Forty Minutes To Glory

"If a kid just wants to have a good time, I don't think Kentucky's for him," says Grevey. "But if he's a good player, he'd be a fool not to go there. I went through it, and I loved it. It made me a better person. And I still managed to have a good time."

Monday, Oct. 10—I thought our season turned around last year when I suspended Mike Phillips, Truman Claytor and Jay Shidler for missing curfew just before our tournament in late December. Until then we had been undefeated, and I thought we could be the best team in the country, but after that we never really recaptured our intensity or played up to our capabilities. But I'm not sorry I did it. It may have hurt us last year, but I know it will help us this year and in the future.

What we try to do at Kentucky is stop the little things so we don't have to worry about something big happening. The players say, "Gosh, if he gets up at 6 a.m. and runs us for cutting class, what will he do to us if we come in at 3 some morning?" I really doubt if other schools have as few problems as we have. A lot of them don't have rules, probably because they can't enforce them. They've given up. We beat those teams.

Each season before the regular schedule begins, Kentucky plays an intrasquad game in a remote part of the state. On Nov. 15, 1977 the Wildcats travel 85 miles to Hazard, a coal-mining community. After the game a manager is standing under a basket holding the game ball when an elderly woman, who has picked her way gingerly through the excited crowd, appears before him. "I'm awonderin'...," she says shyly. "I've listened to Kentucky basketball all my life. Could I touch that there ball?"

Thursday, Nov. 3—I got mad and sent them all home early from practice today. They didn't feel like working. Last season we didn't have one bad practice. But this year we get to coolin' it at times. After about 15 minutes today, I just ran 'em out of the gym.

In the first weeks of the season, the Wildcats run their opponents out of the gym. Macy establishes himself as a regular at guard when last year's freshman sensation, Shidler, breaks a bone in his foot on the second day of practice. Thus the starting lineup is Macy and Claytor in the backcourt, and Robey, Phillips and Givens strung along the frontline, with Lee, "King of Dunk," ready to come off the bench. Robey and Phillips are both 6'10" and weigh 230 and 240 pounds, respectively. Their opponents treat them respectfully.

The Wildcats beat SMU 110-86 in the opener, rolling to a 42-point lead before the freshmen and other reserves dissipate it. Afterward Hall is disappointed. At Kentucky you play hard for 40 minutes, even if you have a 42-point lead. Both polls rate the Wildcats No. 1.

Saturday, Dec. 10—Kentucky defeats Kansas 73-66. At halftime Hall goes to the public address man and requests that he call for a moment of silence for Rupp, who is critically ill in the university's medical center. Rupp had entered the hospital on Nov. 9 for treatment of cancer of the spine. After the game, the Kentucky players learn that Rupp has died.

Rupp will be remembered as one of the great coaches. In 41 seasons at Kentucky he was the most dominant figure in his sport, winning 874 games. His was a large and intimidating presence.

Sunday, Dec. 11—As a player I lived in fear of Adolph Rupp, the fear that I would fail him. That helped me when I took over as coach because I was under unbelievable pressure then. There was no halfway for me; I'd either fail totally or carry on the winning tradition of Kentucky basketball. People said the program was going to hit rock bottom. Rumors started almost immediately that I'd be fired. Some people almost wanted me to fail, because they loved Rupp so much they could not stand to think anyone could take his place. It wasn't me, it was just whoever followed the legend.