Wildcat Larry
12-22-2006, 02:38 PM
This time of year always brings back memories of the UKIT (University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament for you young whippersnappers). It was a intergal part of the Holiday Season in Lexington, always being played the weekend before Christmas.
The UKIT meant (a) some folks that weren't lucky enough to have season tickets could get into see UK play because the students were home on break, (b) some great basketball games, (c) two straight games on two straight nights, and (d) a chance to see some great basketball players from other sections of the country.
While I liked most things that Pitino did while he was at UK, I think he made a huge mistake by doing away with the UKIT. Sure, the UKIT had slowly become a tournament of 3 lesser teams that UK could generally beat with their hands tied behind their backs, but with the new era in UK basketball brought on by the Pitino regime, I thought it was a perfect time to make the UKIT a big time in-season tournament again.
What are some of your memories of the UKIT? I remember seeing and/or hearing the UKIT games that included some familiar names like Rod Thorn and Gale Catlett of West Virgina, Jimmy Rodgers of Iowa, Don May of Dayton, Bobby Cremins of South Carolina, Rudy Tomjanovich of Michigan and a guy named Mike Krzyzewski that came in with an Army team coached by some guy named Bobby Knight.
The UKIT meant (a) some folks that weren't lucky enough to have season tickets could get into see UK play because the students were home on break, (b) some great basketball games, (c) two straight games on two straight nights, and (d) a chance to see some great basketball players from other sections of the country.
While I liked most things that Pitino did while he was at UK, I think he made a huge mistake by doing away with the UKIT. Sure, the UKIT had slowly become a tournament of 3 lesser teams that UK could generally beat with their hands tied behind their backs, but with the new era in UK basketball brought on by the Pitino regime, I thought it was a perfect time to make the UKIT a big time in-season tournament again.
What are some of your memories of the UKIT? I remember seeing and/or hearing the UKIT games that included some familiar names like Rod Thorn and Gale Catlett of West Virgina, Jimmy Rodgers of Iowa, Don May of Dayton, Bobby Cremins of South Carolina, Rudy Tomjanovich of Michigan and a guy named Mike Krzyzewski that came in with an Army team coached by some guy named Bobby Knight.
