A Rick Pitino motivational ploy paid off big for Kentucky after the coach left UK
Fast-break points from the year no time traveler will ever visit:
21. Scott Padgett. In the second semester of Kentucky’s 1995-96 NCAA men’s basketball championship season, Padgett was practicing with UK while he worked to regain academic eligibility after flunking out of school the year before.
20. Championship ring? I have always wondered if then-UK Coach Rick Pitino awarded Padgett a ring for UK’s 1996 national title. The answer, Padgett says, is no.
19. Motivational ploy? “Rick Pitino was a guy who really knew how to push my buttons — in a positive way,” Padgett says. “In my mind, (Pitino) intentionally didn’t give me (a ‘96 championship ring) to drive me to be better.”
18. A near miss and a ring. Over the following two seasons, Padgett was a vital player for UK teams that finished as the national runner-up in 1996-97 (Pitino’s final season as Kentucky coach) and the national champion in 1997-98 (Tubby Smith’s debut leading the Cats).
17. Motivation that worked. Says Padgett: “I’m that guy, if you tell me I can’t do something, I am going to prove you wrong. When I didn’t get a (1996) ring, there was always something in my head that said ‘I’ve got to go get a ring. I’ve got to work harder so we can get another (national title).’”
16. Wilbur Hackett. One of the four players for whom the University of Kentucky erected statues to commemorate their role in breaking the color barrier in SEC football, Hackett, 71, earned a liberal arts degree from UK this spring.
15. Cap and gown. To commemorate Hackett’s achievement, UK put a cap and gown on his statue and then Tweeted the image. “I was so impressed by that,” Hackett says. “That warmed my heart.”
14. Nazr Mohammed. The starting center on Kentucky’s 1998 NCAA men’s basketball championship team, Mohammed also earned a UK liberal arts degree this spring. Turns out, Mohammed’s wife, Mandi, is Wilbur Hackett’s niece.
13. Shared accomplishment. “A cool part for me (in graduating from UK now) was the fact my nephew, Nazr Mohammed, went back and got his degree and we were in the same class,” Hackett says.
12. David Jones. The ex-Kentucky Wildcats defensive back is best remembered for his 99-yard kickoff return touchdown to begin the second half for the 2008 Cats in the Liberty Bowl. The play flipped the momentum as UK rallied from 16-3 behind at halftime to beat East Carolina 25-19.
11. A plan to help bring change. Now the head football coach at Bourbon County High School, Jones has taken the lead in forming a new Minority Coaches Association of Kentucky.
10. An idea from other states. Jones says he got the idea from states such as Georgia and Tennessee which already have similar organizations.
9. A ladder into coaching. Says Jones: “The idea is to help young minority coaches — and it doesn’t have to specifically be African-American coaches, it can be Hispanics, Polynesian, whoever — who don’t have a lot of influence in coaching. For example, help guys get prepared for interviews, know what to wear, how to speak to a committee.”
8. A more diverse coaching pool. Given the importance of high school sports in the lives of many young Kentuckians, Jones believes having greater racial diversity among coaches could have a significant social impact in the commonwealth.
7. A better world. “I’m a firm believer, a major, firm believer, that if we can do the right thing with our coaches, it is going to make this world a better place,” Jones says.
6. Bill Ransdell. The early-1960s Kentucky Wildcats running back — father of the mid-1980s UK quarterback of the same name — died June 5. He was 80.
5. A high school star. In his senior season at Elizabethtown in 1957, Ransdell led the Panthers to an undefeated season that ended with a victory over Shelbyville in the Burley Bowl.
4. A UK contributor. In three varsity seasons at Kentucky (1959-61) playing for Blanton Collier, Ransdell ran for 570 career yards with four touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 169 yards and one TD.
3. Still in the UK record book. Ransdell had an 88-yard touchdown jaunt in a 49-0 strafing of Xavier in 1960. In all of Wildcats football history, only Harry Jones’ 91-yard TD against George Washington in 1951 is a longer run from scrimmage.
2. Helped others. As an adult, Ransdell was a social worker, counseling those with mental health, substance abuse and domestic abuse issues.
1. Proud papa. The elder Ransdell also gloried in the UK success of his son, who quarterbacked Kentucky to a nine-win season (1984), a Hall of Fame Bowl victory over Wisconsin (1984) and wins over Tennessee (1984) and Florida (1986).
May he RIP.
