Kentucky.com: Mark Story

Mark Story: Tubby Smith is too decent, too 'normal' for what major-college hoops coaching is now

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:13 EDT

For those of us who would like to think there is still a place for decency in the highest ranks of college basketball coaching, March 25 was a dark day. After six seasons that included five 20-win teams and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, the University of Minnesota fired ex-Kentucky head man Tubby Smith.

Of all the major basketball coaches I've covered, Smith is the most "normal," the personality that seemed the most balanced. In a profession now rife with cutthroat workaholics and deal-cutting confidence men, I wonder whether that normalcy has become an insurmountable weakness.

The Minnesota program Smith inherited in 2007 had never really recovered from the academic fraud scandal that took down then-coach Clem Haskins in 1999, two years after he had coached the Golden Gophers to the Final Four. In the Twin Cities, the hope was Smith could return Minnesota to the levels of success Clem the Gem enjoyed without the rules-breaking.

Things started well. Taking over a team that was 9-22 the season before he got there, Tubby improved Minnesota's win total by 11 games his first season (2007-08) and took the Gophers to the NIT. His next two seasons, Minnesota made the NCAA Tournament but failed to win a game.

Smith's tenure at Minnesota was beset by rotten luck.

Mark Story: If Sean Woods was right about Cats, he's not gloating

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:19 EDT

Since the end of the Kentucky men's basketball season, if I had a dollar for everyone I've heard say, 'You know, maybe Sean Woods was right,' the down payment for a summer home in Longboat Key would be mine.

Back in November, after interacting with UK players at a telethon to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims, Woods — the ex-Kentucky point guard and current Morehead State head coach — famously said he disliked "the vibe" he felt from the current Cats.

Woods decried what he saw as "a sense of entitlement" from the UK players.

After an adverse public reaction, Woods, a member of The Unforgettables whose retired jersey hangs in the Rupp Arena rafters, beat a retreat.

However, after UK hobbled through a disappointing 21-12 season that ended, stunningly, in an NIT loss to Robert Morris, John Calipari was asked whether Woods had been proven right.

Mark Story: Butler's Stevens as calm as he looks — most of the time

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:15 EDT

This just in: Brad Stevens does yell.

In a profession filled with screamers, preeners and cursers, the Butler University head man, 36, carries himself on the bench like the economist he is trained to be rather than the stereotypical major college basketball coach.

"He's definitely the calmest coach I've ever played for," said Butler senior Rotnei Clarke, a transfer from Arkansas.

On Saturday evening, Stevens will be in Rupp Arena trying to coach his Bulldogs to their third NCAA Tournament round of 16 berth in the past four seasons. No. 6 seed Butler (27-8) will face No. 3 Marquette (24-8) in an East Region game expected to tip off around 7:45.

As anyone with even a passing knowledge of basketball knows, those 2010 and '11 Butler Sweet 16 berths both led to appearances in the national title game.

Mark Story: Cards' Russ Smith finds Rupp Arena friendly confines again

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 06:00 EDT

Russ Smith is nationally known for doing things a little differently.

So it figures that, as a Louisville Cardinals star, he is as comfortable in Rupp Arena as in his own living room.

Louisville's drive for its third NCAA title got off to a rip-roaring start Thursday night in a red-filled Rupp as the No. 1 overall seed Cardinals buried outmatched No. 16 seed North Carolina A&T 79-48.

Louisville was never in even the smallest danger of becoming the first No. 1 seed ever to fall to a No. 16 and the main reason was the precocious Smith, the player Rick Pitino famously nicknamed "Russdiculous."

Picking up where he left off in scoring 30 points in Rupp last season in a U of L regular-season loss to eventual national champion Kentucky, Smith hit 10 of 16 shots for 23 points.

Kentucky QBs discuss three-way competition for starting job

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:14 EDT

In the first spring practice of the Mark Stoops coaching era at Kentucky, the three-way competition to be UK's starting quarterback is the marquee attraction.

Stoops said Wednesday that if one of the contenders was to pull clearly ahead, "we'll name them (the starter)," he said. "But we're not going to press that issue. ... we're going to take our time and make sure we get it right."

New UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown says it is likely to be later rather than earlier when Kentucky picks its starting QB. "I'll be surprised if we know a whole lot by the end of spring," Brown said, "just because everything is so new."

On Wednesday, UK made its offensive players available to the media for the first time this spring. It seemed an opportune time to check in with the three quarterbacks contending to run Kentucky's new version of the Air Raid offense.

