Big Blue Nation has a basketball outpost at Missouri Western

Newly hired this month as an assistant coach for Missouri Western, former Kentucky player Jon Hood had a telling introduction to the school’s vice president of intercollegiate athletics, Josh Looney.

“He cracked a joke that Will was creating BBN West,” Hood said in a telephone conversation Tuesday.

Will is Will Martin, a former University of Kentucky basketball manager who was promoted to Missouri Western head coach last year.

About two weeks after Looney’s quip about an expanding Big Blue Nation, Martin hired another former UK player, Perry Stevenson, to his staff.

Suddenly St. Joseph, Mo., the birthplace of Walter Cronkite and rapper Eminem, plus where Jesse James died, has another distinction.

The expectation is that any connection to Kentucky basketball can be beneficial. For example, Martin recalled how he volunteered as a UK freshman in 2007-08 to fold towels in equipment manager Bill Keightley’s office before dawn. He hoped this would lead to becoming a manager. He said this humble beginning to a coaching career resonates.

“Just to get into the building and fold towels, that’s a big deal to a lot of people,” Martin said Monday.

Martin did not get a manager’s job that year. He keeps the rejection letter he received from then-UK coach Billy Gillispie on display behind his desk next to a picture of him helping cut down the nets after Kentucky won the 2012 national championship.

“I have it to remind myself of the importance of faith, humility and perseverance,” Martin said.

Missouri Western’s Kentucky connection times three counts Stevenson, a player from 2006-07 through 2009-10; Hood, a player from 2009-10 through 2013-14; and Martin, a manager from 2008-09 through 2011-12.

If that wasn’t a strong enough connection, Martin served as a personal assistant to Anthony Davis in the player’s transition to the NBA. Plus, Hood played with Kentucky teams that included 33 future professional players.

All that history “definitely perked some ears,” Hood said.

When Missouri Western promoted Martin to head coach, the school let Davis break the news on Twitter, where he had 2.1 million followers (Martin had 5,700).

“You guys have a guy who cares and who is going to push the guys every day to be great!” Davis tweeted. “Know you’re gonna do great things there. Well deserved brotha!”

Martin, who had a 14-11 record in his first season as head coach at the NCAA Division II school, sees the Kentucky playing days making Hood and Stevenson better coaches.

Hood had to adjust from being a Kentucky Mr. Basketball to a college benchwarmer.

Upon returning to UK more recently and meeting with John Calipari, Hood said he told the UK coach, “My first four and a half years, I hated you. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t playing. Then midway through that fourth year, I understood. And I understand that you just wanted to win.’”

Hood also said he gained a coach’s perspective when he had to sit out the 2011-12 season because of a major knee injury.

Martin saw these experiences helping make Hood a mentor for Missouri Western players.

Stevenson played for three different coaches at UK: Tubby Smith in 2006-07, Gillispie in 2007-08 and 2008-09, then Calipari in 2009-10.

“I really, really, really liked Tubby,” Stevenson said Tuesday. He credited Smith with caring about him as a person as well as a player.

Stevenson saluted Gillispie for whipping him into the best shape of his life. And he described Calipari as a “no-nonsense guy” who was “straight forward with everything” and willing to give players more than one opportunity to contribute in games.

Martin spoke of playing for three coaches enabling Stevenson to grow as a teacher of the game.

Martin credits Calipari with instilling in him and others a desire to help others. For Martin, this came through in Calipari’s first few weeks on the job. The new UK coach invited the managers to his home.

“All of us were, like, freaking out because we didn’t know why Coach Cal was inviting us over to his house,” Martin said. “Is he going to tell us we’re fired? What’s going on?

“He sits us down at his dining room table, and he comes out and he’s got an apron on and (he is carrying) a plate full of ribeye steaks, and he serves the managers. And that moment has been etched into my life forever because he showed me as the head coach at Kentucky the first three weeks on the job that he was going to serve us.

