The Estill County Tribune, January 18, 2017, Page 15

by Larry Vaught Kentuckyfigurestohavean entertaining game withSouth Carolina Saturdayin Rupp Arena. However,oddsarethehalftimeshowwillbeevenmoreentertain-ing. That’s when the Fire-crackers, a jump rope per-formance team made upof fourth through eighthgraders from Kings LocalSchoolDistrictinOhio,willputontheirannualshowforKentuckyfans.CoachLynnKelleyfoundedtheteamandnowhasopentryouts—andtwo-hour practices five orsixdaysperweek—forthegirlswhoperformatmajorcollegeandNBAgamesaswellasotherspecialeventsacrossthecountry. But year after year, thegirlsinsistthatRuppArenaisoneoftheirfavoriteven-uestoperform. “I enjoy performing atRuppArenabecauseofthesetting andhow large it is,is very cool. Other arenasdon’t treat us the same asyou guys do,” said eighth-grader Morgan Hubbard, afourth year Firecracker. “IlovehowwegettorideontheUKbus.Ireallyappre-ciate how everyone treatsus and it is and honor toperform for UK. The UKfansareagreat crowdandthey always motivate metoperformagreatshowforthem.” Kentuckyalwayssendsabus toOhio topickup thejump rope team — some-thingotherplacesdonotdo.Kentucky also gives eachgirlaswagbagwithgifts. “TheUKfansknowussowellthattheycheersomuchforusandtheirreactionsal-ways make you smile forthe rest of the show onceyouseethem,”sixth-graderSophie Miller, a third yearFirecracker,said. Eighth-grader Grace Pe-tersrankstheUKfansasan11onascaleof1to10. “PerformingforUKisbyfarmyfavorite.Thecrowdisamazing.Theygetsointotheshow,makingitsomuchfun,”Peterssaid. Saturday’s show couldbe even more entertainingbasedonwhateighth-graderSydniBakershared. “I always look forwardtogoingtoRuppArenabe-cause the crowd is alwayssuperexcitedtoseeuscomeand the crowd goes crazywhenweperform.Thisyear

ourshowisevenmorechal-lenging, so I can’t wait toseehowtheyreact,”Bakersaid. Itmightbeasmuchfunto see how first-year Fire-crackers enjoy their timeperforming in front of23,000fans. Third-grader CorinaMacy isn’t even sure whatRuppArenais. “I know my mom usedtoworkatUKandsheisafan.Iliketoperformatthegames.ThiswillbemyfirsttimeatUK,”Macysaid. Fourth-graderEvaMoorehopes Rupp Arena is “bigandloud”Saturday. I wondered if the Fire-crackers would like to getUK coach John Calipari’sautograph.Theoverwhelm-ingresponsewasyes.How-ever, I thought you mightenjoywhatMacyandMoorethought. “Yeah! Who’s that?”Mooresaid. “Yes,Iwould!ButIdon’tknow who he is,” Macysaid. Ohwell. It doesn’tmat-ter because Kentucky fansinRuppArenawillallknowwho the Firecrackers areandbythetimethegameisover,thegirlswillallknowCalipariaswell.Ky Football Commit It’s not hard for WarrenG. Harding High Schoolcoach SteveArnold to ex-plain just how good recentKentucky football commitLynnBowdenis. “He’sbeenwithmetwoyears and he’s the best Ihaveseen,”saidArnold. This from a coach whohad Mario Manningham,who went on to play forMichigan and in the NFLwonaSuperBowlwiththeNewYorkGiants,aswellasformerOhioStatestarMau-riceClarett. Bowdencouldplayalotof positions because of hissize,speed,athleticismandtoughness.Heplayedquar-terback forArnoldand lastseason ran for 2,277 yardsand threw for 1,366 yardswhile accounting for 57touchdowns.The6-1,185-pound Bowden had oneplayoffgamewhereheranfor370yardsandsixscoreson 24 carries and threwfor 106 yards and anothertouchdown. “Whenhehastheballinhishands, he canbeatyouwithhisfeetorarm,”Arnoldsaid.“Ithinkhe’sprobablyaslotreceiverincollege,butyoucanputhiminapack-ageaswildcatquarterback.Fromtheslot,hecouldrunsweeps or bubble screens.Hehashugehands.Hehasdeceptivepowerandspeed.“Hisbiggestattributeisheisakidwhohatestolose.He’sbeengiftedwithgreatabil-itybutcouplethatwithhisspiritandthethingthatgoesunnoticed,andyoucouldn’tknow until you coacheshim, is thathis football IQ

isoffthechart.Putallthosecomponents together andyou have something reallyspecial.”

Epps and Epps Fromthetimeshesteppedon the court at Kentucky,Makayla Epps knew therewould be comparisons toherfather,formerUKpointguardAnthonyEpps. Shedidn’tmindbecauseherfatherhashadahugein-fluenceonhergame.How-ever,shealsothinksofhiminabitdifferentmanner. “Me and him are a lotthe same. My mom says Iam likehis twin. It’scrazybecausehe’smaleandIamfemale. We are 20 yearsapartbutwearesosimilarwithactions,emotions,”theKentuckyseniorsaid. “It is father-daughterwhenwetalkbut(teammate)EvelynAkhatorthoughtthathewasmybigbrother.Shenever really knew.We justhave a relationship wherewe can go a long whilewithouttalkingbuttheloveisstillthere.Hetextsmeaf-terbiggames,andifweloselikeafterLouisvillehesentmeatextthatreallyupliftedme.It’sjustsmallthingshedoes as a dad. We are sosimilaritiskindofscary.” Her father has had tomake himself stay quietduringgames—oratleastmostofthetime.Hecatcheshimself wanting to coachher,butknowsthatisnothisplaceorjob. “There have been timeswhere he has been in Me-morial (Coliseum)and liketheballwentoutofboundsorwearegoingtoatimeout.Iwilllookupandthecam-erawillbeonmeandthenonhim. I am like, ‘Iwon-derwhattheyaresayingonTV?’”shesaid. “Healwayshasthisfacewhereheisstaring.Noideawhatheisthinking.Mydadisnotaquietperson.Hewasaplayerandisacoachanddad. His coaching instinctsare going to want to takeoverbutIthinkhehasdonea realgood jobof restrain-inghimself.”