Maxwell Smith

Mark Story: Louisville launching NCAA journey in Rupp feels ... appropriate

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:02 EDT

On Tuesday night, Kentucky suffered a humiliating loss, bounced from the NIT by Robert Morris.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Louisville entered the Wildcats' lair — Rupp Arena — for an NCAA Tournament open practice session as the tourney's No. 1 overall seed.

In the never-ceasing rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville that defines the college hoops experience in our state, the juxtaposition between the schools could not have been greater.

On the Internet, U of L backers gloried in the contrast. There were 16 threads on the front page of the main basketball message board on the Louisville Rivals.com site dedicated to Kentucky's woes. One proclaimed that "the least popular boys names next year in Kentucky — "Robert" and "Morris." Further applying the needle, one U of L-oriented radio talk show had a random man named Robert Morris on the air as a guest Wednesday morning.

Yet if the Louisville players felt any Schadenfreude at the misfortune of UK, they did an admirable job hiding it.

Mark Story: NCAA was right to pick small-conference excellence over big-league mediocrity

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:08 EDT

With a day of reflection, the work of the 2013 NCAA Tournament selection committee merits some serious second guessing.

The Midwest Region, home of tournament No. 1 overall seed Louisville, appears ridiculously stacked. The top five seeds in that region — U of L, Duke, Michigan State, Saint Louis and Oklahoma State — are all teams that, pre-bracket, I thought had viable Final Four aspirations.

Shouldn't the No. 1 overall seed have the most hospitable path through the four brackets to the national semifinals?

Meanwhile, if you put any credence in RPI-style power ratings, New Mexico (a three seed but No. 2 in the nation in RPI) deserved to be above Gonzaga (No. 1 seed but No. 6 in the RPI) in the West Region.

With that, the 2013 NCAA tourney selectors got one big thing dead-on right.

Mark Story's Final Four predictions

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:53 EDT

NCAA Tournament predictions:

FINAL FOUR

Louisville. Looked like a potential national championship team in the Big East Tournament — but as No. 1 overall NCAA seed somehow landed in easily the most difficult region.

New Mexico. Steve Alford's Lobos played Louisville tough in the round of 32 last year and were the class of a very strong Mountain West Conference this season.

Kansas. When in doubt in a region, go chalk — or in this case, Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.

Mark Story: A year after an NCAA title, Calipari's new mix of players miss out on Big Dance

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:24 EDT

As Sunday progressed toward dusk, the "bracketologists" had long since moved toward unanimity: The Kentucky Wildcats were not going to be in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Still, as CBS revealed the actual tourney matchups, I could not help expecting to hear the word Kentucky called out. Half expected it right up until 6:32 p.m., when CBS announced that Arizona and Belmont were the 67th and 68th teams in the 2013 Big Dance.

For UK, Selection Sunday had officially become Rejection Sunday.

One season ago, John Calipari and his Wildcats were The Story of the 2012 NCAA tourney. The Cats were No. 1 going in as the overall top seed and No. 1 coming out after cutting down the national title nets for UK's eighth time.

Who would have dreamed that, a year later, the Cats would not be defending their 2012 NCAA title but instead making their second NIT appearance in the past five years.

Mark Story: Ranking the top 75 NCAA moments in state's history

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:41 EDT

For the NCAA Tournament, 2013 is the diamond anniversary year. Across the decades, few states have had a more profound impact on March Madness than Kentucky.

Out of the 74 NCAA Tournaments before this year, teams from the commonwealth have been represented in 66 of them. There has been at least one Bluegrass State team in every NCAA tourney since 1963. At least one team from our state has won an NCAA tourney game in every season since 1991.

Our state has accounted for 10 NCAA titles, 25 Final Four berths (including Western Kentucky's 1971 trip which was subsequently vacated) and a whopping 202 tournament victories.

To commemorate the 75th edition of the Big Dance and our state's role in it, here is my list of the 75 most memorable moments for teams from Kentucky in NCAA Tournament history.

75. 2002 round of 32, Kentucky 87, Tulsa 82. A left-handed Kentucky forward who wore No. 21 scored 41 points in an NCAA tourney game played in St. Louis. For UK fans, Tayshaun Prince produced a pleasant case of deja vu.

Mark Story: Elite status eludes UK women

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:43 EDT

DULUTH, Ga. — A'dia Mathies said Kentucky came to the women's Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament to cut down a champion's nets.

On Sunday, the Wildcats instead left the SEC championship game with that same old runner-up feeling. Far more concerning, they also left with some familiar questions about their ability to take the next step and break through into the elite strata of women's college basketball.

