-71 World Championship team. Greg was also a really good friend and my buddy on road trips, where we got to indulge our movie addiction.

"But my feelings for Western Kentucky go back even further. Western Kentucky was the forefront of the fight to integrate college basketball in the 1960s and early '70s. ... College peeps owe WKU a tip of the hat for the positive changes it helped to promote."

'Big O' to appear

Back when basketball had fewer stars and you truly had to be luminous to rate that distinction, few shone brighter than Oscar Robertson. The Big O, as he was known, will appear at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on Saturday, April 12. He'll be there to sign his autobiography, The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game and his instructional book on fundamentals, The Art of Basketball.

Each book is being re-issued. The signing will begin at 1 p.m.

"I'm proud of this book, and it's important to me that it remain in circulation," Robertson said of his autobiography in a news release. "This is not just a story about me or about basketball. It's a chronicle of the times we lived through in the '50s and '60s, and how we were able to bring about changes in social conditions and people's attitudes."

Crutches?

Former UK player Josh Carrier needed crutches at the Bill Keightley Memorial Service on Thursday night. Crutches?

He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee playing pickup basketball a month ago. Two weeks later, he underwent surgery to repair the ACL (and another torn ligament, plus damage to the miniscus).

Carrier, who's back home in Bowling Green and working in pharmaceutical sales, said the injury sent him into retirement from pickup basketball.

Q & A

Columnist Norman Chad took this question from reader Joanna Wallace of Parma, Ohio, last week:

Question: How come every time I turn on March Madness on CBS, they're running a commercial?

Answer: How come every time you walk into a car dealership, they try to sell you a car?