By LARRY VAUGHT
Dick Parsons was an All-America shortstop at the University of Kentucky and three-year letterman in basketball under coach Adolph Rupp who later became UK’s head baseball coach for two years and assistant basketball coach under Joe Hall for 11 seasons, including the 1978 national championship season.
The 1957 Harlan High School graduate hit .400 his senior year to become an All-American and was a two-time all-Southeastern Conference pick. In basketball he scored 511 points in three seasons when UK went 61-19.
In basketball, Parsons scored 511 points in three varsity seasons at UK and helped the Cats to a 61-19 record and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Parson was a team captain in both sports at UK but admits he was a bit surprised when he got the news he was being inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame last fall.
“(UK athletics director) Mitch Barnhart called me. I was at a stop sign in Harrodsburg and was really pleased I was stopped because it took me by total surprise,” Parsons said. “I just never thought about anything like that happening.
“I had a good baseball career and was part of some good teams for coach Rupp. I really enjoyed coaching at Kentucky, too.”
Being a two-sport athlete when he played at UK was not unusual. He remembers Fran Tarkenton, who went on to a successful NFL career, was a second baseman at Georgia when he was also the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs.
“A lot of us played two sports. It was always a week after basketball ended and we would take off for a spring baseball trip,” Parsons said. “I loved baseball. Back in high school I talked to some (professional) baseball scouts. I was not drafted but I was going to sign with the Dodgers after (high) school was out. Then a week before school was out, the scout left the team.”
He got to Kentucky in 1957 and believes it was his baseball career that got him into the UK Hall of Fame even though he was a productive basketball player. He credits former UK baseball coach Keith Madison for helping secure his spot in the Hall of Fame.
“Coach Rupp wanted me to stay on when I graduated. I made a mistake. I should have stayed even though I got involved in scouting for him until I came back in 1968 as the baseball coach,” Parsons said. “I would get my scouting reports to coach Rupp and (assistant) coach (Harry) Lancaster. I never lost contact with them.”
Parsons became a high school teacher at Glasgow the same year former UK football player Jim Poynter went there to coach. A few years later Poynter left for Lafayette High School and Parsons went to Boyle County as head basketball coach.
“I was teaching college prep biology classes and coaching when I got the chance to go back to Kentucky as the baseball coach,” Parsons said.
Parsons remains grateful with what Rupp did for him. He calls that an “interesting and memorable” part of my life.
“He was very good to me. I did pretty much what he wanted but I loved his approach to the game. He was an imposing figure but I loved him,” Parsons said.
Parsons was a freshman on the 1957-58 Kentucky team known as the “Fiddlin’ Five” that won Rupp’s fourth national championship.
“One day we scrimmaged the varsity (freshmen were not eligible then) and we beat them,” Parsons said. “That was the first time I heard him (Rupp) say, ‘You guys were just fiddlin’ around.’ That stuck with that team and coach Rupp continued to call them that and I was so proud that they won the national championship.
“Those guys are some of the best friends I have ever had. But from 3 to 5:30 every day, they were not my friends. It was kind of the last man standing every day in practice but it was such a grand experience.”
He felt the same about the 1977-78 season when UK was considered the team to beat all season after losing in the East Region final in 1977. Parsons said Purdue transfer Kyle Macy was the “difference maker” that helped UK get the national title for Hall.
Parsons still remembers playing Arkansas in the national semifinals. He got a game film from Memphis where Arkansas made its first 14 shots while scoring 95 points.
“I told coach Hall I did not want to show that film to our players,” Parsons said. “We were going to win but I did not want to change the players’ frame of mind. Arkansas was pretty good but we won and then beat Duke in the title game. To win a title, you have got to be good and you have got to be lucky.”
Parsons moved to Harrodsburg about 10 years ago to be closer to his grandchildren. He appreciates the “historical value” of the area much like he cherishes UK basketball history.
“I don’t go to (basketball) practices like I did. I get there a little and coach Cal never minded when I was there,” he said. “But now it is just easier to let the grandkids go to the games but I do enjoy watching this team play.”
Simon-Kenton physical education teacher Brenden Stowers has known Aba Selm since he was a high school freshman and believes Kentucky signed a special player.
The 6-4, 285-pound Selm, a three-star recruit, played both ways for Simon-Kenton and had 59 tackles and 15 tackles for loss during the 2023 season while also starting on the offensive line and playing so well that he had offers from Florida, Penn State, Missouri, Louisville and others before signing with UK.
“I actually remember the JV game I was at and he was on the practice field practicing when the coaches pulled him on the freshman squad and put him in the JV game. I think from there he just took off,” Stowers said.
“He always had the build. He always had the ability. I think it was mostly just getting the opportunity and experience. He was that kid that was going to be something special from the freshman year when he got on campus.”