Avenging two regular-season losses, SEC newcomer Texas A&M (24-9) whipped the cold-shooting Wildcats 75-67 before an announced crowd of 5,076 in The Arena at Gwinnett Center to claim the first SEC Tournament championship in the school's history.

For No. 7 Kentucky (27-5), it was the third time in four years that Matthew Mitchell's Wildcats have now been SEC tourney runners-up.

In a somber UK locker room, sophomore guard Bria Goss said, "We wanted this real bad. That's why emotions are running so high, we really wanted this."

Mark Story: UK needs more consistent play from O'Neill

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:41 EDT

DULUTH, Ga. — The Kentucky roster shows only one Jennifer O'Neill, but there were actually two who played for UK on Saturday night in the SEC Tournament semifinals against No. 12 Georgia.

First-Half Jennifer O'Neill started the game with a turnover, then an airballed three-pointer. She finished the first half with one point, one rebound, one assist — and four turnovers.

With its floor general misfiring, No. 7 Kentucky turned in a half of basketball (7-for-27 shooting; nine turnovers) so ugly it had to scare children and trailed the Bulldogs 24-19.

Had First-Half Jennifer O'Neill returned for half two, Kentucky's dreams of claiming its first SEC Tournament title since 1982 were headed for a quick death.

Fortunately for UK, Second-Half Jennifer O'Neill was a very different person.

Mark Story: Murray St. dashes EKU's NCAA dreams in a surprising way

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 05:58 EST

NASHVILLE — In a surprise season filled by feel-good moments, Eastern Kentucky appeared to have a clear path toward its best one yet.

The Colonels were not even five minutes into the second half of a fiercely contested Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal Friday night with intrastate rival Murray State when Racers big man Ed Daniel picked up his fourth foul. With 15:17 left in the game and MSU clinging to a 50-49 lead, Daniel took his impressive Afro hairstyle and most of Murray State’s inside presence to the bench.

Yet instead of EKU seizing a golden chance to impose its will on the traditional OVC kingpin, we saw exhibit No. 1.18 million in how unpredictable college basketball can be.

While Daniel sat on the bench, his Murray State teammates — led by stellar senior guard Isaiah Canaan — unleashed a 14-4 run that turned a 50-49 Murray lead to a 64-53 one with 8:50 to go.

That provided just enough cushion to keep gritty EKU at bay as Murray State (21-9) held off the Colonels 81-73 in front of 3,977 mostly Murray fans in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

Mark Story: Key Wildcats AWOL in must-win game

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:01 EST

ATHENS, Ga. — As his team's season accelerated into the brink, John Calipari paced in front of the Kentucky bench, head down, hands in his pockets.

There was just more than four minutes remaining in what was headed toward Kentucky's fourth straight demoralizing double-digit road loss.

One season after winning the national title, Calipari looked like a coach all out of answers in 2012-13.

"I'm disgusted with myself more than them," Calipari said. "If we look like this at this point (of the season), it means I've done a crap job with this team."

In a game that many people believe Kentucky had to win to stay in viable contention for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, UK got stomped 72-62 by a mediocre Georgia (15-15, 9-8 SEC) before a Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 10,062.

Mark Story: Sunday finals should make Sweet Sixteen better

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:59 EST

Remember Adam Wing drilling 5-of-5 three-point attempts to lead Rowan County past Bullitt East in the 2011 Kentucky high school state tournament semifinals? Or Elisha Justice's 31 point-performance to carry Shelby Valley past Mason County in the 2010 semifinals?

What about defending state champ Mason County needing every one of Chris Lofton's 23 points to survive a gutty performance by Tyler Hicks (22 points) and Scott County in the 2004 semis?

Unless you are from one of the involved schools, there is a very good chance that you don't recall what should have been prime-time Kentucky basketball moments.

The reason you aren't apt to remember is because the traditional Sweet Sixteen format of playing the state semifinals and championship game both on Saturday causes the semis to be completely overshadowed.

This year, that will change.

Mark Story: Matthew Mitchell's record-breaking day

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:00 EST

When Matthew Mitchell reaches that stage where he looks back at the achievements of his life, the day he became the winningest coach in Kentucky women's basketball history will form a memory close to perfection.

Except the day's one imperfection is apt to eat at Mitchell.

In the final game of the regular season, No. 10 Kentucky (25-4, 13-3) drubbed Southeastern Conference champion and No. 8-ranked Tennessee 78-65 before a sell-out crowd of 7,965 in Memorial Coliseum. The victory, Mitchell's 139th (139-60) in his six years as UK head man, pushed the Louisville, Miss., product one win ahead of the late Terry Hall for first place on the all-time Kentucky wins list.

"I am a person who is blessed by God to be here," Mitchell said. "And (I'm blessed) that we've had the time to build something."

So much about Sunday served as a fitting summation of the building job Mitchell has done in reinvigorating women's hoops at Kentucky.

Mark Story: Half of UK's 8 title teams not given rings

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:24 EST

The retroactive championship ring ceremony conducted for Kentucky's 1996 NCAA men's basketball champs by UK last Wednesday night during the Wildcats game with Mississippi State was well done.

On the Rupp Arena video boards, there were taped interviews with some team members, Nazr Mohammed, Allen Edwards and, memorably, Mark Pope, unable to attend to the ring ceremony. During the presentation itself, former Kentucky point guard Anthony Epps bent down to kiss the Rupp midcourt circle. All that was missing was an Antoine Walker shoulder shimmy.

As much fun as the trip down memory lane with the best UK team of my lifetime was, many were confused over why the '96 Cats were being awarded title rings by Kentucky 17 years after they cut down the nets.

Turns out, in modern times — like with the 2012 team that claimed Kentucky's eighth NCAA crown — the players who play on national champs usually get two championship rings. One comes from the NCAA. Another is usually presented by the winning school. The 2012-13 NCAA Division I manual sets a cap of $415 per individual on what can be spent by a school on national championship rings.

When Tubby Smith's 1998 UK team claimed Kentucky's seventh national title, "we got two rings," said Cameron Mills, a key senior reserve on that club. Conversely, after Rick Pitino's 1996 Cats won it all "we only got one ring. We didn't get a school ring," Mills said. "And I don't know why that was. Nobody does. But that's what they awarded to us Wednesday night, the school ring."

Mark Story: Will this be the year a No. 16 seed finally beats a No. 1?

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:01 EST

They are the Washington Generals of March Madness. Pity those poor No. 16 seeds.

As everyone who follows college basketball even remotely knows by rote, since the NCAA Tournament expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985, No. 16 seeds are oh-for-eternity in matchups with No. 1 seeds.

The current count is 0-for-112 against top seeds for the poor 16s.

Yet amid a regular diet of jaw-dropping upsets in the 2012-13 college basketball season, the sentiment is growing that the NCAA Tournament will finally be sweet for the 16s.

"A 16 beating a 1 is not out of the question," Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski told USA Today this week. "(College basketball) is so balanced, so balanced."

Mark Story: In one-and-done world, UK's Julius Mays showing value of experience

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 07:19 EST

If you like your sports splashed with a dash of irony, one need look no farther than what fifth-year senior Julius Mays did in Rupp Arena last week for the one college basketball program in the country most closely identified with one-and-done players.

In two games in which defeat would have likely doomed Kentucky's flickering aspirations for an NCAA Tournament bid, a guy whose college career began when George W. Bush was President answered UK's SOS (save our season) call.

With UK clinging to a 61-59 lead against Vanderbilt last Wednesday, Mays, the shooting guard working at his third Division I school, beat an expiring shot clock with a dagger of a three-pointer. The shot put Kentucky up 64-59 and gave the Cats enough momentum to survive 74-70.

In Saturday's uplifting 90-83 overtime victory over Missouri, a guy who was playing in his 115th college game came through under game-deciding pressure time and again. Mays hit another shot-clock-beating trey late in the second half.

Showing a veteran's canniness, he drew the fifth foul on Missouri standout Laurence Bowers with a head fake that got the Mizzou forward off his feet on a Mays three-point attempt.

Q&A: Kentucky Speedway trying to put focus back on racing

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 07:03 EST

SPARTA — At Kentucky Speedway, the "off-season" has been a little more tranquil than a year ago.

In 2011, of course, the inaugural Sprint Cup race at the track was marred by a massive traffic snarl as well over 100,000 fans tried to get into the facility. In reaction, Kentucky Speedway owner Bruton Smith and the commonwealth of Kentucky each invested millions to improve the traffic and parking infrastructure around the track.

The second running of the Quaker State 400 last June went off without any traffic issues — albeit also with what appeared to be a substantially smaller crowd.

"This off-season has been much, much different," Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said last week. "After (the 2012 race), I bet we didn't have, total, 10 complaints. For anything. We didn't have a single complaint about traffic because there was nothing to complain about. We probably went from worst to first on traffic."

The Sprint Cup Series will run for the third time in Sparta on June 29. On the Sunday when the green flag drops on another season of NASCAR with the Daytona 500, it seemed a good time to catch up with what is going on at Kentucky Speedway.