Senior night
Tonight is Senior Night, the final home game of the University of Kentucky's men's basketball team's season. Tonight, the Big Blue Nation will celebrate two student-athletes who will be graduating as seniors in a couple of months. Now, Eloy Vargas has certainly put in some hard work in the two years since he transferred to UK, but for most Kentuckians, tonight is all about Darius Miller.
Everyone who follows Kentucky basketball knows the story. Darius Miller, the 6'8 guard from Maysville's Mason County High School, was named Kentucky's 2008 Mr Basketball. He was recruited during the darkest ages of the Billy Gillispie era, and was Coach Cal's only hope upon reviewing the incoming 2009 roster. For Kentucky fans, Darius represents a model of perseverance, hard work, and leadership. He may not be a blue-chip freak of nature like Anthony Davis, but he's given us four great years, playing where and how he is needed. And his contribution has been key to our dominance this year.
In an era of "one and done", it's refreshing to see a player whose top priority is completing his education. In a sport that often seems little more than a farm league for the NBA, it's a wonderful change of pace to see a player whose commitment is far more to his team than to himself.
Darius Miller is the type of player that Kentucky fans love -- homegrown and hardworking, he's given us four years of solid play. He's the name on the lips of every blue t-shirt-wearing grandma at small town Wal-Marts across the Commonwealth and the heart of our team.
We'll miss you, Number One!
