xt7qbz616553 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qbz616553/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1987 Volume 12 -- Number 11 athletic publications  English Wildcat News Company Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Cats' Pause UKAW University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1987-1988) coaches Sutton, Eddie players University of Kentucky Football (1987) Claiborne, Jerry Pfeifer, Mike Higgs, Mark Bryant, Paul (Bear) statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  "November 21, 1987" text The Cats' Pause,  "November 21, 1987" 1987 2012 true xt7qbz616553 section xt7qbz616553 Prep Trio Of Kemp, Woods & Mills Signs With Kentucky
VOLUME 12 - NUMBER 11 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1987 LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
seventy-five cents per copy     University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
The Cats' Pause
"spotlighting university of kentucky and southeastern conference
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UK Signs Kemp, Mills & Woods;
Kentucky's Eddie Sutton and his hardworking staff continue to reel'em in, as last week Los Angeles Player of the Year Chris Mills announced and signed with the Wildcats.
Mills, a 6-foot-7 forward/guard, picked Kentucky over Indiana, UCLA and UNLV. He comes into his senior prep season with a 25.2 points per game average as a junior. His decision apparently was based on the reputation Sutton has of developing guards ala Sidney Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Dar-rell Walker to name a few.
"Chris has been an inside player in high school," said Mills' father, Claud Mills. "To complete the whole thing, he wanted to go where he could be taught the big guard spot. There's no one better than Coach Sutton to teach it."
Mills joins future teammates Shawn Kemp and Sean Woods, two Indiana players who had already given verbal commitments, who also made it official last week when they signed papers indicating that Kentucky was their No. 1 choice.
Last season the Wildcat staff landed what many recruiting experts believe was the nation's top crop. While this year's numbers may not be as large (last year UK landed seven recruits, only to eventually lose seven-footer Johnny Pittman), Sutton noted that he was very pleased with this year's group.
"This class is not as large," said Sutton, "but we've got back-to-back groups that can carry on the tradition of Kentucky basketball.
"We needed (this class) because we're losing five seniors."
Indeed, after this season the 'Cats will lose
In The Fold. . .		
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Shawn Kemp F-C 6-10 220 Chris Mills G-F 6-7 185 Sean Woods      PG    6-2 170	Ppg. 25.0 25.2 18.5	Hometown, High School Elkhart (Ind.) Concord Los Angeles (Calif.) Fairfax Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral
On The Fence.	. .	?
Don MacLean   SF-PF    6-10 210	26.2	Simi Valley (Calif.) High
five playersWinston Bennett. Ed Davender, Cedric Jenkins, Rob Lock and Richard Madison.
Of Mills, his high school coach Harvey Kitani mentioned that Mills has a "great understanding" of the way basketball is supposed to be played.
Unlike Kemp and Woods, Mills has already met Proposition 48 requirements.
? ? ?
With signing of Mills, the chances of UK landing 6-10 Californian Don MacLean are less likely, according to his high school coach.
"It's certainly a factor, no two ways about it," said Bob Hawking, head coach at Simi Valley High. "You don't have to be close to the situation to see that."
MacLean was scheduled to have a press conference on Nov. 18 to announce his deci-
MacLean may wait until the spring to make his decision.
Presently, he's considering UK. Pittsburgh, Nevada Las Vegas, Georgia Tech and UCLA (not necessarily in that order). As a junior he averaged 26.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per contest.
The Kentucky staff also is interested in Atlanta's Michael Boykin. Boykin, 6-8, has been quoted as saying he will wait until the spring signing period to announce his college choice.
Rumors around the Wildcat camp are that if MacLean were to sign with the Wildcats this winter then UK would have completed its recruiting for this year. When the 1988-89 season rolls around, the Wildcats will have only one senior, Mike Scott, on the roster. Thus, if the 'Cats sign four recruits this season, then they only have two scholarships available next season.
Chris Mills
Shawn Kemp
Sean Woods
Don MacLean J/aoem/mr-21 , ip&7
OSCAR L. COMBS
CATS' PAUSE EDITOR/PUBLISHER
UK Seniors To Go Out In Style With Win Over Vols
Four years ago this month, Mark Higgs surveyed the college football situation during the process of picking a school at which he would perform his running magic on the gridiron.
Some of the top names in the sport came calling. Recruiters from Notre Dame, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Alabama, LSU and Kentucky were there.
He first eliminated LSU. That left Kentucky in pretty high class for a gifted runner who figured he was just the man to turn a rebuilding program into a winner.
His criteria for choosing a school included four items: (a) stay close to home (perhaps that was as far as he ever got) (b) go to a school with a strong emphasis on academics as well as athletics (c) prefer a team where the coach is noted more for running than passing (d) where he will have the opportunity to play by at least his sophomore year.
