Oak Hill star says he has work to do before thinking about jump to NBA
Here's a bulletin for you: Kentucky has a plan for making its roster fit within NCAA recruiting limits.
So says Doug Bibby, an assistant coach at Ballard High and a guiding light for UK recruit Rajon Rondo. In a confident tone, Bibby said Rondo would have a scholarship no matter how UK made its nine new players over a two-year period fit under the NCAA limit of eight.
"I'm pretty sure he's OK," Bibby said of Rondo. "That's what they said."
Asked if that meant UK had a plan in mind to meet NCAA recruiting limits, Bibby said, "I think so" before quickly adding, "I haven't been told the plan."
Speculation has included recruit Adam Williams going to a prep school for a year (scoffed at by UK Coach Tubby Smith) or a recruit not becoming academically eligible (all say they're on track).
There also has been speculation Rondo, whose stock has rocketed in the last year, would go directly from Oak Hill Academy to the NBA this spring.
"Not a possibility at all," Bibby said. "(The NBA) is a whole different monster. I know with my cousin (Mike Bibby) leaving after his second year. The big thing is body frame."
Rondo, who starred in Oak Hill's victory over Ballard on Thursday night, echoed Bibby's appraisal. No jump to the NBA this spring.
"I'm not thinking of that right now," he said. "I have to get my weight up and get a more consistent jump shot."
His jump shot skills had atrophied because of neglect, the ultra-quick (Cat quick?) Rondo said.
"I can get to the hole any time I want to," he said. "I rely on that. I feel no one can check."
Rondo, who cited Allen Iverson as a role-model player, acknowledged that he'll need a jump shot on the college and NBA levels. Fortunately for UK (or maybe not so fortunately), he intends to work diligently on his jumper. The faster he improves, the sooner he may leave for the NBA.
"I think someday soon he will be a lottery pick," Bibby said.
UK fans can expect Rondo will evaluate his draft status after his freshman year. Then, if necessary, after his sophomore year and after his junior year.
"Exactly," Bibby said. "That's what you have to do. For a pro athlete, the window of opportunity can open and close so quickly. If you get that opportunity and get a guarantee, you've got to take it."
Misery loves company
Here's the making of a parlor game or barroom discussion: Which former UK basketball figure is more miserable right now:
• Billy Donovan, whose Florida team had lost four of its last five games going to Mississippi last night? The Gators' hope for a late-season revival took a blow last week when potential star Christian Drejer abruptly left the team for a pro contract in Europe.
With a trip to Kentucky, plus home games against South Carolina and Georgia still ahead, Florida flirts with making dubious history. Since the field expanded to 64 teams, no team has been ranked No. 1 during a season and not made the NCAA Tournament without sanctions for cheating being the reason.
• John Pelphrey, Donovan's assistant at Florida before becoming head coach at South Alabama this season? An eight-game losing streak going into this weekend had dropped South Alabama to last place in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division.
Pelphrey inherited four starters and eight players overall from a 14-14 team. But the lone departing player was a four-year starter at point guard.
Help may be on the way as rebuilding takes on a long-term look. Two transfers -- shooting guard Stephen Cowherd from Mississippi State and point guard Jeffery Collins from UAB -- become eligible next season.
That's shoe business
Indiana's star recruit, forward Josh Smith, is also thinking of going directly from Oak Hill Academy to the NBA.
Oak Hill Coach Steve Smith said it was "50-50" that the player would go to Indiana. Well, maybe 60-40 or 70-30 (or 100-0?).
"He's probably leaning one way more than the other, in my opinion," the Oak Hill coach said with a knowing smile on his face. "I won't say which."
When reporters stopped laughing, Steve Smith said the player had to consider turning pro. "He's got people coming at him like shoe companies," the Oak Hill coach said. "He's an athletic player and that's who (companies) like. A guy like him, they'll line up. So he'll have not only an NBA contract, but he'll have a shoe contract.
"Guys like Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) are begging for money from shoe companies. (But shoe companies) like high fliers. High fliers are going to sell shoes. Josh knows that."
