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UK Basketball: Full speed ahead for Cats
By Keith Taylor/Sun Sports Editor
March 9, 2010

Kentucky coach John Calipari is ready for the next phase. Who can blame him?

Now that his first regular season as coach of the Wildcats is in the record books, the Calipari hopes his team can build on the success it achieved during a remarkable 29-2 campaign.

Among the list of achievements was a 44th Southeastern Conference championship and a perfect 18-0 record at Rupp Arena. Kentucky’s only losses were on the road at South Carolina and Tennessee.

No team with as much young talent since Michigan’s “Fab Five” in 1993 has captivated the collegiate basketball world like Calipari’s first squad, which has a starting lineup that features three freshmen.

John Wall is considered by many the best point guard in the nation, while DeMarcus Cousins has been the center of attention at times. Eric Bledsoe has proven he can take over at any given time, while Patrick Patterson and Darius Miller have responded like veteran players should, with leadership on and off the court.

Kentucky has been ranked in the Top 5 consistently throughout the regular season and even ranked No. 1 before the loss to the Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C. on Jan. 26. As great teams do, Kentucky recovered from the first setback with an eight-game winning streak before the loss to the Volunteers in Knoxville.

Again, the Wildcats didn’t fold after the setback to Tennessee and have won two straight heading onto the Southeastern Conference Tournament. That’s a good sign, even for a young team that has grown into one of the top teams in the nation.

This week, Calipari and the Cats will embark on a new mission and will step into the world of one-and-done after an appearance in the conference tournament.

Of course winning the SEC Tournament would be nice, but the driving force for Kentucky will be to make sure it secures one of four top seeds for the NCAA Tournament. Although the Kentucky and Kansas have a lock on the first two seeds, it’s better to make sure.

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