Four years later, Higgs checks out of his Kentucky career Saturday when the Big Blue collides with Tennessee's Big Orange at Commonwealth Stadium.
It's been a bittersweet career at its best and worst.
There have been some phenomena] performances. There have been others he'd just as soon forget.
Just how great is Mark Higgs?
It'll bring you just as divided results as the Wildcats' record of the current season.
Unlike his freshman year when he blossomed onto the scene as Kentucky swept to a 9-3 record and a victory over Wisconsin in the Hall Of Fame Bowl, his swang song will be one in which Kentucky simply hopes to salvage some border pride in the annual battle for the Beer Barrel.
He never dreamed it would end this way.
Oh, he will probably become the record-holder for a single-season rushing title today as he goes after Sonny Collins' 1973 mark of 1,213 yards. Higgs has 1,141 yards going into the Tennessee game. But he certainly expected to see postseason bowl action again before he graduated from UK.
It didn't happen. Disappointing? You bet!
But not nearly as disappointing to him as many of the long-time suffering Big Blue fans. If anything, it's been another terribly disappointing tease for the die-hards who really have "believed" (with regrets to John Ray) all these years that Kentucky could compete in the powerful Southeastern Conference.
Higgs signalled the arrival of a new era. Oh, Jerry Claiborne had returned home the year before, but Higgs represented the bright new star in the first full year of Kentucky recruiting by Claiborne. Higgs' signature made a statement that Kentucky could, indeed, persudade the state's finest to stay home and play for Ole State U. Enlisting with Higgs that year from Kentucky were Henry Clay standout Chris Chenault and Madispnville star Joe Curry.
There were those who hailed the three ink-ings as a great sign for the future. Four years later, there are those who wonder what has gone wrong.
More or less, Kentucky has continued its mastery in recruiting the boundaries of Kentucky. There were three significant losses last season, but last year's recruiting losses should
not have an impact for at least another two years.
After those two back-to-back splashes in 1983 and 1984, Kentucky has struggled to stay around the .500 mark. In 1985, the mark stood at 5-5-1. Last season it was 5-6. For UK to avoid a similiar mark this season, it must upset bowl-bound Tennessee Saturday. It won't be easy.
The coaching staffs critics have been pouring out of the woodwork the past four weeks. I like the quote from one radio call-in listener to suggested that Lars Tate's touchdown in the Georgia game cost Kentucky S40 million.
The logic behind that statement was that everything with the Kentucky program was fine and would have continued on the upward swing if Tate had not scored and Kentucky had won. Now, many critics are claiming that UK needs to fire its coaches, build a 100,000 seat stadium, spend more money on football and less on basketball.
It's as though the loss to Georgia was the biggest upset of the century to some Big Blue fans. Actually, Kentucky was the heavy underdog.
The loss did, however, epitomize the frustation which has haunted the UK football program all the way back to the day Paul "Bear" Bryant left the Bluegrass for Texas A&M.
Kentucky's fans, for the most part, still cannot see the forest for the trees. Kentucky's football program is on par with many so-called football programs around the country, but not the Super Six of the SEC. They have not competed against those schools since Bryant's departure and they probably never will.
Not many schools do. Even when the Super Six is down, it's still a notch or so better than Kentucky at most times. This season is a case in point. Kentucky is 1-4 in the SEC this season. It has loss to three members (LSU, Georgia and Florida) of the Super Six. Most experts readily admit Georgia and Florida are down from their usual powerhouses.
When competing against SEC schools outside the Super Six and most other non-conference teams, the Wildcats have been pretty impressive. To be a part of the SEC, league Riles dictate a season of six league games (seven starting next year). Therein lies the Kentucky problem.
As long as Kentucky continues to play this murdereous SEC schedule, the Wildcats will continue to struggle for seventh place, and no higher, in the NFL-South.
When the Wildcat seniors are introduced at mid-field Saturday afternoon shortly before the 1:30 kick-off, there will be some real bittersweet memories for Higgs and his teammates. /
He'll remember those beautiful long runs, the roar of the Commonwealth Stadium crowd and the paump and glory which surrounds the Kentucky program.
He'll also remember that Kentucky never achieved what he and his fellow seniors set out to do four years ago. If there is any consolation for this group of seniors who really did give their all, it is that they'll join a long list of alumni who have experienced the same heartaches the past 35 years. Thanks fellas. You gave it your all. My only
wish is that the people who control UK's sports destiny would have given you a fighting chance by allowing you to compete in a league of equal weapons. You truly have been fighting a raging war with cap pistols.
? ? ?
