Shunned by both Louisville and childhood favorite Kentucky, Anthony Hickey, native of Hopkinsville, Ky., can only hold onto his last visit to Rupp Arena. The 5-foot-11 dynamo drew the double team and kicked it out to his Christian County teammate, who drained a 3-pointer to send the arena into a pandemonium as the Colonels captured a double-overtime, state championship victory.
Despite Hickey being named Kentucky’s “Mr. Basketball” that season, it wasn’t enough to woo Kentucky coach John Calipari or Louisville legend Rick Pitino as Hickey made his way to Baton Rouge.
“Yeah, it [does] bother me,” Hickey said of his lack of recruitment. “I’m here [at LSU], though, so I get to play against them.”
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter’s Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.