Calipari “HasGotten Big”

ESPN college basket-ball analyst Dick Vitalesays Kentucky coach JohnCalipari has “gotten big”now that he’s got his ownpodcast with guests suchas Louisville coach RickPitino, Michigan footballcoach Jim Harbaugh andformer NBA star CharlesBarkley. “Hebetteraskme todoone now, too,” Vitale said.“ButIthinkitisgreatRickand John did one together.People can talk all theywant,buttheyarecompeti-torsTheyhaveultimatere-spect for each other. Theyknow how to motivate, in-spire and run a program.There’snodoubtaboutthat. “On the sideline they

Halftime show will be more entertaining

want to knock each otheroff.Theywanttobeateachother. I think thewinner isthe state of Kentucky tohave two quality leaderslikethat.” IactuallywatchedVitalecoachhisfinalcollegegame.ItcameinRuppArenaintheNCAATournamentwhenhewas coaching Detroit. TheTitans won 26 games thatyear,including21inarow.TheybeateventualnationalchampionMarquetteduringtheyearandhadthreefutureNBAplayersthatVitalere-cruited.After that win,Vi-tale danced at midcourt ashetoldhisteamhewould. DetroitbeatMiddleTen-nessee in the NCAA firstround to reach the SweetSixteen in Rupp Arenaagainst No. 1 Michigan. Iremember the passion Vi-talehadonthesidelineandallhedidtogettheUKfansatthegamepullingforDe-troit. “Iwasgettingthecrowdallfiredup,”Vitalerecalledaswetalkedaboutthatgame.“We were the little guy. ItwouldbelikeWesternKen-tucky playing Kentucky.WewereDetroitplayingtheUniversityofMichiganandtheywereNo.1inthecoun-tryandhadgreatplayers.Itwasheckofagame.Wegotbeatinthelastminute,butitwasagreatgame.” It was. Michigan won86-81butVitaleearnedalotof respect that game and Ineverforgotthepassionate,intense coach who turnedup on ESPN a few yearslater—andisstillthere.

The Firecrackers annually enjoy Rupp Arena fans with their dazzling jump rope show and will be back at Rupp Arena Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Makayla Epps says she is so much like her father, former UK point guard Anthony Epps, that sometimes it is “scary.” (Vicky Graff Photo)

“Until my dying day, IwillbelievewecostMichi-gan that national champi-onship because we playedthem in such an emotionalgame and they didn’t haveanything left for UNC-Charlotteintheregionalfi-nal,”Vitalesaid.

UK Recruiting Just having Kentuckyassistant coach Joel Justuscome to watch him playmade a big impression on6-6AaronWigginsofHighPoint (N.C.) WesleyanChristian. “TheycametoWesleyanand said they really likedmeandIwasabletoscorereally well and do a lot ofthings well. I am excitedtheysawmeplayandsaidIwasagoodplayerandatleast could see a little bitin me. That’s big,” Wig-gins,whoplayedintheMc-Cracken County MustangMadness, said. “Kentuckyisagreatprogramanditisanhonorjusttobeseenbythem. They are such a bigdeal.” Former Maryland starKeith Gatlin is Wiggins’coach. He’s seen schoolssuch as Arizona, Califor-nia, Maryland and Provi-denceallofferscholarshipsrecently and expects manymoreofferstobecome “Aaronis therealdeal,”saidGatlin.“He’s6-foot-6,he’slongandhecanhandleit. He can shoot it reallywell, too.Hefeels likeshebelongsnowandhe’stakingadvantageofit.” Wigginsmissedfirstsev-en games this season withanankleinjurybuthasnowhithisstride.Heshowedoff

his shooting range at Mc-CrackenCounty. “I have been putting ina lotofwork. I transferredthis year to Wesleyan andafter playing AAU withTeamCharlotte,alotofcol-leges saw me play,” Wig-gins said.“Once Icame toWesleyanoverthesummer,Ihavebeenputtinginworkearly in morning and eve-ning.IthasshownandIamseeingtherewardswithcol-legescomingin.Ijusthavetokeepputtinginthesamework.”SEC Scoring Leader MalikMonk is trying tobecome the first freshmanto lead the SoutheasternConferenceinscoringsinceChrisJacksondiditforLSUin 1989 when he averaged30.2pointspergame.Onlytwo other freshmen haveeverledtheleagueinscor-ing. YoumayrememberBer-nard King of Tennessee,who averaged 26.4 pointsper game in 1975 to leadtheSEC.ButIamdoubtingmany of you would havea clue on the other player—JimNolan.Heaveraged14.6 points per game in1946forGeorgiaTech.Quote of the Week

Quoteoftheweek:Ken-tucky sophomore IsaiahBriscoewasrecentlyaskedifheeverlosessightoftherim when he drives insideagainst bigger players. Hisanswerwasaclassic. “No, I know where therimis.It’sbeeninthesamespot for20years,”Briscoesaid.

Juniors Jaylen Hoard, left, and Aaron Wiggins are both coached by former Maryland star Keith Gatlin and both players have drawn attention from Ken-tucky. (Larry Vaught Photo)