Kentucky's 27-14 loss to Florida was another day of frustration for the 'Cats, but nothing like those suffered at Georgia and Vanderbilt.
Perhaps the opening kickoff returned for a touchdown by Florida helped eased the pain because it was clear that it would be a long afternoon for the Wildcats.
Give the 'Cats credit, though, because they didn't quit. Behind Glenn Fohr, UK staged a mini-comeback and made the game respectable. There are some who say the second half points were meaningless, but I disagree.
I remember two years ago on this very same Commonwealth Stadium turf when the 'Cats completely folded their tent and actually quit on Claiborne.
Which brings to mind today's game against the Vols.
Neither team really has a great deal to lose.
Tennessee is assured of a bowl bid and Kentucky is assured of staying home for the holidays. So it comes down to a matter of pride.
Kentucky has been an impressive team at home this season and the Big Orange has been proven beatable several times this fall when away from the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium.
It was 1981 when Johnny Majors brought a Tennessee team to Commonwealth Stadium for Kentucky's annual season finale. It was not secret that it would be Fran Curci's last game as Kentucky's head football coach.
As the story goes, Curci met his friend, Majors, at midfield during the routine pregame chat and calmly predicted that he (Curci) was going to beat the south part of the earth out of the Vols that day.
Kentucky promptly thumped the Vols 21-10 that afternoon and Curci walked off the field a proud man.
This isn't to suggest that this will be Jerry Claiborne's last march on the turf. But a win would certainly quieten some of the evergrowing critics.
A victory would also allow seniors like Higgs, Kevin Dooley, Dermonti Dawson, Tim Jones, Jeff Kremer, Jerry Reese and Butch Wilburn, among others, the opportunity to go out with their heads held high.
Kentucky by three, on a field goal by a senior by the name of Joey Worley with no time left on the clock. How's that for a finish?
? ? ?
The annual SEC Basketball Media Days provided an appropriate tipoff to the college basketball season and if last week's session in Atlanta is any indication, it's going to be a great one in the South.
Kentucky, Florida and Georgia are heavy favorites to finish in that order during the regular season.
If enthusiasm and optimism are accurate barometers, you can count out only Mississippi and Mississippi State from the
league race.
Most experts believe LSU and Auburn have outside shots at the title with Alabama playing the spoiler's role and a definite threat to battle it out with Vanderbilt and Tennessee for sixth place.
Named to the preseason All-SEC team were Kentucky's Rex Chapman, Tennessee's Dyron Nix, Vanderbilt's Will Perdue, Florida's Vernon Maxwell and Georgia's Willie Anderson.
? ? ?
Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton is pushing his Wildcats daily to get them ready for the upcoming season, but his best accomplishment last week was the signing of California superstar Chris Mills to a national letter of intent.
Several big-time recruiting experts had been predicting since a year ago that Mills would ink with UNLV. All that time, UK assistant Dwane Casey insisted Mills was wide-open, but if he did not come to Kentucky, it would be someone other than UNLV. Looks like Mr. Casey knew what he was talking about.
Kentucky also inked Shawn Kemp and Sean Woods, the Indiana connection from Elkhart and Indianapolis, respectively.
The Wildcats were still hoping to sign one more player, most notably Don MacLean out of the Los Angeles area.
Looks like the Kentucky stockpile is bubbling to the rim once again.
? ? ?
