UK brings past into future

Kristin Sherrard

Kristin Sherrard

UK head coach Billy Gillispie has been described as a workaholic — a man that eats, sleeps and breathes basketball. After Friday’s Big Blue Madness, Gillispie may have earned a new moniker:

History buff.

As the Cats kicked off the upcoming season at Friday’s festivities, Gillispie’s squad made it clear that their focus is on the future — but not without several nods to the program’s history.

It didn’t take long for the nostalgia to make the fans feel at home. A four-minute video paid tribute to a familiar face: former equipment manager Bill Keightley, who died in March.

After the video, a permanent fixture on the court was dedicated in Keightley’s memory: A large white K with “Mr. Wildcat” underneath. The tribute was placed directly in front Keightley’s former seat on the bench.

Two prominent tributes to Keightley are featured on the Cats’ new uniforms. A black patch with “Mr. Wildcat” written in white script stretches across the right shoulder. Also, the “K” of Kentucky that stretches across the chest will be a white letter with black trim on the home white uniforms, and a blue letter with white trim on the away blue uniforms.

“Absolutely the most beautiful uniforms the University of Kentucky has ever had,” Keightley’s daughter, Karen Marlowe, said. “I know Daddy would be so proud and so honored you did this for him.”

During the dramatic player introductions, Gillispie’s entrance to the court included a reference familiar to Cats fans.

At last year’s Madness, Gillispie appeared at mid-court veiled behind four large white curtains stretched from the rafters to the floor. This year, the same four curtains fell and fans may have expected a similar grandiose introduction. However, the facade fell and Gillispie wasn’t there. Instead, he ran through the crowd from the concourse down to the floor.

If the energetic sequence to introduce this year’s Cats warmed up the fans, the informal scrimmage that followed cooled them down. The Cats struggled to score early: By the time junior forward Ramon Harris hit the first field goal of the scrimmage, more than three minutes had been played and several shots already missed.

Before the scrimmage, Gillispie acknowledged that nerves may play a part, especially for the newcomers.

“I would say they’re going to be very nervous,” he said. “They love being at Kentucky so far, and they’re just excited to get going.”

Despite the ragged play of UK’s veterans and newcomers, Gillispie wasn’t disheartened. To him, Madness wasn’t about fundamentals.

“It’s considered a practice, but there’s not a lot of fundamental stuff going on,” he said.

Even in the closing seconds of the scrimmage, Cats fans saw a familiar image from last season when sophomore forward Patrick Patterson put an exclamation point on the night with a powerful two-handed dunk.

As fans left Rupp Arena, the on-court images appeared rusty. Those images will soon be replaced when the Cats open their season on Nov. 3 with an exhibition game against Missouri-St. Louis. However, an image that was just off the court will remain embossed in the fans’ mind.

A large four-by-two, blue and white checkerboard sat in each end zone. The first seven quadrants of the checkerboard honored UK’s seven national championships, and the eighth square was blank. The same image is on the waistband of the Cats’ new uniforms.

If Gillispie’s second Madness as UK’s coach proved he knows a thing or two about the program’s history, he also made it clear that he is just as willing to write history as he is to learn about it.

“We have to fill in that last box,” he said.