Lofton among guests
Several guest stars attended the Kentucky-Arkansas game: Stock car racing's Darrell Waltrip and Michael Waltrip, country star Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn and UK football signee Lonnell DeWalt of Warren Central High were at the game.
So was Chris Lofton, the favorite to win the Mr. Basketball, and his coach at Mason County High, Kelly Wells.
Lofton and Wells were guests of ... Arkansas.
The Razorbacks are recruiting Lofton. Other schools on his list are Louisville, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Ohio U., Illinois, Valparaiso, Arkansas State, Western Kentucky, DePaul and Marquette.
If Louisville, which has renewed its interest, offers a scholarship, Lofton will most likely end this recruiting saga and accept.
Thank-you note
Gary Riddell, a physical education teacher and coach in Eugene, Ore., came to the area recently to visit his ailing stepfather, Tommy Husband. Husband, 86, is fighting heart disease and diabetes. His doctor encouraged him to make the most of his remaining time.
Toward that end, Riddell took Husband to the UK-Alabama game. Husband played for former UK All-American Forrest "Aggie" Sale at Kavanaugh military prep school.
Last week, Riddell asked to have a thank-you note published. That note included:
" ... Thank you Dr. Andrew Bustin for the professional wisdom to encourage Tommy to do the things he likes and wants to do. Thank you retired UK professors Ray and Jackie Betts (my mentors) for offering their lower-arena tickets without hesitation. Thank you Bill Keightley, 'Mr Wildcat,' who took the time to visit with Tommy before the game (Mr. Keightley also attended Kavanaugh military prep school and is a friend of Tommy's).
" ... Thank you Rupp Arena ushers and security staff for being extra polite and making sure Tommy was comfortable. Thank you Coach Tubby Smith and all of the spectacular 2003-2004 Kentucky Wildcat basketball players. Thank you Kentucky Basketball!"
Sign of the times
Does anyone still doubt that college basketball has fundamentally changed? That it's harder than ever for Kentucky to be Kentucky.
Further evidence came in the last two weeks when six teams in The Associated Press top 11 lost, five to unranked opponents.
The ever milder upset victories by unranked teams included Notre Dame over UConn, Iowa State over Texas, Seton Hall over Pittsburgh, Charlotte over Louisville and Georgia over Kentucky.
The other highly ranked team to lose was Duke, to N.C. State.
This leads Jim O'Connell, the longtime college basketball editor of The Associated Press, to a conclusion about Selection Sunday.
"There's going to be a bunch of teams that people say, 'They don't deserve to be in it,' " he said. "But this year they do."
'PTPer'
Ebullient commentator Dick Vitale may soon be known as a Hall of Famer. He is a finalist for induction this year in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game.
Such coaches as Rick Pitino, Bob Knight, Jim Calhoun and John Chaney have voiced support for Vitale's induction.
"No one has either promoted or been better for college basketball in the last 25 years than Dick Vitale," Knight said in a news release.
Happy birthday
To Phil Argento. The former UK guard in the Dan Issel era turns 57 today.
Argento lives in his native northeast Ohio, where he works as a real-estate agent and coaches boys' basketball at Lutheran West High School in Cleveland.
One of his players might link Argento with UK again. The player is Richard Semrau, a 6-9 sophomore center who averages 24 points and 13 rebounds.
UK and other elite schools don't know about Semrau. "They will by this summer," Argento said. Semrau plans to play in a Nike-sponsored event for underclassmen in St. Louis in June.
In addition to a happy birthday, congratulations are in order, too. Argento's daughter Holly gave birth to a son, Cody, Argento's seventh grandchild.
Argento's son, Phil, finished up a career at Mount Vernon Nazarene last spring as one of the NAIA's best three-point shooters. Already Ohio high school's most prolific three-point shooter, he made 465 treys (out of 1,134 shots, 41 percent accuracy) as a college player. That's the sixth-highest total for a player on any college level.
The younger Argento is now pursuing a pro contract in Italy.
When asked what he remembered about playing for UK, the elder Argento answered quickly.
"The fans," he said. "The complete, utter, absolute nuts that they are. Playing for Adolph Rupp was not fun. But the fans made the place. I don't care who coaches there. You could bring in Donald Duck, but the fans will make the place what it is."
http://www.kentucky.com
Here's a bulletin for you: Kentucky has a plan for making its roster fit within NCAA recruiting limits.
