UK pitcher says playing UK basketball will make him ‘mentally tougher’ for baseball
While he’s helping Kentucky basketball as a practice player, Ben Jordan said the experience can help him when he returns to UK’s baseball team.
“I think it’s going to make me mentally tougher,” he said Thursday. “It’s a challenge. Going out in front of 20,000 people will make the stress easier on me when I step out on the mound. Just the challenge you learn to push through. I’m not saying it’s going to make my pitches better. But I think, overall, it will help.”
Jordan, who is 6-foot-9, said basketball and baseball are “completely different” sports. He suggested there’s little that translates from one to the other.
“Basketball is so fast-paced, and you’re just going off adrenaline what you know to do,” he said. “And baseball, sometimes you have to take a step back and think. . . . In basketball, there’s so many things you can’t control. As a pitcher, you control the game.”
Jordan said his role with UK’s basketball team is to defend Nick Richards every day. He joined the team in the pre-season to give Richards a challenge in practice. With EJ Montgomery sidelined, that need has been enhanced.
UK Coach John Calipari has all but ruled out Jordan playing meaningful minutes. Even giving Richards a breather for, say, a minute or two before a television timeout is unlikely.
“I’m just doing whatever the team needs me to do,” said Jordan, who got in 23 seconds on the Rupp Arena floor near the end of Kentucky’s win over Eastern Kentucky. “If that’s going in a game or not, it’s fine with me.”
Jordan said he and some of his basketball teammates went to a batting cage recently. He judged the baseball abilities as “Brennan (Canada) is a pitcher, and Dontaie (Allen) is a hitter.”
When asked if he could blow away his basketball teammates with fastballs, Jordan said, “I don’t know. Maybe.”
UK’s baseball team begins preseason practice in January. The first game is on Valentine’s Day. Of course, UK basketball hopes its season does not end until the national championship game on April 6.
Jordan said he was not sure how that overlap would be navigated.
“Whatever sport I’m playing, I’m going to be completely dedicated to it,” he said.
Educational opportunity
Mount St. Mary’s mixed education with athletics on its trip to play at UAB on Wednesday. After a practice the day before the game, the team visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
“This was very powerful,” Coach Dan Engelstad said. “It’s quite a museum with a lot of history. And powerful to see all the recent stuff going on, too.”
The Civil Rights Institute is about five minutes from where the team practiced, Engelstad said.
“Any time we can provide educational opportunities for our guys, I think it’s valuable,” the Mount St. Mary’s coach said. “We try as much as we can in the program to teach life and for us to have an understanding of our nation’s history as well as where we are right now. And I think it’s powerful for everybody, not just for our players and staff, but everybody involved with our program.”
Road warriors
The game at Kentucky ends a challenging start to Mount St. Mary’s schedule. The Mountaineers’ first six games include games at Georgetown (Nov. 6), at Washington (Nov. 12) and now at UK.
Mount St. Mary’s lost at Georgetown 81-68 and at Washington 56-46.
The money that comes with such play-for-pay games was a factor in the scheduling, Engelstad said. So is preparation for play in the Northeast Conference and possibly beyond.
In hopes of getting the league’s one bid to the NCAA Tournament, “you’ve got to play the Kentuckys, the Georgetowns and the Washingtons,” Engelstad said, “because those are the teams you’re going to be matched up with when you get there.”
113-67
The only other time Kentucky has played Mount St. Mary’s came at Memphis in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament. UK won 113-67. The 113 points and margin of victory remain UK records for an NCAA Tournament game.
When asked if he knew about that game, Engelstad said, “Yes, I’m very familiar.
“I was not part of the staff, but I’m very close to alumni who played in that game. They share those memories.”
Jim Phelan, who was Mount St. Mary’s coach for 50 years, led the Mountaineers in the 1995 game. Engelstad said Phelan, now 90, has been a mentor.
Remember him?
Former UK player Quade Green played for Washington against Mount St. Mary’s. He had five points, six rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes.
“Very fast guard,” Engelstad said. “We were able to keep him in check early on. He was able to make some plays down the stretch. Didn’t shoot it as well as he’s capable of, but he’s a hell of a player.”
Through the first four games this season, Green is averaging 7.0 points, 5.0 assists and 30.5 minutes.
Etc.
Mike Morgan and Jon Sundvold will call Friday night’s game for the SEC Network.
