Tony Delk was there for Walter McCarty’s big night in Rupp Arena. ‘That’s my brother.’
READ MORE
An out-of-the-blue defeat: Evansville 67, No. 1 Kentucky 64
Read all of the Herald-Leader’s coverage on Kentucky.com of the Wildcats’ unexpected defeat in Rupp Arena at the hands of former UK player Walter McCarty and his Evansville Purple Aces on Tuesday night.
Expand All
A couple of minutes after completing a history-making night in Rupp Arena, the second-year coach of the Evansville Purple Aces stopped on his way to the visiting locker room to share an embrace with a man in a dark red jacket.
The coach was Walter McCarty. The man wearing red was Tony Delk.
More than 25 years after they first came to Lexington, where they started as 18-year-old college roommates and left as basketball legends, the two shared a hug and a laugh. They had just witnessed the unimaginable.
“I don’t like seeing my alma mater lose,” Delk said. “Trust me.”
His alma mater — ranked No. 1 in the country — had indeed just lost. But, despite Delk’s rooting allegiance on this and every other night, that seemed just fine. On this night, an exception could be made.
Delk and McCarty were, of course, the senior leaders on the 1996 Kentucky team that dominated college basketball, and, some say, was the best in the storied program’s history. They were roommates for their entire time together in college. They’ve stayed close friends in the 23 years they’ve spent apart since leaving Lexington.
So, it was only fitting that one of the first faces McCarty saw after his Purple Aces pulled off perhaps the biggest shocker in Rupp Arena history — a 67-64 victory over top-ranked Kentucky — was Delk’s, smiling at the sight of his longtime friend enjoying his moment.
“That’s my guy,” Delk said. “Just to see him come in and get a win — that’s huge for the program. And with it being his second year as a coach, it speaks volumes for where he’s come and what he’s learned from coaches like Coach (Rick) Pitino and Brad Stevens.
“You look at a player of his caliber — he understands how to play the game, just from an outside to inside standpoint. Most times, you see big men — to me, they don’t make great coaches because they’re not guards. Guards see everything. And Walter had the luxury of being kind of a wing, a guy that could put the ball on the floor, a guy that could shoot. So, he sees the offense differently.”
McCarty played in the NBA for 10 seasons after leaving Kentucky, then spent three seasons on Pitino’s staff at Louisville and six more as an assistant coach in the NBA, five of them with the Boston Celtics. Last year, he left Boston and took over his hometown university.
Evansville went 11-21 in McCarty’s first season as a head coach. There weren’t many grand highlights to speak of. Certainly nothing like what happened Tuesday night.
Delk had just started talking about how close he and his former teammate had remained since leaving UK when the 6-foot-10 college coach emerged from the visitors’ locker room, his dress shirt drenched from the water bottle-fueled celebration within.
“Hey, Tony! Come get in this picture real quick!”
McCarty, still just a few minutes removed from one of the biggest victories of his life, wanted a picture with his friend. The two smiled for the camera, and Delk returned to his thoughts on their past, and how their time together in this building helped shape both of them. How his friend is now passing that down to his young players.
“We spent four years together here as roommates, and you learn a lot from each other,” Delk said. “And he can tell you how competitive I was. I hated losing. And it goes back to Coach Pitino and what he instilled in us. And just going out there and believing in yourself. You bring confidence to your players, you show you’re not scared, and they’re not going to be scared to take on a challenge.”
After Delk’s wardrobe choice for this game — that dark red jacket, instead of Kentucky blue or Evansville purple — was pointed out, he smiled and clarified.
“I’m always rooting for Kentucky. That’s never going to change,” he said. “Even when my nephew (Reginald Delk) was at Louisville, I wanted him to have a good game, but I’m going for Kentucky. But, if you’re going to lose to anyone … Walter would definitely have been the one I would’ve chosen, because we spent so much time together. And this is something that’s going to catapult his career. He can look back and say, ‘I came into this house, where we didn’t lose many games — especially to mid-majors.’ He’ll build off of this, and I think they’ll have a conference that will be ready for them. Because they’ll be the hunted now.”
While Delk was talking, dozens of Evansville fans were gathered outside the tunnel in Rupp Arena — the same tunnel that had led he and McCarty to the court as Kentucky players — and they were calling for their second-year coach. “We want Walt! We want Walt!” they chanted.
McCarty finished his post-game press conference, and headed out to the floor to meet them. On the way, he stopped for one more Rupp Arena hug with Delk.
Back on the court, McCarty embraced Evansville supporters, posed for pictures, and shared some laughs. A few folks wearing Kentucky blue stuck around to wish him well.
When Delk’s name was mentioned, McCarty smiled. He said they see each other all the time these days. He said they had dinner together the night before. He said that friendship would never change.
“That is my brother,” McCarty said. “We talk all the time. We see each other all the time, and it means a lot. We genuinely love each other, and we’re going to be there for each other until God takes us off this earth. It was meant for us to be here together at UK and go through all the things we did. That’s my brother, man. I’m going to always be there for him, and vice versa.
“He told me he loved me. That he was proud of me. And it means a lot coming from somebody like him, who … we’ve been doing this together since we were 18 years old. So, it’s just awesome to see him here to witness that.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 11:09 PM.
