Thursday, August 28, 2008
Living in southwest Kentucky puts many local children several hours away from Rupp Arena, but on Wednesday evening University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie and his players brought Wildcat basketball to Don Parson Court.
For many of the children it was their first experience being so close to Gillispie and his staff.
Madisonville-North Hopkins boys’ varsity basketball coach Marty Cline said watching the kids react to Gillispie and the players’ presence reminds him of his youth.
“This is how Kentucky basketball, in my opinion, when I was growing up was meant to be,” he said. “Kids this age fall in love with the Wildcats and they go with them the rest of their life. That’s how it was when I was growing up.
“My son’s out here. He’s involved, he’s a Wildcat fan. He saw these guys coming in, I couldn’t get him away from them. He was tugging at me, ‘Can I meet coach? Can I meet coach?’ ”
Players Mark Krebs, Dwight Perry, Michael Porter and Perry Stevenson attended the camp, and each directed a separate station.
Gillispie said he would have liked to bring more players, but with classes beginning Wednesday at UK and the late return time, additional Wildcats were inhibited from making the trip south.
Stevenson, a junior, will enter the 2008-09 season as one of seven returning letterman, and the Madisonville camp was his first stop in the series.
The trip allows the players to have direct
contact with some of the program’s greatest fans, Stevenson said.
“It’s great because (they’re) everywhere in Rupp Arena,” he said. “That’s most of the fans in the game, the kids and their parents. It’s just great to be around.”
When the players entered the gym Wednesday, the kids’ eyes lit up, but besides meeting the Wildcats, the children take the players’ words to heart, maybe even more so than their regular basketball coaches.
Cline said with players like Stevenson instructing the kids, the youngsters do not have a hard time focusing.
“That’s a big thing as far as having credibility, so instantly they’re paying attention,” he said. “They’re listening, they’re trying to learn because they see these guys doing these things on TV. “
In addition to instructing the youth on mechanics of the game, Stevenson, a Lafayette (La.) native, said he tries to impart a bigger message: do well in school.
“School is important because you can play collegiate basketball, but you need to be in school to play, so that’s the most important,” he said.
Gillispie said that message is exactly why his staff tries to get the “complete individual,” players motivated to succeed in academics, basketball and take a leadership role, “especially at a basketball place like Kentucky where basketball means so much to so many, and so we always want them to be great role models for others.”
One such player the program can look forward to for 2009-10 is North’s Jon Hood, who orally committed to UK in May.
Although NCAA guidelines bind Gillispie from commenting on possible recruits, Stevenson said he has already formed a relationship with Hood.
“We hung out a bunch,” he said. “Jon’s a great guy. He’s going to be a great addition to the team.”
Wednesday’s stop in Madisonville marks the end of UK’s summer camp series, but Gillispie said he has plans to continue the trips next year.
“We’re going to do a ton of these in the future,” he said. “It gives a lot of people to get to know us a little bit in a different light, and we definitely get to know them in a different light, so we’re excited about it.”
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