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One thing has never changed about Charles Barkley — he respects Kentucky basketball even though he had his ups and downs as a player against Kentucky when he was at Auburn.
He played against UK eight times from 1981-84 and only won three times. He got thrown out of the Kentucky game at Auburn his sophomore year for hitting UK’s Charles Hurt in the back of the head and UK won 71-69. His third season at Auburn — and his last before he turned pro — the Tigers beat UK by 19 points at home but lost by 20 in Lexington. In the 1984 SEC Tournament in Nashville, UK won 51-49 on a last-second shot by Kenny Walker that left Barkley lying on the floor crying.
The former NBA star worked UK’s game against Indiana with Dick Vitale in December and is part of the NCAA Tournament coverage and took some questions from the truTV panel before the First Four games.
One question came from former UK All-American Jamal Mashburn on how far Barkley thought the Wildcats would fare in NCAA Tournament play.
Former Wildcat All-American Jamal Mashburn asked Barkley to share how far he thinks the Wildcats can advance in the Big Dance after losing five of their final seven regular-season games and going out in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals against Florida.
“Well, I got some bad news for you, Jamal. If y’all can make it to the second weekend, that would be a great season,” the always candid Barkley said.
Kentucky, a No. 7 seed, plays 10 seed Santa Clara Friday at 12:15 ET in St. Louis and if it advances would face No. 2 seeded Iowa State Sunday.
However, Barkley still has fond memories of Kentucky.
“Number one, it’s always an honor and privilege to play at Rupp Arena. When I was there, it was an honor and privilege to go there, and then play against Indiana with Coach Bobby Knight, is another one of the biggest programs in history,” Barkley said. “But anytime I get to go to Lexington, it’s an honor and a privilege. And you know what? The Big Blue Nation, they’re awesome.”
And he would like to see Kentucky surprise most everyone and make a deep run.
“I don’t see Kentucky making a deep run, but if they could get — because I root for (assistant) coach (Mark) Fox, he’s my guy. I know he’s not the head coach, but he’s my guy,” Barkley said. “I would love to see, you know Kentucky; Man, they got, they probably got the best fanbase.
“They’re like the Steelers or the Packers. Their fans travel like pack rats. So you know, the Blue Nation is gonna have some fans, but if they could get to the second weekend, that would be a great season, because they’ve been inconsistent all year.”
2 Responses
Like I've said all year Mark Fox would be a better coach at Kentucky than Mark Pope. When we got Fox as a assistant I was hyped up. He turned Georgia around in his time there. Its hard to win in basketball at a football school. Like it's hard to win in football at a basketball school.
I didn’t understand Charles’ reference to traveling like pack rats. Turns out the devoted followers of the Green Bay Packers are affectionately known as Pack Rats. The more you learn….