LOOKING BACK

 What have I learned from a whirlwind of basketball over the last four or five days? “Basketball will break your heart” to quote my friend, Don Estep.

As games and sometimes careers end, tears flow, as only one will remain standing.

In Lexington this past week it was Christian County and the quickest player I have ever seen, Anthony Hickey, who took home the hardware from the state tournament. I truly believe Anthony could turn out the lights and be in bed before it got dark.

The player who caught my eye at the tournament was a sophomore from Bullitt East. Derek Willis, a willowy 6’8” or 6’9” moves very well with our without the ball. If the Bullitt East coach had gone to him more often, they may have won a state championship. Willis, in my opinion, would be a kid Kentucky should recruit.

Don Estep and I got to see Charley Craig, (He’s attended the tournament for 73 years) Ken Cobb and his wife Joan each day and spend time with my two sons, Scott and Jeff, our two buddies from LaCenter, Kentucky, Bob Berry and Larry Pace and former Redhound great Don Turner.

We also had an opportunity to get acquainted with legendary coach Guy Strong. Coach Strong is now retired, but lives in Winchester, where he retired as principal of George Rogers Clark High School.

Coach Strong coached at Kentucky Wesleyan, Oklahoma City and Eastern Kentucky in college and Louisville Male as well as Clark County in high school.

Coach Strong is a very nice gentleman and said he played golf from time to time with former Redhound Roy Kidd.

The Kentucky Wildcats are once again on their way to the “Sweet Sixteen” of college basketball’s NCAA Tournament. The ‘Cats have wins over Princeton and West Virginia and to this point have had different individuals step up with called upon. Josh Harrelson has been a stabilizing force and hopefully can maintain that role.

Ohio St. is going to be a tall mountain to scale and they seem to be peaking at the right time. The Buckeyes are so versatile with their strong inside game and they shoot so well from the three-point area. I have faith, however, that the ‘Cats will make a game of it.

Over the last many years, I have played and coached a lot of softball and during the course of those many years you develop many friendships.

One of those many friendships developed over the years was with Glen Maguet. My oldest son Scott, thought so much of Glen that he chose to follow his career path and become a physical therapist.

Glen’s lovely wife, Sharon, passed away last Wednesday and I want to express my condolences to Glen and his family.

My Redhound from the past this week is Mike Jackson, a quarterback from the 80’s. Mike went on to play at Centre College and is now the head football coach at Ballard High School in Louisville. Mike Jackson, always a Redhound.