UK Wildcat Country » Bill Keightley

How to Fix the UK Basketball Museum

Kenny Colston — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Almost a week ago, news leaked that the UK basketball museum was closing due to a large debt it couldn’t overcome.

The museum wasn’t part of the University, but UK did donate up to $100,000 a year to help the museum out. Before closing, the museum was housed in the Lexington Center, which connects to Rupp Arena. Now, the museum is closed, the exhibits and donated items are being returned and UK athletics is saying they will somehow create something in the Joe Craft Center, although nothing like museum. No final word on what the new creation will be.

And then I went and read Jerry Tipton’s basketball notebook that the Herald-Leader publishes every Sunday. In the notebook, Tipton talks about what he thinks UK will do to honor the late Mr. Wildcat, Bill Keightley. Tipton says that UK hasn’t decided what to yet, but Tipton suggests making the “K” on the jerseys black, or placing a big “K” on the court in front of Keightley’s chair.

Of course, a lot of people are saying they should leave that chair empty. And that’s a good idea, as are Tipton’s. But here’s a better one: Create a smaller, more interactive UK basketball museum in the Joe Craft Center. Then name it after Bill Keightley.

In essence, The Bill Keightley UK Basketball Museum.

The museum could have a huge exhibit around the man who has seen more UK basketball games than anyone else. It could be the feature exhibit and surely would gather a crowd to see it.

Of course, the new museum in the Craft Center would have be to be interactive, but anyone who has stepped foot in the Craft Center knows technology isn’t new to the building. Naming the museum after Keightley and making him the centerpiece of a new venture would be a fitting tribute and a good way to preserve the great tradition of UK basketball. Then, all the other exhibits that made up the UK basketball museum could be updated, made interactive and placed around the Keightley exhibit.

If the Craft Center doesn’t have enough room, build another floor. Or move the exhibits around Memorial Coliseum as part of a tour of both the Coliseum, the Craft Center and the Museum. There are ways to make this happen. And if donors know that the new museum will be in Keightley’s honor, that may help sideline any costs.

Coaches have come and gone, leaving their mark. While most think Adolph Rupp and UK Basketball, true fans put Bill Keightley right beside Mr. Rupp. Rupp has the arena named after him. Let’s give Mr. Wildcat the building where all of the UK basketball history will reside.

I can think of no more fitting a tribute.

A Year in Review Part 2: The Bad.

Kenny Colston — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:47:00 +0000

This morning, we released our top 11 list of the best things to happen in UK athletics this past year. Of course, we realistic and we know that not everything was rosy for UK this year. That’s why we also made a Top 10 list of the WORST things that happened from June 20, 2007 to today.

Top 10 Worse Things that happened in UK Athletics in the Past Year:

1.Mr. Wildcat passes away, but his spirit always lives on. Mike Lyden, UK’s swimming and diving coach, passes away a short time later

2.Gardner Webb, Houston, San Diego. Nuff said.

3.UK fails to overcome history, loses to Tennessee in 4 OT at home in football.

You might question why this is so high, since it seems like UK will never beat Tennessee in football. And that’s why I put it here. Close in 2006, even close in 2007. This loss was heartbreaking.

4.Basketball team has so many injuries throughout the year that it opens a rehab center at the Joe Craft Center.

Meeks… Patterson… Jasper… the list was endless. So we lumped them.

5.Despite having the best season in 3 decades, UK players are snubbed in the NFL draft, not going until the 4th round.

6.John Cohen leaves the UK baseball, deciding to take over as coach at Mississippi State.

7.Alex Legion transfers in-season. Derrick Jasper transfers once the year is over.

Legion was a shooter who could have helped if his mom wasn’t nuts. Jasper would have been starting point guard this season. Make excuses, but they aren’t good things.

8.After Billy Gillispie gets a commitment from an eighth-grader, everyone outside the state goes crazy and the NABC decides to strongly suggest stopping that practice. Gillispie complies.

9.After a promising summer, Scott Green bombs as a starting pitcher and the Cats still fall short of winning a NCAA regional

10. UK fails to advance out of the first round of the NCAA tournament in basketball.

That’s our bad list. Scroll down for the good list if this just isn’t your cup of tea. As always, disagree? You know what to do.

Help Save the UK Basketball Museum.

Kenny Colston — Sat, 24 May 2008 14:27:00 +0000

The shot clock has run out on one of UK’s best attractions–the UK basketball museum at Rupp Arena.

And your favorite Herald-Leader writer has all the details.

But basically, the museum is half a million short in paying the banks. Never a good thing. UK administration says that if the museum doesn’t get the $500,000, then an idea would be to move the museum on-campus, probably in Memorial Coliseum.

That could acceptable, if UK would actually have a plan for that in place, but so far…no such luck. That’s why UK fans should donate any money they can. This website is set just for that.

Listen, the basketball team plays in Rupp and the museum should be there too. It’s a great opportunity for Rupp newcomers to take in all the history before taking in a game. How can you argue with that?

So donate. If you need a reason, make a donation and tell them you want it to be renamed the Bill Keightley UK Basketball Museum. That’s a cause to keep the basketball museum alive in Rupp, isn’t it? Because there are no promises on a campus relocation, except there would be one.

Take the time, every little bit counts.

Honoring Mr. Wildcat

Kenny Colston — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:46:00 +0000

After the passing last week of “Mr. Wildcat” Bill Keightley, my mind started running through different ways to honor the legendary man. It became obvious that it would be difficult. How do you honor a man who worked in an equipment room with his own name on it? I have decided to come up with a few suggestions for ways to honor one of the most influential people in Kentucky Basketball history.

Leave the seat empty: Although it wasn’t a tradition until Rick Pitino moved him to the head of the bench, many Cats fans my age only remember him sitting in the first seat on the bench. Undoubtedly, he is the only equipment manager to ever occupy the head of a major college program’s bench. The seat should be always left empty and maybe a plaque or decal should be placed on the floor in front of it. The chair should also be different than the rest of the bench so there is no confusion. On the seat, put his career stats, or those of the teams he watched. He was the all-time winningest equipment manager, you know.

Wear a patch on the jerseys: It’s very old-fashioned to wear a commemorative patch on the jersey, but what better way is there to honor a man who was above all, old fashioned. That patch could be for next season but to truly honor him, Kentucky should place a permanent patch or insignia on the jerseys. That would forever honor him, just like the Chicago Bears and “GSH” – George S Halas or Marquette and the “AL” on their chests honoring Al Maguire.

Black Uniforms:This doesn’t have to be a permanent thing because I know our colors are blue and white but wearing black uniforms next season could be a special tribute to him. Even better would be if it was done at Rupp for all home games. If black wasn’t a good color the Cats could break out the silver or gray for a year to honor him. It doesn’t have to be a permanent thing just an act to honor him during the next season.

Mix-Match Uniforms: Wear White shirts, blue pants at home and blue shirts, white pants on the road. Some may think this would be weird but the act alone is the key to the commemoration. He was the equipment manager and made sure the team had the correct jerseys for every game. What better way to show that he is missed than to mess up the uniforms. A one year event, no doubt.

Honorary Equipment Manager: Like the Chicago Cubs do with the 7th inning stretch in honor of Harry Carey, have an honorary equipment manager sit at the end of the bench every home game. It can be a former player, celebrity or Ashley Judd every time as far as Billy G is concerned, but make it someone who is well recognized. This can sort of be like the spelling of Kentucky at home games where the Y is someone different everytime. If this doesn’t work, let Joe B sit there every game