Tickets go on sale tomorrow for an exhibition basketball game later this month at the KFC Yum! Center featuring the Dominican national team.Some U of L fans are rankled that the visitors to the new home of the Cards will be coached by UK’s John Calipari, and their opponents will be a team of former Wildcats.Calipari is coaching the Dominicans against a squad of former UK players now in the pros. The teams’ August 15 game in Lexington quickly sold out, so Calipari scheduled a second game at the Yum Center the following night.That’s not sitting well with some U of L fans, but the Yum! Center is a state-owned facility and the basketball program has no control over off-season scheduling.Cards Coach Rick Pitino said this week it’s no big deal."We don’t pay any attention to our competitors, except when it’s time to play them and I really mean that sincerely, it’s no different than Villanova or West Virginia or anyone else. It’s a free country. And the KFC (Yum! Center) last time I checked was part of this country," he said. The team of professionals will be coached by retired U of L Coach Denny Crum. Crum’s radio show partner, former UK Coach Joe Hall, will assist Calipari with the Dominican team.That team includes two former Louisville players. (Photo of Denny Crum and Joe B. Hall courtesy of WKRD Radio)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
