UK Seniors Visit Catlettsburg Marathon at 5:12 PM

Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

May 7, 2010

Players tour brings out big blue faithful

Aaron Snyder
The Independent
ASHLAND — Since Kentucky basketball fans jump at the chance to see their beloved Wildcats, it was not surprising to see that Ashland was the place to be on Friday.

The UK barnstorming tour made a pit stop at the Clark Pump-N-Shop in Ashland near Catlettsburg around 5 p.m. and then rolled its way to Anderson Gymnasium at Paul G. Blazer High School at 7 p.m.

Fans from a number of different areas of the state piled in to form a near-capacity crowd to see a group of local talent, including former Marshall players J.R. Vanhoose and Mark Patton, to compete against the 2010 Kentucky seniors, Patrick Patterson, 2007 graduate Lukasz Obrzut, and Wayne Turner, who was a junior on the 1998 national championship team.

True blue fans expressed their feelings about a cherished group of seniors, which essentially includes Patterson, a junior from Huntington, who graduated in three years and has entered the NBA draft.

“This is a special group,” said Doris McFarland, a retired accounting manager from Flemingsburg. “I really like Patterson. He is my all-time favorite.”

Patterson was undoubtedly the main attraction, as the crowd served him with roars as he was announced and every time he sank a 3-pointer or dunked with style.

“(Patterson) and his family are a class act,” said Shirley Fite, of Tollsboro. “He totally embraced Kentucky. It won’t be the same without him.”

McFarland and Fite, who traveled together to Nashville this past March for the SEC Tournament, may be planning another road trip soon to witness Patterson in the NBA.

“We hope he goes to Memphis,” McFarland said. “But I’m crazy enough to go watch him anywhere.”

As Patterson wowed the crowd with highlights, no bunch looked more jubilant than a group of 9- and 10-year-olds on the floor where the baseline and sideline meet.

Caleb Keelin, 9, and Tyler Adams, 10, each declared Patterson as his favorite Wildcat, and Adams, who is originally from Orlando, Fla., was not shy about where his loyalty lies.

“I think Florida basketball sucks,” Adams giggled. “I love Kentucky.”

The contest for the No. 1 Kentucky fan of the night was a heated race.

McFarland explained her case.

“I go to every home game and then come home and watch them on tape,” McFarland said.

And, even though Dave Crabtree, a 54-year-old who has been a fan for 40-plus years, has not actually been to Rupp Arena, he and his wife “bleed blue.”

For Crabtree, Friday was the first time he had seen Kentucky players perform in person.

“I’ve never been to Lexington, so I was tickled that they could come here and we could see them,” Crabtree said as he waited near the back of a long line for autographs after the game.

Perhaps the most intriguing fan of the night, though, was a 71-year-old man snapping pictures of the Wildcats warming up like a 10-year-old kid filled with admiration.

Roger Laws, who drove nearly three hours from Villa Hills for the event, came to Ashland Friday night for one reason.

“I wanted Wayne Turner’s autograph,” Laws said.

But, Laws already has Turner’s autograph. However, it was part of the 1998 team’s autographs, and Laws tries to get every player he can get to sign a separate baseball cap to add to his hefty collection of UK memorabilia.

“I’ve got a barn this size of this gym,” Laws looked up at the rafters of Anderson Gymnasium. “And it’s filled with Kentucky memorabilia.”

Included in the collection is a string of the net cut from the 1978 championship game, 150 caps signed by different players and a basketball signed by each coach beginning back to Adolph Rupp.

Laws recently traveled to Oklahoma to retrieve Eddie Sutton’s autograph because he was the only coach he lacked.

“How ate up is that?” Laws laughed.

Like Laws, the fans love their Cats, especially those who left the most recent mark on the program — one that, except for Patterson, went through three coaches in four years.

“I appreciate this group,” Crabtree said. “Not only because of the way they carried themselves on the court, but off the court too.”