So says Doug Bibby, an assistant coach at Ballard High and a guiding light for UK recruit Rajon Rondo. In a confident tone, Bibby said Rondo would have a scholarship no matter how UK made its nine new players over a two-year period fit under the NCAA limit of eight.
"I'm pretty sure he's OK," Bibby said of Rondo. "That's what they said."
Asked if that meant UK had a plan in mind to meet NCAA recruiting limits, Bibby said, "I think so" before quickly adding, "I haven't been told the plan."
Speculation has included recruit Adam Williams going to a prep school for a year (scoffed at by UK Coach Tubby Smith) or a recruit not becoming academically eligible (all say they're on track).
There also has been speculation Rondo, whose stock has rocketed in the last year, would go directly from Oak Hill Academy to the NBA this spring.
"Not a possibility at all," Bibby said. "(The NBA) is a whole different monster. I know with my cousin (Mike Bibby) leaving after his second year. The big thing is body frame."
Rondo, who starred in Oak Hill's victory over Ballard on Thursday night, echoed Bibby's appraisal. No jump to the NBA this spring.
"I'm not thinking of that right now," he said. "I have to get my weight up and get a more consistent jump shot."
His jump shot skills had atrophied because of neglect, the ultra-quick (Cat quick?) Rondo said.
"I can get to the hole any time I want to," he said. "I rely on that. I feel no one can check."
Rondo, who cited Allen Iverson as a role-model player, acknowledged that he'll need a jump shot on the college and NBA levels. Fortunately for UK (or maybe not so fortunately), he intends to work diligently on his jumper. The faster he improves, the sooner he may leave for the NBA.
"I think someday soon he will be a lottery pick," Bibby said.
UK fans can expect Rondo will evaluate his draft status after his freshman year. Then, if necessary, after his sophomore year and after his junior year.
"Exactly," Bibby said. "That's what you have to do. For a pro athlete, the window of opportunity can open and close so quickly. If you get that opportunity and get a guarantee, you've got to take it."
Misery loves company
Here's the making of a parlor game or barroom discussion: Which former UK basketball figure is more miserable right now:
• Billy Donovan, whose Florida team had lost four of its last five games going to Mississippi last night? The Gators' hope for a late-season revival took a blow last week when potential star Christian Drejer abruptly left the team for a pro contract in Europe.
With a trip to Kentucky, plus home games against South Carolina and Georgia still ahead, Florida flirts with making dubious history. Since the field expanded to 64 teams, no team has been ranked No. 1 during a season and not made the NCAA Tournament without sanctions for cheating being the reason.
• John Pelphrey, Donovan's assistant at Florida before becoming head coach at South Alabama this season? An eight-game losing streak going into this weekend had dropped South Alabama to last place in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division.
Pelphrey inherited four starters and eight players overall from a 14-14 team. But the lone departing player was a four-year starter at point guard.
Help may be on the way as rebuilding takes on a long-term look. Two transfers -- shooting guard Stephen Cowherd from Mississippi State and point guard Jeffery Collins from UAB -- become eligible next season.
That's shoe business
Indiana's star recruit, forward Josh Smith, is also thinking of going directly from Oak Hill Academy to the NBA.
Oak Hill Coach Steve Smith said it was "50-50" that the player would go to Indiana. Well, maybe 60-40 or 70-30 (or 100-0?).
"He's probably leaning one way more than the other, in my opinion," the Oak Hill coach said with a knowing smile on his face. "I won't say which."
When reporters stopped laughing, Steve Smith said the player had to consider turning pro. "He's got people coming at him like shoe companies," the Oak Hill coach said. "He's an athletic player and that's who (companies) like. A guy like him, they'll line up. So he'll have not only an NBA contract, but he'll have a shoe contract.
"Guys like Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) are begging for money from shoe companies. (But shoe companies) like high fliers. High fliers are going to sell shoes. Josh knows that."
Lofton among guests
Several guest stars attended the Kentucky-Arkansas game: Stock car racing's Darrell Waltrip and Michael Waltrip, country star Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn and UK football signee Lonnell DeWalt of Warren Central High were at the game.