“It gets me emotional just thinking about it because I’ve tried to live that out ever since.”

Martin has an idea of how Calipari can continue to serve. Kentucky could play Missouri Western in a preseason exhibition game.

“Heck, I think it would be awesome,” said Stevenson before adding, “I know it’s not always pleasant to be the visiting team in Rupp Arena.”

If that game comes about, ‘hopefully we don’t get too many boos,” Stevenson said. “(Maybe instead) a couple cheers here and there.”

‘Roster fatigue’

Terry McWilliams named his oldest child Kyle. “After Kyle Macy,” he said.

And Kyle McWilliams named one of his daughters Macey.

So, yes, the elder McWilliams is a UK basketball fan. Like many fans, he wishes Kentucky players stayed more than a year. That wish may become more fervent with more than 1,600 players in the transfer portal to add to the already one-and-done freshman fluidity in college basketball.

“This particular past season it took me until (chuckles) probably toward the end of the season before I even started to recognize who they were,” McWilliams said of UK players.

McWilliams, 66, grew up in Louisville. He is a 1978 UK graduate with a degree in journalism. He worked for newspapers in Kingsport, Tenn., Knoxville and Asbury Park, N.J., before his current job in investor relations.

“I … was introduced to UK basketball through the black-and-white, 11:30 p.m. game replays on WAVE, and have been hooked on the Big Blue since,” he wrote in an email. “But, yes, … roster fatigue set in. Faces and names constantly changing, anchored only by NBA desires. I love Cal’s energy and how he reinvigorated the program. But continuity, basketball IQ and the team concept play just as important a role in the program as does raw basketball talent.”

After the 9-16 record in 2020-21, McWilliams needs more than the usual recruiting hype to be assured of a dramatic turnaround.

“It’s got to be a wait-and-see,” he said.

Why transfer?

A reader asked for the reasons cited to explain why CJ Fredrick transferred from Iowa to Kentucky. Fredrick did not cite playing time. He averaged 28.6 and 24.7 minutes per game in his two seasons with the Hawkeyes.

“I just kind of wanted something new,” Fredrick said. “I loved my time at Iowa … I met my best friends at that school. I wish nothing but the best for them.”

But …

“I felt it was best for me and my career to make this move and develop more as a player, a teammate and a person,” he said.

The player’s father, Chuck Fredrick, echoed those sentiments.

“Iowa was a great situation for him. …,” the elder Fredrick said. “But at the end of the day, just challenging himself a little bit more. Probably the only kid in the transfer portal not unhappy about playing time.”

Female superiority

UK announced that its athletics teams had an overall grade-point average of 3.259 in the spring semester.

The top six GPAs were achieved by women’s teams: swimming and diving (3.794), gymnastics (3.780), tennis (3,724), golf (3.679), softball (3.535) and soccer (3.507).

Two men’s teams brought up the rear: football (2.712) and basketball (2.959).

Overall, female athletes had a 3.500 GPA. Male athletes had a 3.088 GPA.

Help for stuttering

Former UK player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has launched an initiative to help people who stutter. Earlier this month, it was announced he would start a Change & Impact Initiative for Stuttering.

Its mission is to improve access to healthcare and expand services and resources for those who stutter.

Kidd-Gilchrist began stuttering at an early age.

According to the website The Stuttering Foundation, notable people who stuttered include actors James Earl Jones and Marilyn Monroe, diver Greg Louganis, naturalist Charles Darwin and President Joe Biden.

Belated Happy birthday

To Cedric Jenkins. He turned 55 on May 25.

Happy birthday

To Adam Delph. He turned 31 on Friday. … To Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland. He turned 64 on Friday. … To Hall of Famer Jerry West. He turned 83 on Friday. … To former UK president David Roselle. He turns 82 on Sunday (today). … to former Florida coach Billy Donovan. He turns 56 on Sunday (today). … To referee John Hampton. He turns 53 on Wednesday.

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