Kentucky Basketball: Young Cats Reminiscent Of Past UNC Teams

I moved from Kentucky to North Carolina in the winter of 2000, when UK and UNC were just beginning their yearly tradition of playing each other.

As a Cats fan, it was the ideal situation to be in—surrounded by Tar Heel fans while we won the first four games. I wore my UK paraphernalia with pride and rubbed it into all of my friends how much better we were.

But a funny thing happened during that time. Even as we were winning, a change was occurring.

First, UNC assembled one of the best recruiting classes in recent memory. Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and Sean May joined the team.

Then Roy Williams took over for Matt Doherty, which is like going from a Geo Prizm to a Mercedes. Kentucky managed to stave off Williams for his first year at UNC and that was it.

Then UK's recruiting took a turn for the worse. We brought in three McDonald's All-Americans, just like UNC two years before, but Rajon Rondo was still too raw, Joe Crawford took four years to do anything useful, and Randolph Morris became the biggest headache and bust to the point that his name is basically a swear word to me.

Fast-forward five years and five consecutive losses later. UNC has won two NCAA Championships in that time with two different sets of superstars: the Felton, McCants, May trio and then Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, and Wayne Ellis.

I had to live in North Carolina and watch those teams. It was painful. Tubby Smith had lost his way and Billie Gillespie was not the answer the past two years.

Then John Calipari came to Kentucky.

Our Roy Williams. And not only did we now have our knight in shining blue armor, but we also got the monster recruiting class he brought with him. Watching this team, I have the same kind of feeling I did watching those UNC teams that would eventually go on to win championships.

The similarities are there. It's unlikely that the core of our team will stay together as long as the ones for the Tar Heels did, but there is enough talent to weather the departure of Wall and possibly even DeMarcus Cousins.

Wall, Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton, Jon Hood, Darius Miller, Darnell Dodson; the talent is deep. Some of it is ready right now, some may need a year or two, but it is there.

Just like the first UNC group with Williams, Kentucky may not win on Saturday.

Still, the only time UNC had a talent even close to Wall was with Marvin Williams, who didn't even start during his time there. And those young groups never had a veteran presence like Patrick Patterson.

Even so, as I watch the game on Saturday, win or lose, I'll have a smile on my face. I have already seen the future... and it is bright.