HITS AND MISSES . . . Former Kentucky assistant Charlie McCullers attended the Kentucky-Florida game in Gainesville Saturday. McCullers, who coached at UK during the Curci era, says the big problem with UK is just like it has always been, UK doesn't have the speed and depth of teams like Florida and other top powers in the SEC . . . The Wildcats are 5-0 at home this season and 0-5 on the road. On the other hand, Tennessee is undefeated in six games at home and is 1-2 on the road, having won at Mississippi State . . . During an impromptu press conference in Atlanta last Wednesday during the, SEC media days, Eddie Sutton talked on various topics and again said he would try to recruit the state's top-rated basketball player next season in junior Allan Houston of Louisville Ballard. He is the son of UL assistant Wade Houston. "We may not even get through the front door," said Sutton, "but he is a great player and a great person and we're certainly going to try to recruit him." . . . Some reporters in Atlanta suggest that the elder Houston might become a top candidate for the Tennessee head job if Don DeVoe doesn't turn his program around this winter. Speaking of DeVoe, the UT head boss and LSU coach Dale Brown traded barbs during the media event. DeVoe suggested that the hiring of a recruit's high school coach is unethical and unprofessional. Brown snapped back, "I think divorce is unethical and unprofessional.. ." DeVoe went through a divorce a few years ago . . . It'll be interesting to see
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KENTUCKY OFFENSE	KENTUCKY DEFENSE
Split End	Left End
17 Tim Jones	6 Tony Massey
21 Jimmie O'Neal	98 Carwell Gardner
81 Jim Wetta	30 Tony Zigman
80 Phil Logan	84 Billy Swanson
Lett Tackle	Left Tackle
75 Mike Pfeifer	79 Oliver Barnett
76 Mike Nord	96 Donnie Gardner
77 Mike Jones	70 Tom Howard
Left Guard	Left Guard
73 Butch Witburn	91 John Shannon
68 Tony Mills	97 Scott Stubbs
66 Brian Denham	99 Doug Houser
Center	Right Guard
71 Brad Myers	92 Vic Adams
56 Jim Hill	55 Scott Endris
67 Brian Cralle	95 Mike Meiners
Right Guard	Right Tackle
57 Dermontti Dawson	54 Jerry Reese
61 Bill Hulette	93 Gary Ralston
74 Dean Wilks	
	Right End
Right Tackle	36 Jay Dortch
60 Greg Kunkel	30 Tony Zigman
78 Tony Nash	42 Paul McDowell
69 Tom Crumrine	31 Mike Robinson
Tight End	Left Linebacker
88 Charlie Darrington	45 Chris Chenault
87 Martin Pennington	46 Steve Kelley
86 Bryan McKenzie	94 Carlos Phillips
83 Mike Meece	
	Right Linebacker
Quarterback	53 Jeff Kremer
18 Kevin Dooley	40 Randy Holleran
4 Glenn Fbhr	47 Jay Amshoff
12 Bill Allen	39 Jeff Brady
14 Chuck Broughton	
	Left Cornerback
Fullback	24 David Johnson
35 Andy Murray	25 Jay Chabrak
29 Darren Bilberry	34 Todd Meyer
31 David Scott	
Tailback	Right Cornerback
22 Mark Higgs	8 Ron Mack
32 Ivy Joe Hunter	44 Chris Tolbert
5 Al Baker	37 Todd Allgeier
Flanker	Free Safety
19 Dee Smith	26 Ron Robinson
28 Ray Gover	11 Mark Sellers
82 John Bolden	27 Gary Willis
Kicker	Punter
15 Joe Worley	16 Jay Tesar
9 Ken Willis	1 Jeff Nelson
TENNESSEE OFFENSE
Tight End
3 Nate Middlebrooks 85 John Rollins
Left Tackle
67 Kevin Simons
68 Joey Howard
Left Guard
76 Harry Galbreath 73 Doug Baird
Center
66 Todd Kirk
78 Antone Davis
Right Guard
75 John Bruhin 60 Robbin Perry
Right Tackle
79 Eric Still 63 Phil Stuart
Split End
5 Thomas Woods 7 Anthony Miller
Quarterback
16 Sterling Henton 12 Randy Sanders
Wingback
4 Terence Cleveland 81 Alvin Harper
Tailback
34 Reggie Cobb 28 Keith Davis
Fullback
32 Charles Wilson
35 William Howard
Placekicker
17 Phil Reich
27 Dirk Borgognone
TENNESSEE DEFENSE
Depth Chart
Kentucky Offense
Kentucky Defense
Right Cornerback
Safety
Left Cotneiback
Right Linebacker
Left Llnebacket
Right l.nd
Right Guatd       Left Guard
Rtgh! Tackle
t ell Tackle
Tennessee Offense
Tennessee Defense
Left Outside Linebacker
44 Mike Kelley 55 Bryan Kimbro
Right Tackle
59 Mark Hovanic 93 David Johnson
Middle Guard
74 Brian Hunt 70 Charles McRae
Left Tackle
90 Marion Hobby 77 Richard Cooper
Right Outside Linebacker |
45 Darrin Miller 88 Tracy Hayworth
Left Inside Linebacker
49 Kelly Ziegler 48 David Walker
Right Inside Linebacker
33 Keith DeLong
82 Charles Kimbrough
Left Cornerback
86 Terry McDaniel 21 Preston Warren
Right Cornerback
8 Victor Peppers 25 Jeremy Lincoln
Strong Safety
30 Cedric Kline 1 Andre Creamer
Free Safety
39 Kelly Days 6 Tony Nelson
Punter
41 Bob Garmon 15 Kent Elmore
Fullback
Placekicker
Quarterback
Tight End Right Guard
Right Tackle
Lett Guard
Split End
Strong Salclv Free Safety
1       l Diner hack
Right Cornerback
Ntfie Guard
Defensive, find
Right Tackle
Lett Tackle
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS Jfiwem6er 21, 1J/$7
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