Welcome to the weekend, and to this week in review...10 years ago. Ten years ago UK lost a member of the basketball family as Frank Ham, former assistant AD passed away. Ron Mercer is traded from Boston to Denver by his former college coach. Saul Smith is preparing to replace Wayne Turner as UK's point guard while UK is on the recruiting trail to find a replacement for him. Finally, former UK coach Rick Pitino is finding that the honeymoon has ended in Boston.
The following are the headlines and article summaries for the week of August 1, 1999 - August 8, 1999.
August 3, 1999 - FRANK HAM, FORMER UK ASSISTANT AD, DIES AT 82
Frank G. Ham, former University of Kentucky Assistant Athletics Director, died Sunday at his home in Lexington after a long illness. He was 82. Mr. Ham retired from UK in 1987 after 19 years in the athletics department. In 1992, he accepted an offer to become a part-time special assistant to UK Athletics Director C.M. Newton, and held that position at his death. As assistant athletics director, Mr. Ham helped administer the Blue-White Fund, which offers contributors a chance to purchase...
August 4, 1999 - BOSTON TRADES MERCER TO DENVER
Boston Celtics Coach Rick Pitino didn't want to part with guard Ron Mercer. He coached Mercer at Kentucky and during his first two years in the NBA, and he knows what is becoming a league-wide consensus: Mercer is a future star. But after Mercer told Pitino what it would cost to re-sign him, the coach decided the Celtics couldn't afford his talents, bright future or not. The Celtics announced yesterday they had traded Mercer to the Denver Nuggets in a six-player deal...
August 4, 1999 - UK GUARD APPRECIATES EMPHASIS ON WINNING
Saul Smith faces the daunting task of replacing three-year starter Wayne Turner as Kentucky basketball's point guard and floor leader next season. Someone who ought to know said yesterday that Smith can do the job. "Next year a lot is going to depend on his play as far as how well Kentucky does," said Mississippi Coach Rod Barnes, a former All-Southeastern Conference point guard for the Rebels. "He's got to step up and be a leader...
August 8, 1999 - IF TOP POINT GUARDS NIX UK, THERE ARE OTHERS
Saul Smith is finding that some of his teammates on a touring SEC All-Star team aren't as irritating as he thought they were. Andre Barrett, the cute pixie one in the trio of heralded New York City point guards this recruiting year, committed to Seton Hall last week. Suddenly a worse-case scenario in Kentucky's search for a point guard popped to mind. What if Marcus Taylor commits to Michigan State? And Chris Duhon commits to Duke? And Omar Cook to North...
August 8, 1999 - PITINO'S HONEYMOON IN BOSTON HAS ENDED
BOSTON - Don't you just hate it when good love goes bad? Imagine how Rick Pitino must feel: In just two years, he's lost the love of a major American city. The city of Boston - weak-kneed and gaga at the mere thought of Pitino in 1997 - is not exactly sending it's basketball coach roses and chocolates these days. Turn on the city's main all-sports radio station (WEEI) and hear the host of the afternoon drive-time show saying that, of...
