Bring home the bacon : Former Wildcat Pelphrey leads Hogs into old stomping grounds
Posted on Saturday, February 23, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. - If Kentucky's newest coach says today at Rupp Arena what the Kentucky coach said there in 1992, then John Pelphrey will happily exit his old Kentucky home.
Arkansas first-year coach Pelphrey, the former Kentucky Wildcat from Paintsville, Ky., and a Kentucky Hall of Famer, brings his Razorbacks (18-7, 7-4 ) into Lexington, Ky., for today's 1 p.m. CBS-televised clash with first-year coach Billy Gillispie's Wildcats (14-10, 8-3 ).
Today marks the first Arkansas-Kentucky meeting for Pelphrey since 1992. Pelphrey was a senior for Rick Pitino's Wildcats when Nolan Richardson's Lee Mayberry, Todd Day and Oliver Miller led Razorbacks, in their first-ever SEC season, won a 105-88 rout at Rupp Arena.
"I remember," Pelphrey said," Coach Pitino in the press conference said, ' Give Arkansas the credit. They are better than us right now. '"
In their annual game always either in Lexington or Fayetteville, no Razorback has ever heard similar sentiments expressed at Rupp since Richardson's 1994 national championship team led by Corliss Williams, Scotty Thurman and Corey Beck prevailed, 90-82.
It's Pelphrey's ambition to foment the kind of respect for Arkansas now that Kentucky bore then for Richardson's Razorbacks when they moved as reigning Southwest Conference champions to the SEC.
Seems Pelphrey might be getting there, given the props Gillispie bestows upon him.
"We really look forward to playing one of the most talented teams in the country and most experienced team in our conference," Gillispie said. "Coach Pelphrey was a fantastic player here, and it's been fun to watch his escalation as a college coach. He did a great job with his first stop at South Alabama and has done a fantastic job at Arkansas in his first year."
Pelphrey lobbed a bouquet back Gillispie's way. He noted the Wildcats have gone from the injuryplagued team adjusting to a new coach in early season home losses to Gardner-Webb and San Diego to a team 5-0 in the SEC home, including over national No. 2 Tennessee.
"Quite possibly the most difficult place in the SEC to play," Pelphrey said of Rupp Arena. "A great homecourt. They have good players, good coaching. It's a huge, huge challenge for our basketball team."
They might as well intersect in compliments because their career paths began intertwining last March when Arkansas dismissed coach Stan Heath, now at South Florida, and then Tubby Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota.
A visible Arkansas basketball booster championed Texas A & M coach Gillispie to replace Heath, but Gillispie became impossible for Arkansas to find when Kentucky started looking for a new head Cat. He took the Kentucky job without ever officially speaking to Arkansas.
South Alabama coach Pelphrey, championed for the Kentucky vacancy by some UK alums, got Arkansas on the rebound from Creighton coach Dana Altman's oneday Razorback stay before Altman boomeranged back to Creighton.
Given Kentucky's annual championship expectations, it seems a smoother ride thus far for Pelphrey in Fayetteville than Gillispie's gig in Lexington.
However their fortunes, both come rising into Rupp. Arkansas only trails West leader Mississippi State by a game, while Kentucky has won seven of its last eight.
Arkansas sizzled offensively and played well defensively in last Wednesday's 87-61 rout of LSU at Walton Arena. However, the Razorbacks' road map, Pelphrey admits, too often finds Arkansas lost.
"The reality is we have struggled in a lot of places," Pelphrey said of the Hogs'drought at Rupp. "Take your pick."
Pelphrey deems Rupp all the more difficult because Gillispie counts on the best of old and new, senior guards Joe Crawford and Jamel Bradley averaging 17. 7 and 17. 1 points in SEC games, and one of the SEC's premier freshmen, 6-8 Pat Patterson, 16. 5 points and 7. 3 rebounds in league games.
Gillispie eyes Arkansas as having the league's biggest, most experienced frontcourt and Patrick Beverley and Sonny Weems starring on the perimeter with senior Gary Ervin suddenly surging on the point.
"We have to play our best game of the year," Gillispie said. "They have so many ways they can beat you because they have really good players inside and really good players on the perimeter."
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