Let’s stop the charade we’ve been playing in college basketball for the past few years when it comes to the last home game of the season.
You know what I’m talking about — Senior Day.
The event that once celebrated the fact that college kids stayed four years, completed degrees and more all while playing in the same uniform is over.
It died with the infamous one-and-done rule. Yet every year, we dig the body out of the grave and parade it around for a few weeks in late February and early March.
Why?
Don’t get me wrong, UK seniors Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson and Mark Krebs deserve recognition. Harris and Stevenson have seen two coaching changes and a program in shambles, so they deserve a framed jersey and anything else UK can afford to give them.
Krebs made the transition from walk-on to scholarship player. Please give him something, too.
But the guy who will probably be cheered the most isn’t a senior. Yes, he’s graduating with a degree, but he did it in three years. That’s incredible, without a doubt.
But Patrick Patterson is not a senior. He has not worn a UK uniform for four years. His three years of service on and off the court are of role model quality, but his tenure doesn’t fit the name of the event.
And on a side note, if you think freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins don’t deserve the same treatment as the aforementioned, you’re crazy. Those two have done more in one year for this program than anyone else in recent memory.
So, here’s a suggestion for Senior Day: change the name.
Call it something generic like Player Appreciation Day, Meet the Cats, UK Family Appreciation Day, etc.
Obviously, you don’t want to honor a transferring player. But let’s celebrate whoever is leaving UK for positive reasons, such as graduating in three years, using up all four years of eligibility or being two of the best freshmen UK has ever seen as they leave after one year for the NBA.
Does it ruin the purity of Senior Day? Of course. But it’s already been ruined. College basketball isn’t a four-year sport anymore because the best players leave after one or two years. In fact, Patterson’s three-year wait for a player of his caliber is almost as surprising as having three seniors on a top-three team.
The goal here is simple: let everyone have fun. Wall’s mother has earned the same right to be honored as Tywanna Patterson and the parents of the three seniors when it comes to seeing their sons recognized for great accomplishments.
So, let’s cut the charades. Celebrate everyone who has put the Cats back at the top of the Southeastern Conference and the college basketball world.
Everyone’s contributions should be showcased for the world to see. Just because one particular player doesn’t need four years at UK to develop his game doesn’t mean he should be ignored.
The guessing game’s over. Senior Day should be, too.
Kenny Colston is a journalism senior. E-mail kcolston@kykernel. com.
I couldn’t disagree more. UK should keep Senior Day and publicly acknowledge and celebrate those kids that put in 4 years of hard work whether they were stars or not. This day isn’t about the most valuable players or those that are necessarily the most talented or those that brought the most media coverage to the university. It’s a day that should be reserved for those kids that perservered and gave everything that they had for 4 years to the basketball program and to the university. It’s a reward of special recognition and distinction that should be reserved for seniors and seniors only.
Senior Day should be for Seniors only! That is what it should always be. There was a time when the jersey meant something. Now many times it is just an end to a means. UK and other schools are not a NBA development league, so if I kid is gifted enough to leave early for the NBA great, but we should never honor them over seniors. The basketball program at UK is much bigger than any one player.
Changing Senior Day to include anyone other than 4 year players is unacceptable.
If someone has enough hours to graduate aren’t they a senior, regardless of the years they put in? I was a sophomore after 1 semester, a junior after a year and a half and a senior after two and a half years. I roomed with two women. One was a five year senior and one was a three year senior. I was in between. I think Senior Day should be for graduating players of however many years. If you want to have another day to celebrate the others that are leaving that’s great. Is there any guarantee that one-and-done players are really done? Have they already signed their professional contracts? Is there a possibility that a non-graduating player could be planning to leave, be honored on “Senior Day”, and then change his mind and return in the fall?
I agree with the other comments. You are wrong and are completely disrespecting the hard work of the UK Basketball seniors. Senior Day is a day to honor the graduating players, not on-the-court talent.
I, personally, would like to see a public apology to those senior players who you so blatantly disrespected.
The athletic dept calls “seniors” those that are in their last year of eligibilty. If you go to ANY UK web page with the basketball roster, Patrick is a “JR.” Over the years, athletic “seniors” have included players barely academically eligible and also graduate students already with a UK diploma and in masters/law/MBA classes. All those redshirts on the football team aren’t listed by their academic year (often, one ahead of their eligibility). They are listed by how many years of eligiblity they have left. If Patrick is a “senior” now, what do you call him next year if he comes back?
It is inappropriate to start mixing the uses-it doesn’t work. SR day at basketball games should be for those athletes that are completing their eligibility at UK. Let those that leave early have a post game event like we have done in the past. Let those that are leaving the UK team b/c they HAVE TO have SR day events to themselves.
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At every game, on t-shirts, billboards, all over the place we brag that we have “The Greatest Tradition in College Basketball”. If we drop Senior Day our tradition is minimized.
I think PPat should be honored because he is a Senior. I think Michael Porter should also be honored this year because he graduated last year and didn’t get honored. He took one for the team and deserves all the gratitude we can throw his way.
Eventually Senior Day will be discontinued under Coach Cal. Coach Cal attracts such great talent that all of his players will be one and done to the NBA. With none of the players staying around to graduate, Senior Day becomes obselete. See ya at the final four, and this final four will count for Coach Cal on the books.
I think you, Kenny Colston, are a freaking idiot. You just disrespected everything Perry, Ramon, and Mark have done for the team. While I am proud of what John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins have done for the program, they shouldn’t get the same treatment as the other 3. However, we can’t forget about PPat. Patterson should be honored as well because he is graduating. Its a hot topic, but the way you went at is was disrespectful. I second UK Senior in calling for an apology.
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