The Danville Advocate-Messenger:
Both are undersized guards from western Kentucky who grew up dreaming of playing for the Kentucky Wildcats but had to go to another school first before the opportunity to transfer to UK arose.It feels awkward to root against Travis Ford.
They are also both known not only for their long-range shooting, but also for their flashy passes as well.
Still, Eastern Kentucky coach Travis Ford says current UK guard Patrick Sparks is not exactly the kind of player he was when he helped the Wildcats reach the 1993 Final Four.
"He is a great player," Ford said of Sparks. "I love the feel he has for the game. But he plays two guard and I played the point. We played two different roles (at Kentucky). Obviously, that's been a popular question, but he looks to score a little bit more than I was able to do. I was bringing the ball up the court and running the offense. I don't see a lot of comparisons."
Others do. Ford was a standout at Madisonville before going to Missouri after being shunned by then UK coach Eddie Sutton. When Sutton left and Rick Pitino arrived, Ford transferred.
Sparks was a standout at Muhlenberg North and was not offered a scholarship by UK coach Tubby Smith. After two years as Western Kentucky's starting point guard, he transferred to Kentucky after coach Dennis Felton left Western for Georgia. Sparks even paid his own way last year before going on scholarship this season.
Sparks even played on a summer all-star team coached by Ford's father, Eddie, when he was in high school. So did Eastern senior Michael Haney.
Now Travis Ford gets to coach against Sparks when No. 7 Kentucky faces Eastern Thursday in Indianapolis in a NCAA Tournament first-round game.
Ford does acknowledge that there is one similarity between Sparks, UK's second-leading scorer, and him. "Competitiveness, without question, and the way we approach the game are very similar," Ford said. "We both obviously hate to lose and the intensity we play with is very similar."
Ford still remembers the individual instruction workouts Smith did with him when Smith was on Pitino's staff and Ford was playing for Kentucky.I met Coach Orlando "Tubby" Smith when he first came to Kentucky. I was in the audience at the call-in show at Oxmoor Mall (one block away, there's another mall!).
"We did a lot of work on my game," Ford said.
When Ford started his coaching career at Campbellsville and then came to Eastern, Smith was always someone willing to help him.
"Coach Smith is somebody I admire and respect a tremendous amount," Ford said. "Once I started coaching, he welcomed me with open arms. He invited me to practice and his office.
"He's a wonderful coach, but not many people get to see the behind the scenes look at coach Smith and how nice he is to former players. He'll take your phone call any time. He'll go out of his way to see you if you are at the same event. I admire and respect the way he takes time to say hello to us (former players) when he could be doing so many other things."
Florida coach Billy Donovan also was an assistant when Ford played there. That's one reason Eastern and Florida have played the last two years and why Florida has scheduled an upcoming game in Richmond.I've always been a fan of Billy Donovan. It pains me to root against him and the Gators but what I don't understand is why the Gators stink in post-season play each year.
Florida easily beat the Colonels earlier this season, but Donovan says the Colonels could be a dangerous first-round opponent.
"They have a lot of different pieces to the puzzle," Donovan said. "They are very good and really worried me when we played them. (Matt) Haney is a good, physical player. They have players on the perimeter who can score. They have some physical inside guys.
"They are not as big or physical as Kentucky is, but they run a lot of creative things on offense because they have guys that can score. On defense, they change things up to confuse you. Travis knows what he's doing."
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