(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Hey! Down here. You're just in time, I didn't think you were going to make it.
The lights flash out, the spotlights circle 23,000 of your best friends. The strobes fire up, and The Who's "Teenage Wasteland" begins to blare.
On the big screen we see Delk 3's, we see Kenny sky-walking, Tayshaun bombing the Tar Heels, the Comeback Cats exercise the Blue Devils, the "Goose", Rex, Kyle touch his socks, and countless other moments that make us proud to tell everyone our favorite colors baby: Blue and white!
The hair on your neck stands up, you jump up and down, Rupp starts to rock, your heart races, and just when you can't stand it any longer; it finally happens.
"And now, your University of Kentucky Wildcats!!!"
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miss Lippy...let's go back and find out how we got here.
This past offseason was one of the most eventful in the storied history of Kentucky basketball.
The most recent edition of UK basketball finished 22-14, and earned a berth in the NIT. They were bounced from the not-so-big dance by Notre Dame, and Digger Phelps probably almost died from joy.
This also meant that the coach of said Cats would be under some heat. Billy Gillispie was arguably the most polarizing person in Lexington. Love him, hate him, either way, everyone had an opinion, even ESPN's Jeanine Edwards.
Billy G repeatedly started postgame pressers by saying he wouldn't throw any of his players under the bus; which he followed by throwing his players under the bus.
All the rumors of his off-court antics and the stories of how he treated his players led to his demise.
Mr. Gillispie (I almost wrote Coach Gillispie there, but remembered a press conference were the media simply called him Billy) was eventually fired by Kentucky and the circus added another ring.
Who would ride over the nearest hill and save the poor Wildcats?
Well, that depended on who you asked. Jay Wright of Villanova, Mark Few of Gonzaga, John Calipari of Memphis, Tom Izzo of Michigan St., Bruce Pearl of Tennessee, Billy Donovan of Florida, even Rick Pitino?
The same Pitino who left the Cats to coach the Cards was rumored to be walking through that door.
After the dust finally settled, UK convinced Calipari to leave Memphis and take the reigns of a beaten-down program. He kissed babies, walked on water, and said all the right things when introduced by Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart.
John Cal hit the recruiting trail hard and brought some major reinforcements to Lexington. Ranked as the No. 1 class by most media outlets, Calipari immediately raised the bar in the SEC. J.C. did lose out on one key player, Jodie Meeks, the fifth leading scorer in the country last year, when he declared for the NBA.
Well, that pretty much brings you up to speed. Where was I??? Oh, right.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Kentucky Wildcats Basketball articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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