So was Chris Lofton, the favorite to win the Mr. Basketball, and his coach at Mason County High, Kelly Wells.
Lofton and Wells were guests of ... Arkansas.
The Razorbacks are recruiting Lofton. Other schools on his list are Louisville, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Ohio U., Illinois, Valparaiso, Arkansas State, Western Kentucky, DePaul and Marquette.
If Louisville, which has renewed its interest, offers a scholarship, Lofton will most likely end this recruiting saga and accept.
Thank-you note
Gary Riddell, a physical education teacher and coach in Eugene, Ore., came to the area recently to visit his ailing stepfather, Tommy Husband. Husband, 86, is fighting heart disease and diabetes. His doctor encouraged him to make the most of his remaining time.
Toward that end, Riddell took Husband to the UK-Alabama game. Husband played for former UK All-American Forrest "Aggie" Sale at Kavanaugh military prep school.
Last week, Riddell asked to have a thank-you note published. That note included:
" ... Thank you Dr. Andrew Bustin for the professional wisdom to encourage Tommy to do the things he likes and wants to do. Thank you retired UK professors Ray and Jackie Betts (my mentors) for offering their lower-arena tickets without hesitation. Thank you Bill Keightley, 'Mr Wildcat,' who took the time to visit with Tommy before the game (Mr. Keightley also attended Kavanaugh military prep school and is a friend of Tommy's).
" ... Thank you Rupp Arena ushers and security staff for being extra polite and making sure Tommy was comfortable. Thank you Coach Tubby Smith and all of the spectacular 2003-2004 Kentucky Wildcat basketball players. Thank you Kentucky Basketball!"
Sign of the times
Does anyone still doubt that college basketball has fundamentally changed? That it's harder than ever for Kentucky to be Kentucky.
Further evidence came in the last two weeks when six teams in The Associated Press top 11 lost, five to unranked opponents.
The ever milder upset victories by unranked teams included Notre Dame over UConn, Iowa State over Texas, Seton Hall over Pittsburgh, Charlotte over Louisville and Georgia over Kentucky.
The other highly ranked team to lose was Duke, to N.C. State.
This leads Jim O'Connell, the longtime college basketball editor of The Associated Press, to a conclusion about Selection Sunday.
"There's going to be a bunch of teams that people say, 'They don't deserve to be in it,' " he said. "But this year they do."
'PTPer'
Ebullient commentator Dick Vitale may soon be known as a Hall of Famer. He is a finalist for induction this year in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game.
Such coaches as Rick Pitino, Bob Knight, Jim Calhoun and John Chaney have voiced support for Vitale's induction.
"No one has either promoted or been better for college basketball in the last 25 years than Dick Vitale," Knight said in a news release.
Happy birthday
To Phil Argento. The former UK guard in the Dan Issel era turns 57 today.
Argento lives in his native northeast Ohio, where he works as a real-estate agent and coaches boys' basketball at Lutheran West High School in Cleveland.
One of his players might link Argento with UK again. The player is Richard Semrau, a 6-9 sophomore center who averages 24 points and 13 rebounds.
UK and other elite schools don't know about Semrau. "They will by this summer," Argento said. Semrau plans to play in a Nike-sponsored event for underclassmen in St. Louis in June.
In addition to a happy birthday, congratulations are in order, too. Argento's daughter Holly gave birth to a son, Cody, Argento's seventh grandchild.
Argento's son, Phil, finished up a career at Mount Vernon Nazarene last spring as one of the NAIA's best three-point shooters. Already Ohio high school's most prolific three-point shooter, he made 465 treys (out of 1,134 shots, 41 percent accuracy) as a college player. That's the sixth-highest total for a player on any college level.
The younger Argento is now pursuing a pro contract in Italy.
When asked what he remembered about playing for UK, the elder Argento answered quickly.
"The fans," he said. "The complete, utter, absolute nuts that they are. Playing for Adolph Rupp was not fun. But the fans made the place. I don't care who coaches there. You could bring in Donald Duck, but the fans will make the place what it is."
http://www.kentucky.com
