Posted on Thu, May. 08, 2008

Scott Co. grad Gray eyes transfer to UK

GUARD RELEASED FROM UNC, WILL MEET WITH MITCHELL

By Jennifer Smith

JSMITH3@HERALD-LEADER.COM

Rebecca Gray averaged 15.3 minutes and 5.2 points per game at UNC. Photo by Sara D. Davis | Associated Press

When Rebecca Gray moved to North Carolina, she couldn't help but take a few Kentucky things with her.

Even as she was wearing a Tar Heels basketball uniform, she had UK shirts, hats and Wildcats trinkets in her room.

"I brought them down here with me just to remember home," the 2007 Miss Basketball from Scott County said Wednesday afternoon. "Each day it got harder and harder to look at them."

They made Gray miss home and the UK teams that she had grown up adoring.

So the 5-foot-10 sharpshooting guard asked UNC for her release, which she received officially on Tuesday. Soon after, she placed a call to UK Coach Matthew Mitchell.

Gray has every intention of not just displaying the UK garb in her bedroom. She now wants to wear it across her chest and join the women's basketball team.

Mitchell is the only college coach with which Gray has spoken.

"My search is beginning with UK," she said. "And I hope that it ends there as well."

Mitchell and Gray have set up a meeting for next week, she said. If she signs with UK, she would be forced to sit out a season due to NCAA transfer rules.

But she said she looks forward to helping Kentucky get into the NCAA Tournament after that, much like her 33-3 Tar Heels did this season.

"I definitely want to help put Kentucky on the map, to go to the (NCAA) Tournament and get to a Sweet 16 or whatever we can do," she said.

Gray met Mitchell when he was an assistant at Kentucky under Mickie DeMoss, and she always felt a strong connection to him, saying he's similar to her former Scott County coach, Steve Helton.

"I love when a coach gets in your face and gets you ready to play," Gray said. "I like the style of play. I love to run and gun. He's a great coach. He's going to bring good things to this team, and I hope I can, too."

Kentucky cannot comment on a transfer until it is official.

Gray said she is leaving North Carolina with no regrets and no hard feelings.

"Campus is great, my teammates and coaching staff were wonderful," she said. "We were treated like queens down here, and it's a really great experience I'll never forget. I just wanted to come home and be around my family and play for the Cats."

At North Carolina, Gray played in 30 games, averaging 15.3 minutes and 5.2 points per game. The guard shot 44.1 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range.

In her six seasons at Scott County, Gray scored 2,907 points, which puts her atop the school's scoring chart for boys and girls.

"Our program has definitely grown because of Rebecca Gray," Helton said after Gray earned Miss Basketball honors. "Her work ethic, her dedication -- she's really been special."

Gray also finished her career with 706 rebounds, 380 steals and 493 assists.

Her senior season, the guard averaged 25.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.2 steals while hitting 88.9 percent of her free throws.

In her four years of high school, Scott County went 107-17. She said she hopes to bring that same sort of winning percentage to UK, a team in dire need of a shooter.

This season, the Cats ranked in the bottom three of every offensive statistic in the Southeastern Conference, including finishing last in overall field-goal shooting at 37.8 percent.