By Glenn Osborne
Special to NKyTribune
When former Kentucky pass rusher Bud Dupree heard his named called by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who took him with the 22nd pick of the first round of the NFL Draft, he joined some fairly select company.
Since the NFL began the draft, only 13 UK players have been taken in the first round and two more were selected in the first round of the old American Football League. Dupree became the first Wildcat to go that early since defensive lineman Dewayne Robertson went at No. 4 to the New York Jets in 2003.
In the past 20 years only Dupree, Robertson and quarterback Tim Couch (1999) have gone in the first round.
Only running back George Adams made the list from the decade of the ’80s, going to the Giants with the 19th pick in 1985.
In the 1960s and 70s, players like Irv Goode, Tom Hutchinson, Sam Ball, Rick Norton (No. 2 in the AFL Draft in 1966), Rodger Bird, Warren Bryant (No. 6 in 1977), Randy Burke and Art Still (No. 2 to the Chiefs in 1978) got the call.
Bob Gain (No. 5 to the Packers) was the first Kentucky player to earn a first round draft call in 1951. In 1952, Babe Parilli went to the Packers at No. 4, Steve Meilinger was the eighth pick by Washington in 1954 and tackle Lou Michaels was taken with the fourth pick by the Rams in 1958.
Also last weekend, UK defensive end Za’Darius Smith was a fourth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Although a number of Kentucky players will sign free agent deals or be invited to camps this summer, only Dupree and Smith were draft picks. And even though Dupree was a first-rounder, his selection came several spots lower than experts had predicted.
But if Dupree was disappointed in his draft number, he was elated to be going to a playoff quality team like the Steelers.
“I kept hearing, ‘Next team. Next team. Next team.’ I was waiting on all of the next teams to take me, but they didn’t,” he said. “The people we thought needed pass rushers didn’t really need pass rushers. A lot of teams took receivers instead of pass rushers or lineman instead of pass rushers. It was very irritating, but I just sat there and got on a good team.
“It’s definitely worth the wait to go to a good team. At the end of the day, the Pittsburgh Steelers took a chance on me and I just have to make sure I go back and give them what they need.”
Dupree also joins an elite group of former UK players who starred for the Steelers, including center Dermontti Dawson, who played in Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2000 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Linebacker Jeff Brady was selected in by Pittsburgh in 1991, the last Wildcat picked up by the franchise.
In fairly stark contrast, Louisville had a school-record 10 players drafted, ranging from wide receiver DeVante Parker (No. 14 to Miami) in the first round and Jamon Brown, John Miller and Lorenzo Mauldin in the second round to Gerald Christian, who was named “Mr. Irrelevant” by going with the No. 256 and final pick in the draft, to Arizona in the seventh round.
The 10 selections were the second-most of any school in the country, finishing behind fellow ACC-foe Florida State, which had 11 players taken.
All-American safety Gerod Holliman (No. 239) was a seventh-round pick of Pittsburgh, where he will join Dupree.
Morehead State found itself trailing Eastern Illinois 7-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning Sunday in an Ohio Valley Conference baseball matchup, but that’s nothing for the Eagles.
MSU scored 11 runs in the fifth inning on the strength of four home runs, going on to a 20-14 victory. In all, Morehead launched six home runs in the game.
The Eagles improved to 30-18 overall and 15-9 in league play. Morehead is off until Friday, when it takes on Jacksonville State with a chance to tie the team record for wins in a season, established in 1993. MSU is tied with SIU Edwardsville for second in the OVC standings, but holds the tiebreaker.
Also, Morehead senior Robby Spencer has been named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, an award is given to the nation’s best Division I shortstop.
File these items under “in case you missed it:”
– UK head baseball coach Gary Henderson was named pitching coach for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, joining a staff led by St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer. Other coaches named LSU head coach Paul Mainieri and San Diego head coach Rich Hill. It is the first time a UK head coach been on the National Team staff since John Cohen in 2005.
– University of Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz is taking another international trip this summer after being named an assistant for the 2015 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Championship Team. Walz also was on the staff last summer. This year, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley will serve as the U-19 head coach, with Michigan’s Kim Barnes Arico joining Walz as an assistant.
– Former University of Kentucky center Michael Bradley is one of two former NBA players who will serve on the staff for new Eastern Kentucky head coach Dan McHale. Bradley, the No. 17 pick by Toronto in 2001, played five seasons in the NBA and three overseas. He’ll be joined by former Louisville player Reece Gaines, the No. 15 pick in 2003 by Orlando who played three seasons in the NBA and four more overseas.
Those two will be joined by Doug Davenport, who served the last three seasons as the director of video operations at Louisville.
Bradley compiled a 93-12 record as the head boys’ basketball coach Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati from 2010-14. He led the 2012 team to a 26-1 record and the first Ohio State Championship in program history, gaining Associated Press State Coach of the Year honors. Bradley played two seasons at UK (1997-99) before finishing up at Villanova.
As a UK freshman, he played in 32 games for the 1997-98 NCAA Championship team and as a sophomore, he broke the school single-season record for field goal percentage (65.7 percent).
Kentucky will host EKU on Dec. 9.
Glenn Osborne is sports editor for KyForward.com, where this column originally appeared.