Here is a list of days where Coach Gillispie and the UK basketball staff decided to take up from recruiting.

Now that I’ve gotten that tedious list out of the way, let me tell you about this new player for the Wildcats. His name is Jarvis Walker. Do not confuse him with the football recruit from Louisiana named Jarvis Walker He is from Chicago. He is a 6’4” shooting guard that was originally a *** recruit coming out of high school in 2005. He originally committed to Ole Miss, then reneged on that deal and supposedly committed to Louisville according to Scout. Does the name ring a bell? It should, because Jarvis Walker is the younger brother of former UK superstar Antoine Walker. How about them apples? Is that not a cool piece of news?

Walker was at last weekend’s open gym extravaganza. It was just that none of the people who went to the thing knew who he was. Now that the mystery player has been identified as Walker, it sounds like he’s definitely going to play this season, and he might even be a pretty good one. According to Jerry Tipton, he is just a candidate to be one of the walk-ons, but from the looks of things, he’ll play. Let’s take a look at the short-term ramifications first. Here is another player in the 6’4”-6’7” range that Coach Gillispie has to use at his disposal. By my count, Ramon Harris, Jodie Meeks, Kevin Galloway, Deandre Liggins, Darius Miller, Donald Williams and Jarvis Walker make SEVEN (7) guys of similar stature that can be used at various positions on the court. That is some serious length and depth that Coach can throw out there in various combinations. Length creates havoc on defense, which means turnovers and fast break opportunities. And if that wasn’t enough icing on the cake, how often do you get to have a *** recruit walk on for your team for two years?

The biggest feather in the cap with this situation is that this is Antoine Walker’s brother. Antoine was an absolute beast in his two years with the Wildcats, but I always got the impression that he was a lot like Tony Delk or Walter McCarty, in that he was more loyal to Rick Pitino than the school. Today, McCarty is an assistant coach at Louisville and Delk’s nephew Reginald will play for the Cards this season. I never saw Walker attending UK home games on TV, even though many of our NBA alumni have been able to make it since 1996. I’ve always felt like using former players is an excellent recruiting tool, and something that Tubby Smith never used to his advantage. Look at North Carolina, for example. It isn’t like Roy Williams needs a lot of help recruiting, but I’ve heard stories of Michael Jordan, James Worthy or that prick Vince Carter coincidentally being on campus when a stud recruit was making his visit. Is it possible that the signing of Jarvis Walker is an omen that things are beginning to turn in Kentucky’s favor in this department? NBA alumni are an outstanding resource.

This staff never stops recruiting. Between Walker, Donald Williams and Matthew Pilgrim, Coach Gillispie has signed three players since I started working for this site in June, and two of them will play in this upcoming season. That is tireless recruiting. That is the kind of recruiting the program needs to move back to it’s place among the modern day elite.

I’m Seth Stogsdill. Is it Madness time yet?

I could do a column on either of the two games UK had against Arkansas in 1995, but I don’t have the loss in Fayetteville on Super Bowl Sunday where Scotty Thurman pushed off to get open for the game winner. That was a great game despite the outcome, but this one was even better. The 1995 Wildcats were a dominant team, losing only four times during the season. Just imagine the 1996 team, subtract Ron Mercer, Wayne Turner and Derek Anderson, and add Rod Rhodes and my boy Andre Riddick. They were legit. The biggest weakness on this team was at point guard. Rick Pitino shuffled between Anthony Epps and Jeff Sheppard at point, but neither of the two sophomores was good enough to control the offense like Epps did in his next two years. Of course, Pitino wanted Tony Delk to play point guard, but you know how that worked. The fans always won that argument. Rhodes was inconsistent, much like he was during his entire career, but this was his best season despite the inconsistency. Antoine Walker emerged as a major player towards the end of the season and had his best game of the year (for the time being) in the SECT semifinal against Florida.

Arkansas returned the same team that won the national championship in 1994. The core of players was the same from my last WGCGA – Williamson, Thurman, Beck, McDaniel, Robinson, Stewart and Dillard. Because they were the defending champs, they got everybody’s best shot and then some. So whenever they lost, they usually got the dog beaten out of them. They were still one of the five best teams in the country despite the blowout losses. This epic SEC Tournament final was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, and it was the first time Kentucky faced Arkansas in the SEC Tournament where neither team had a distinct crowd advantage. UK had the advantage in Lexington in 1993, but Arkansas had the advantage the next year in Memphis. In Atlanta, the crowd was split down the middle, 15,000 for Kentucky and 15,000 for Arkansas. I think it’s the greatest conference tournament game ever, and that isn’t exclusively for the SEC either. Our announcers are Tom Hammond and Larry Conley, and they’re not cheering for Arkansas.

Sometimes you can tell right off the bat that a game will exceed the hype. On the first possession of the game, Andre Riddick drew a shooting foul. He is the worst FT shooter in the history of the game, and he nailed both. Can anybody say “Game on?” Kentucky opened in a 2-3 zone in an attempt to neutralize Williamson, but the Razorbacks burned the Cats with an open three by Clint McDaniel. Both teams played at the most blistering pace ever, like a Showtime Lakers game. On this day, the Hogs seemed to play better at that pace, as the 40 Minutes of Hell began forcing some turnovers. The Arkansas guards flopped like Argentineans, drawing charges left and right. A three by Thurman made it 13-9 – not a big deal, but it was about to get way worse.

