ESPN.com - No. 12: Kentucky

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Tuesday, November 12, 2002
No. 12: Kentucky

By By Andy Latack

Last Season: 2210, Sweet 16


	Bogans is all that remains of Team Turmoil.

Everything was going great at Midnight Madness until the video on the big screen showed a grinning Rick Pitino snipping the net, prompting a chorus of boos loud enough to wake the ghost of Adolph Rupp. Bygones are not exactly bygones in Bluegrass country, not with Slick Rick molding archrival Louisville into a contender -- and not with Kentucky coming off its third straight 10-loss season, the first such slump in school history. So, with the Wildcats entering their 100th season, Tubby Smith made a clean break with the past. Five players were dismissed or granted a release from "Team Turmoil." What's left is a hungry bunch -- led by senior wing Keith Bogans (11.6 ppg) and juco PG Antwain Barbour -- that has no intention of getting the Pitino treatment.

One Step Ahead: Smith is refreshingly adaptable, molding his schemes to fit his personnel. Kentucky went with a high-low last season to allow 6'9" Tayshaun Prince (now with the Pistons) to post up smaller forwards. This season, the Cats will run more motion to free up agile seniors Jules Camara (6'11") and Marquis Estill (6'9").

One Step Behind: Smith's job as an assistant with the 2000 Olympic squad kept him off the recruiting trail, and he wound up with players who were tough to coach (see booted blue-chippers Jason Parker and Rashaad Carruth). With some ex-Cats saying Kentucky's on the decline, can Tubby make sweet wine out of sour grapes?

2002-2003 NCAA PREVIEW
MEN
1. Arizona Wildcats	9. Georgia Bulldogs
2. Kansas Jayhawks	10. UCLA Bruins
3. Oklahoma Sooners	11. Alabama Crimson Tide
4. Pittsburgh Panthers	12. Kentucky Wildcats
5. Florida Gators	13. Virginia Cavaliers
6. Texas Longhorns	14. Michigan State Spartans
7. Duke Blue Devils	15. Xavier Musketeers
8. UConn Huskies	16. Indiana Hoosiers

This article will appear in the November 25 issue of ESPN The Magazine.