Brad Calipari won’t be the first player to play for his father at Kentucky.
Three others — Herky Rupp, Sean Sutton and Saul Smith — also played for the Wildcats, with Smith enjoying a successful career from 1997-2001. Smith was a part of the Wildcats’ 1998 national championship team. Smith finished his career with 364 assists (10th in school history) and played in 143 games in his career.
Since his playing career ended, Smith has served in coaching capacities at Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Minnesota and Texas Tech. Smith joined his father Tubby Smith’s staff as an assistant coach at Memphis last month.
Rupp played in 14 games and scored 11 points, but made the first unofficial basket as a youngster at Memorial Coliseum before the gym opened its doors in 1950.
Sutton played for his father, Eddie, during the 1980s. He played in 54 games over two seasons, tallying 212 points from 1987-88 through 1988-89.
Football game times set
Game times for Kentucky’s first three football games have been set. The Wildcats will open the season against Southern Mississippi at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 3 on ESPNU. Kentucky then plays Florida in the Southeastern Conference opener at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 10 in Gainesville on CBS. The Wildcats return to Commonwealth Stadium on Sept. 17 to take on New Mexico State at 4 p.m.
Miller time in Germany
Darius Miller scored 26 points and knocked down eight 3-pointers to lead the Brose Baskets to a 101-82 win over Ratiopharm Ulm in Game 1 of the German Finals last weekend.
Miller led Mason County High School to the KHSAA State Championship in 2008 and concluded his college career with a NCAA title in 2012.
The former Kentucky guard will join former Mason County and Tennessee star Chris Lofton in a skills camp in Maysville June 27-29.
The second game of the German Finals is set for Wednesday night.
Poythress on mock draft list
At least one NBA analyst — Chad Ford of ESPN — is giving Alex Poythress a chance of getting his name called in the NBA Draft set for June 23.
Ford has Poythress at No. 50 in his latest mock draft. He has Jamal Murray at No. 3 (Boston Celtics), Skal Labissiere is listed No. 11 (Orlando Magic) and Tyler Ulis as the No. 15 pick going to the Denver Nuggets.
Poythress didn’t compete in the NBA combine last month but Calipari said the former Kentucky forward has draft potential.
“There are a lot of teams that like Alex,” he said. “But, he’s got to go (into the draft) healthy (and) he’s got to show then that athleticism and that stuff and he’ll be fine.”
Only 60 players will be drafted, while others, possibly including Poythress, can sign free-agent contracts.
Reach mission trip a success
Reach USA completed its tour of the Far East with a 2-3-1 record. The team was coached by Gary Forrest and Mark Evans. Kentucky senior Dominique Hawkins, Kenjah Bosley (Kentucky Wesleyan) and Western Kentucky’s Justin Johnson and Andrew Hammond were members of the official team roster.
Hawkins averaged 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals a game. In one encounter, Hawkins scored 15 points and made four shots from long range. He also added 11 points and seven assists in another contest.
“Games were close, win or lose, but fatigue became a factor in the last two games,” said Reach USA executive director Robby Speer.
Speer added the trip involved more than just basketball.
“It was a great trip, with new doors being opened and great times in Bible study,” Speer said.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter