tool name

Sunday, Oct. 05, 2008

It's never too early for hoops

Premature Madness a great excuse to start talking hoops

Billy Gillispie has officially become a Kentuckian.

In Kentucky, we've always craved ways to make basketball's off-season shorter.

When the Texas-born and reared Billy G. found a rules loophole to move up the University of Kentucky's Big Blue Madness by a week, he proved his commonwealth bona fides.

On the week when college basketball "starts," here are 10 compelling storylines to watch in college hoops in the state of Kentucky.

10. Can UK find a quarterback?

All summer, the question about Kentucky football was the search for a QB. This fall, the same question hangs over Gillispie's UK basketball team.

If junior-college transfer Kevin Galloway and/or heralded recruit DeAndre Liggins emerge as reliable ball-handlers and decision-makers, then UK basketball could be a major national surprise.

If neither pan out right away, Kentucky is probably headed for another non-Kentucky type year.

9. A new "best player ever?"

The debate over the best women's college basketball player ever to play in Kentucky has usually included the same names: former Morehead State star Donna Murphy, ex-Kentucky standout Valerie Still, and former Western Kentucky stars Lillie Mason and Clemette Haskins.

This year, another name could move to the top of that list. If Louisville's projected first-team All-American Angel McCoughtry caps her brilliant career with a senior season to remember, she might go down as our state's best.

8. Morehead goes Kevin Bacon?

For more than two decades, there's been no music in Morehead in March. No dancing at all.

Morehead State has not played in a men's NCAA Tournament since Wayne Martin coached the Eagles to back-to-back berths in 1983 and '84.

This could be the year that Morehead again joins a Big Dance. Coach Donnie Tyndall must find a point guard, but has seven of his top nine players back from the surprise team that finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference a year ago.

7. Miller time at UK?

Darius Miller — Kentucky's reigning Mr. Basketball and State Tournament MVP — was a must-get recruit for Billy Gillispie.

How the ex-Mason County star will fare playing for Gillispie will be fascinating.

The knock on the multi-skilled 6-foot-7 swingman is a laid-back court demeanor that sometimes causes Miller to "coast" for stretches.

Gillispie is known for his rugged practices and the no-holds-barred approach he takes to player motivation.

Will a hard-charging coach and a sometimes laid-back player mesh?

6. Help wanted: Scorers

In Matthew Mitchell's first year as UK women's basketball coach last season, a veteran team disappointed by missing the NCAA Tournament. Mitchell's squad was offensively challenged a year ago and now has lost leading scorers Sarah Elliott and Samantha Mahoney.

This year's UK hoops season comes down to a basic question: Can anyone here score?

5. Delk for three.

Rick Pitino's sole NCAA championship came in 1996 with sweet-shooting Tony Delk raining three-pointers for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Thirteen seasons later, Pitino will again have a Delk to unleash.

Mississippi State transfer Reginald Delk averaged nearly 10 points in Starkville two seasons ago. Now, the 6-foot-4 junior will bring his length and scoring ability to the U of L perimeter.

(Reginald's twin brother, Richard, also left MSU but chose Troy).

4. New McDonald on The Hill

The Western Kentucky men were one of the feel-good tales of March Madness a year ago. However, the stars and coach of last season's round-of-16 team are gone.

Replacing Darrin Horn on the Hilltoppers' bench is Ken McDonald.

The former Rick Barnes assistant will try to show there is life after Courtney Lee (first-round pick of the Orlando Magic) with a team built around promising junior forward Jeremy Evans and former in-state high school stars A.J. Slaughter (Shelby County) and Steffphon Pettigrew (Elizabethtown).

3. Faith in healing

Kentucky's two most talented scorers, big man Patrick Patterson and shooting guard Jodie Meeks, are both returning after off-season surgeries (Patterson for a stress fracture in an ankle; Meeks for a sports hernia).

With Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley gone, UK's hopes of surviving past the first weekend of an NCAA tourney for the first time since 2005 depend on Patterson and Meeks being healthy.

2. A double Final Four?

Louisville has realistic aspirations for doing something that no Kentucky school has ever done: Put both its men's and women's basketball teams into the Final Four in the same year.

Rick Pitino talked forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams into turning down the pros for a shot to go one game further than last season's Elite Eight team.

Jeff Walz must find a point guard to go with a veteran and talented front line that returns intact from last season's sweet 16 squad.

1. Ballad of Billy G. II

Billy Gillispie's first year as Kentucky coach was a season like no other in the long, rich tale of UK basketball.

Early on, it was dominated by wild (and seemingly false) rumors about the coach's personal life and a stunning home-court loss to (insert throat-clearing sound) Gardner-Webb.

The second half was a tale of inspiration, as coach and team found common ground and an injury-depleted roster clawed its way into the NCAA tourney.

Year 2 of the Billy G. era almost has to be less dramatic.

An ever-impatient fan base will be watching closely to see if Gillispie has Kentucky on the right path to regaining its customary place among college basketball's elite.