We really should all aspire to be more like Mike Pratt

I think anyone would like to have left the legacy that former UK all-American Mike Pratt did when he passed recently at age 73.

“Forget about the basketball, forget about the broadcasting, I think the legacy that Mike leaves is he was just a darn good guy,” Dan Issel, UK’s all-time leading scorer and Pratt’s UK teammate, said the morning after Pratt’s death on the ESPN radio show in Louisville he hosted along with Pratt.

“He never met a stranger, he always had time for everybody and I’m going to miss him dearly. I can take solace in the fact that I know where he is right now. My friend will never have to feel that excruciating pain again.”

Pratt never let anyone know the pain he was in and only missed two UK basketball broadcasts during his battle with cancer. He broadcast 558 UK wins and saw UK win one national title and go to four Final Fours and nine Elite Eights.

“He was always prepared. He never complained.  I truly had no idea just how much pain he was going through,” UK Radio Network play-by-play announcer Tom Leach said.

“He liked people and was very approachable and a lot of people wanted to talk to him. He was also a go-to guy for the media because of the content he provided.”

Leach worked with Pratt for 20 years and they recently released a book, “Kentucky Basketball: Two decades behind the scenes.” It shares many of the stories the two have experienced and becomes even  more of a treasure for Kentucky basketball fans now.

“It was actually his idea to do the book and I am so glad we got to share those stories,” Leach said. “It was not the ideal time for me to do it but I was not going to let him down because he never let you down.”

Jim Host understood how much average Kentucky basketball fans came to love Pratt even if they never had a chance to meet him. Host also said Pratt was a “sponge” when it came to soaking up information and broadcast suggestions.

“Nobody is ever going to fill his shoes. They are just going to try and fit in his shoes,” Host said.

Eric Lindsey was UK’s primary media contact for the men’s basketball program for eight years as director of athletic communications before leaving UK during the 2021-22 season. He also previously worked for coachcal.com, John Calipari’s website.

He called Pratt “one of the kindest humans to ever walk this planet” on Twitter and said his “defining legacy” would be how he treated people.

“We should all aspire to be more like Mike,” Lindsey said.

Somehow I think Pratt loves knowing that is the legacy he left for Kentucky fans or anyone who knew him.