Kentucky is powerful, but it needs help in lifting SEC basketball out of its doldrums

In explaining why Big Ten football has enjoyed a resurgence this season, an ESPN radio host quoted John F. Kennedy’s famous comment about a rising tide lifting all boats. The success of Urban Meyer at Ohio State and Jim Harbaugh at Michigan spurred other conference teams to improve, he said.

That posed a good question for basketball coaches at the Southeastern Conference media day on Wednesday. Kentucky has always set a high standard, arguably higher than ever in John Calipari’s seven seasons as coach.

With only three league teams getting NCAA Tournament bids in three of the last four years, the SEC is at a stubbornly low tide. So why hasn’t this Big Blue Tsunami lifted other SEC basketball programs?

“I don’t know,” said Mike Tranghese, the former Big East commissioner hired to help guide SEC basketball to higher ground.

Kentucky can play a key role in raising the league’s basketball profile, Tranghese said. Kansas does the same for the Big 12, Indiana and Michigan State in the Big Ten and, of course, North Carolina and Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

South Carolina Coach Frank Martin welcomed Kentucky’s lofty status as a potential aid, not an overshadowing presence.

“I think it’s great having Kentucky in our conference,” Martin said. “Having them as an ally to represent the SEC. Are you kidding me? It’s our job to elevate our programs.”

No, UK can’t lift the SEC all by itself.

“I think it’s always the people at the top,” Tranghese said. “Somebody other than Kentucky has got to win at a high level.”

And those teams must do so on a sustained basis.

Yes, Billy Donovan made Florida a respected member of the college basketball elite, guiding the Gators to four Final Four appearances and national championships in 2006 and 2007.

LSU advanced to the Final Four in 2006, Mississippi State in 1996.

Yet, as Alabama Coach Avery Johnson so memorably put it, if the SEC was the Jackson Five, Kentucky would be seen as Michael Jackson, and the other SEC teams so many Marlons and Titos.

“I think the perception out there is it’s Kentucky and no one else,” Tranghese said, “You know, that’s not a good perception.”

Several SEC coaches said the league is closer to changing that perception than people might think.

Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy reminded reporters that the now departed Donovan was a “first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Mississippi State’s Ben Howland had Final Four appearances on his résumé, Johnson had been voted NBA Coach of the Year and Georgia’s Mark Fox made his team an example of consistent quality.

Vanderbilt and Arkansas had “storied” basketball histories, said Kennedy, who then added, “Ole Miss has never been in better shape.”

Kentucky Coach John Calipari joined the closer-than-you-think brigade.

“A lot of this is just the perception of it,” he said of SEC basketball being in a down period, “and I don’t know how you fight that.”

Recent SEC hirings suggest the league leaders believe there is a problem. Since last season, the league announced three hires intended to send the message about its intention to raise its basketball profile.

Dan Leibovitz will help in scheduling (more NCAA bids through better non-conference scheduling). Mark Whitehead is the new supervisor of officials (better basketball through better officiating).

And Tranghese, who brings credibility because of his former association with the Big East Conference (the marquee basketball league in the 1980s and 1990s) and former chair of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.

Those hires “should send a shock wave through the system that we are serious about basketball,” Johnson said.

Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl suggested that Tranghese gave the SEC office a gravitas that had been missing previously.

Pearl used the example of South Carolina last season to make his point. The Gamecocks won a program-record 25 games and finished third in the SEC with an 11-7 record.

That did not earn South Carolina a bid to the NCAA Tournament. No one on the Selection Committee would feel the need to explain to the SEC what happened, Pearl said.

“There’s nobody in the world of basketball in that office,” he said.

And now? “You have to call Mike Tranghese and you have to explain to Mike Tranghese why you didn’t put an SEC team in there,” Pearl said, “or why you seeded them there.”

Tranghese has continually stressed the importance of hiring the right coaches. In turn, these coaches recruit the players that make a big difference. The teams win games, especially against quality opponents in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Then, SEC teams must advance deep in the NCAA Tournament.

Calipari offered a reassuring note. While football requires a massive retooling of personnel, basketball is well suited for the quick fix. For example, UK regained prominence almost instantly in 1990 with the recruitment of Jamal Mashburn.

“The greatest thing about basketball — the greatest thing — is you don’t need the cavalry,” Calipari said.

Be prepared for this new dawning of SEC basketball, Pearl said. It is at hand.

“Guys, it’s ready, it’s ready,” he told reporters. “It’s right. It’s fixin’ to happen.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 8:53 PM with the headline "Kentucky is powerful, but it needs help in lifting SEC basketball out of its doldrums."