Larry Steele
Kentucky is scheduled to play the University of Portland in the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, home state of Terrence Jones, on November 19, 2010. What other connection does Kentucky have with Portland? In 1987, former Kentucky forward Larry Steele was named head coach of the University of Portland. Steele played collegiately at the University of Kentucky under coach Adolph Rupp and was a first-team All-SEC player during his time with the Cats. Although he had never coached a game before in his life, Portland gave him a shot after spending nine seasons playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Steele played his entire NBA career for the team (retiring from basketball at the end of the 1979-80 season). Steele led the NBA in steals in the 1973-74 NBA season — the first year steals were recorded by the league. He played 20.7 MPG on the 1977 championship team (starting in only nine games), and his jersey number (15) was retired by the team on October 11, 1981. He currently runs a basketball camp in Vernonia, Oregon.
Sources: Big Blue Booyah and Wikipedia
