It was laughed at, ridiculed and wasn’t well-represented in the NCAA Tournament.
In the eyes of many college basketball analysts, the Southeastern Conference was just plain bad last season.
However, UK’s players won’t all agree with that sentiment. They said it was underrated, pointing to the star players on various teams like Jarvis Varnado at Mississippi State and Tasmin Mitchell at Louisiana State.
The lack of respect from across the country in 2009 is starting to turn around, and players and coaches are starting to get recognized by the people that follow the sport closely.
“It’s amazing,†junior forward Patrick Patterson said. “I was listening to all the critics from these past two years and how they say the SEC is down and all of a sudden they say the SEC is up and probably one of the best conferences this year. It’s just great for everybody here.â€
Last season the SEC sent a mere three teams to the Big Dance. LSU, a No. 8 seed, was the only team to advance past the first round. The Tigers lost in the second round to eventual national champion North Carolina.
The SEC had three teams with recruiting classes ranked inside the top 25, according to Rivals.com, including UK’s No. 1 class. Though currently under investigation by the NCAA to determine his eligibility, Mississippi State recruit Renardo Sidney is expected to contribute immediately. Kenny Boynton at Florida, John Jenkins at Vanderbilt and Reginald Buckner at Ole Miss are also all ranked inside the top 30, in addition to UK’s four recruits in the top 30.
“I look at Tennessee and they still have all the great players, from Scotty (Hopson) to Tyler (Smith) and (Wayne) Chism,†Patterson said. “They still have all the great players and Florida as well with the new personnel they have coming in, they still have Alex Tyus there. So I’m just tremendously happy that all these great teams are being recognized like they should.â€
In 2006, the SEC had two schools make the Final Four, and Florida won it all in 2006 and 2007. Since then, Tennessee is the only team to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. In that same two-year span, eight Big East teams have gone to at least the Sweet Sixteen.
With the additions of young head coaches like Anthony Grant at Alabama and Mark Fox at Georgia, more optimism arises. Grant and Fox both excelled at smaller schools in Virginia Commonwealth and Nevada, respectively, and made the NCAA Tournament almost routinely.
The addition of new coaches and high-profile recruits has the players excited for a rebirth of SEC basketball.
“The SEC is definitely becoming one of the best conferences in the country,†said senior guard Ramon Harris. “A lot of people talk about the Big East and stuff like that, but I think the SEC, even through the last couple years, has really been a solid conference … A lot of top-scale recruits are coming to the SEC teams and it’s only going to make the competition better.â€
See more from the Kernel’s 2009 Basketball Preview:
Degree, NCAA tournament keep Patterson from NBA
Recruits aim to revive program
New coach gives sophomore a second chance at UK
The third time’s the charm: Harris, Stevenson cope with third coach in four years
UK Hoops looks to avoid injuries
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