Stowers watched him play against some of the state’s best players and have success he thinks will transition to college.
“We have watched him play against different formations on both sides of the ball. He is just a worker and that is one of the things that allowed him to excel. He is one of those kids that is not just satisfied with winning,” Stowers said. “He always wants to be better.
“He is very liked among the whole student body, He is just a very humble, respectful kid that puts his nose to the ground and just goes to work. He loves football. He is the definition of a football kid.”
Stowers said Selma’s demeanor off the football field makes it easy to like him.
“He is well liked, very polite. He is a yes sir, no sir type of kid,” Stowers said. “He says hi to people in the hallway. He jokes around with people and is very well liked by everybody and we all know he’s going to do great at Kentucky.”
Freshman guard Rob Dillingham admits that when he comes off the bench with freshman Reed Sheppard the duo wants to “create a spark” immediately.
“We talk to each other and try our best to make the team better and help us get a lead. We have an edge about ourselves and a chip on our shoulder when we come in,” Dillingham said.
The fan favorite says he actually blocks out crowd noise/reactions.
“When I be making moves I don’t hear nothing. I just make the move. We feed off it (crowd noise) and it gives us positive energy and that creates wins,” Dillingham said. “We play our best basketball when we move the ball. We get stuck sometimes and that’s not our game. We move the ball and play better because everybody has confidence.”
Dillingham said he appreciates the way Sheppard, Antonio Reeves and D.J. Wagner can all score.
“In high school it is more where you got to make the play every time,” Dillingham said. “It’s a relief when you don’t have to make the play every time yourself.”
Covington Catholic tight end Willie Rodriguez was not an early enrollee at Kentucky like most of the 2024 signing class but he now has his first NIL deal with Newport-based Nevels Fitness. Former UK football player Jordan Nevels is the owner-founder of Nevels Fitness told WCPO-TV of Cincinnati his goal was to help Rodriguez develop into a freshman All-American.
ESPN ranked him as No. 24 tight end in the nation after he had 29 catches for 488 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. He also had 48 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on defense when he helped Catholic reach the Class 4A state championship game.
“I really love the opportunity of getting to continue to work out there and get better as well as to be able to advertise and inspire other kids to see what I’m doing and for them to go there and do the same and get the same results and benefits,” Rodriguez told WCPO.
Nevels was a starter on Highlands 2004 Class 3A state title. He said there will be video showing the work Rodriguez will be doing to prepare for his freshman season at Kentucky.
Maggie Davis of WLEX-TV spends a lot of time with University of Kentucky athletes in her role on “BBN Tonight,” a 30-minute show on UK sports that airs Monday through Friday nights on WLEX.
She appreciates what freshman Reed Sheppard has done this season.
“Kentucky fans were going to love that kid no matter what. He did not have to be this good to be loved,” Davis said. “Him playing his role and having the best season of any of the Kentucky freshmen has been a Kentucky fan’s dream and I love his attitude about it all.
“I can’t imagine myself in his position, but Reed has been living with that for a long time. He has played in big games with huge expectations and his parents on TV, so for him this season has just been like another day at the office. He’s just so chill about it all. He’s just so normal, so humble despite all he’s doing.”
Former UK All-American Jack Givens calls Sheppard the “calming force” on the team.
“You can put him in when nothing is going right and he kind of grabs the guys together,” Givens, the UK Radio Network analyst, said. “It seems everybody relaxes and starts to play.
“He will never be the quickest player or jump the highest but he is a difference maker. I saw him play I don’t know how many times in high school and was not quite sure he could play like this at this level. He has erased any doubts I had.
“He is thinking the pass ahead before he gets the ball. His head is always up surveying the floor. It has also been fun to watch his evolution on defense as he’s adjusted on both ends of the court to make himself a special player.”
National media members are just as impressed — or maybe even more impressed — with Sheppard.
“He makes everyone better when he is on the floor for Kentucky. He is as good as any player in the country making plays in transition,” New York Daily news columnist Dick “Hoops” Weiss said about Sheppard.
Quote of the Week: “I think this is the most fun team since the Fox-Monk-Adebayo team in 2017. I really look forward to these games because they are fun to watch play,” Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story on the UK basketball team.
Quote of the Week 2: “Kentucky now has four options — Tre Mitchell, Aaron Bradshaw, Ugonna Onyenso, and Zvonimir Ivisic — at the 5 to go along with an incredibly deep and talented perimeter. Not many teams in college basketball have a higher ceiling than the Wildcats,” CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein on UK after Zvonimir Ivisic’s debut.
Quote of the Week 3: “He has great versatility and size. He has all the tools to be a big-time SEC wing. His best basketball will be years from now but I still think he will be great at Kentucky. He has a tremendous upside as a special two-way player,” Link Academy coach Bill Armstrong on UK basketball signee Billy Richmond.