After the TV timeout, the Razorbacks went on a huge run. Beck stole a rebound from Walter McCarty and kicked it out to Thurman for another three, which went in, of course. The turnovers kept Kentucky from utilizing the zone, and also freed up Williamson inside for some easy scores. Arkansas drew their third charge of the half, then Darnell Robinson made a three (!), and when the center is making threes, it’s pretty much over, right? With the Hogs up 25-16, Beck found Lee Wilson inside for an easy bucket, then stole the ball and went all the way for a score. A McDaniel three doubled the score at 32-16, then Davor “Croatian Sensation” Rimac buried a three, and the lead was an ungodly 19 points. The scariest thing about this Arkansas charge was that it happened with SEC POY Corliss Williamson on the bench with two fouls.

Kentucky started to chip away with jumpers by Rhodes and Chris Harrison. Sheppard and Delk began to hit some shots, as Arkansas began to get a little careless on offense. Free throws by Rhodes made it 40-30. Walker drove baseline for a jam, and I wonder if he could do that today. Another key to the Kentucky comeback was FT shooting. Arkansas’ press created more fouls than Kentucky’s, and it led to lots of free throws. Another three by Thurman made it 45-34, but UK still had one more run left in the half. Baskets by Walker and Mark Pope made it 45-39, and just when it looked like Kentucky was about to get over the hump, Rimac made another three. Jared Prickett got inside for an easy one, then Epps made a driving bucket in the lane, plus the foul. Arkansas led 50-44 at the half, but it didn’t feel like that much. Arkansas was shooting 8-14 from three. Surely they couldn’t keep that up. Kentucky had 11 turnovers, but all of them happened in the first 11 minutes.

The two teams traded baskets to start the second half, with neither team being able to get any kind of momentum. Kentucky switched from the zone to the press, and it helped create some turnovers, but Kentucky couldn’t capitalize because several scores were wiped out by charging fouls. Kentucky’s depth advantage allowed them to dominate the glass in the second half, and the offensive rebounding of Walker and McCarty allowed UK to cut it to 56-53. Both defenses tightened up tremendously in this half, and the pace resembled something from the Tubby Smith era. Arkansas countered the Kentucky run with one of its own, capped off by a three by Alex “By God” Dillard burying a three on a 1-on-3 fast break. Kentucky fought right back with another run. Delk made a long two from the baseline, then Prickett scored on a runout, plus the foul. Say what you want about Jared, but he always played great against the Razorbacks. Another three by Rimac (just stop it, Croatian) made it 66-58, but then Williamson bowled over Sheppard to pick up his third foul. A breakaway layup by Pope (that went in!) once again cut it to six, but Arkansas came back with another flurry, and at the halfway point it was 70-60. Another steal led to a drive and dunk by Williamson, and at 72-60, it seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Kentucky gained ground little by little, but had yet to make the big run that would make the Hogs panic. A sweet reverse layup by Delk made it 74-67. The announcers were all over Tony Buckets on this day because they thought he was playing poorly, but he just wasn’t hitting threes. He did everything else very well. Delk fed McCarty inside for a gorilla dunk and it was 74-71. That might be Tony’s best assist ever. Thurman banked in a short jumper, then Kentucky made another brief run. Walker made two free throws, then followed up a miss on the next possession. After Thurman missed a three, McCarty took a long outlet pass and laid it in, drawing the fourth foul on Williamson. Walter’s FT tied the score at 78, but Arkansas responded like a champion. Williamson posted up Pope, scored and drew the foul. Big Nasty missed the FT, but the Hogs led by two. After Kentucky forced a shot clock violation, Pope answered back by drawing a foul and hitting both of hits shots, making it 80-80.

Arkansas had time to take the last shot, and everybody knew #30 was going to be the man. Walker intercepted the Williamson pass and called timeout with 5.5 seconds to go. Rhodes got the ball and drove to the rack. He drew the foul with 1.3 to go and all he had to do was hit one. Rhodes hadn’t been in the game for the last eight minutes, and when the referee held up the number 12, he thought the foul was on him and not McDaniel. He was not in the condition to make free throws. To make matters worse, Arkansas called a timeout to ice him. As Rhodes stepped to the line, Epps turned his back on the bench, crossing his fingers and probably his toes, a miserable wreck to be sure – just like me and 95% of Big Blue Nation. Rhodes missed both shots, not coming close on either one. Williamson grabbed the rebound and it was time for overtime.

The Razorbacks had been given new life by Rhodes’ misses
, and took advantage with another crippling run. Williamson went to the line and hit two. Beck got a steal and score. McDaniel made a contested three, and just like that, it was 87-80. After a runner by Delk, Arkansas looked to have put the game away after Williamson hit a tough shot in the lane and Beck contorted his way for a layup. At 91-82, it was over, right? Walker drove the rack, scored and drew the fifth foul on Williamson. 91-85, but it’s still over. Kentucky forced a turnover on the inbound pass and Pope tipped in a Walker miss. 91-87, but it’s probably still over. McDaniel missed two free throws, but Kentucky couldn’t capitalize. The Cats fouled McDaniel again, and this time he made the shots. 93-87 with 44 seconds to go, which means it’s over. Delk hit a three to cut the lead in half. 93-90, but there isn’t enough time, and it’s probably over. Kentucky fouled Beck, who missed both of his free throws. It’s 93-90, Kentucky has the ball, and it suddenly isn’t over. Walker scored inside to cut it to 93-92, and it wasn’t over just yet. Now all we need to do is foul. But Epps stole it from Thurman! There’s a foul on Arkansas! You can see a guy behind the UK bench who obviously wet himself. Epps made both shots to make it 94-93, and you know what was coming. It was Scotty Thurman time again, which meant it wasn’t over. He pulled up from about 30 feet, but the shot wasn’t true. Delk drew the foul on the rebound, hit the first shot and missed the second, which prevented the Hogs from running a set play. At 95-93, it was definitely over. It’s one of the ten best wins of my lifetime.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I hope the Arkansas fans who read and post here liked that one, as I had nothing but respect for those guys and I hope the rivalry can be that good once again.