Watch: Kentucky Wildcats past and present gather for entertaining video chat

Confined to our homes amid a pandemic, entertainment takes many forms.

Movie theaters are closed. Live sporting events could be months away. Even eating out is off the table.

Instead, we play cards. We construct puzzles. We dive into video games.

And we chat with our friends and co-workers by video conferencing.

The University of Kentucky men’s basketball program took Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangout or whatever your platform of choice happens to be to a whole new level late last week.

UK Deputy Athletics Director DeWayne Peevy hosted a Zoom call in which numerous members of the Wildcats’ “La Familia” participated from across several generations. Peevy opened the call with a group of “ambassadors” who then invited in several other Wildcats. Those Cats then invited more. Soon enough, a few dozen UK players filled the screen, live from their homes.

No big news was broken. Nothing of great import was said. But if you have the time to watch the 20-plus minutes video it’s quite entertaining. Wildcats from across the years popped on to the screen, bringing with them a flood of memories.

Coaches John Calipari, Tubby Smith and even Joe B. Hall made appearances.

The program’s all-time leading scorer, Dan Issel, chimed in. So did the hero of Kentucky’s 1978 national championship, Jack “Goose” Givens. From more modern days came Chuck Hayes, Scott Padgett, Tony Delk, Marcus Lee and Derek Willis.

Again, the fascination was watching new names pop up every time someone joined the call: Louie Dampier, Jimmy Dan Conner, Saul Smith, Shagari Alleyne. Even actress and UK fan Laura Bell Bundy joined the fray at one point.

We’re not going to name everyone here who participated. We’ll leave that to you to discover.

But if you’re a UK fan, put down the puzzle and take this video out for a spin.

This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 11:22 AM.