Matthew Mitchell’s 2009-10 Kentucky Wildcats team thrilled us all with their style of play and winning ways, taking a team not even ranked at the beginning of the year, all the way to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.
Mitchell earned AP and SEC Coach of the Year while Victoria Dunlap and A’dia Mathies earned SEC Player of the Year and Freshman Player of the Year, respectively.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The Cats were 28-8 overall and 11-5 in the SEC, ending the year ranked No. 9 in both the AP and Coaches Poll…
The 09-10 team was a part of the only college remaining to have both their men’s and woman’s basketball programs still undefeated after the Cats started the season 11-0.
Expectations going into the 2010-11 season are high at Kentucky. With all but two Players returning, the Cats are in a position to once again make a deep run into the NCAA Tourney and challenge SEC power house Tennessee for the SEC Regular and Tournament Championship.
That success is being noticed nationwide and is showing up in the pre-season rankings.
2010-11 [URL=”http://www.lindyssports.com/”]LINDY’S SPORTS[/URL] PRESEASON TOP 15 POLL
1. Connecticut
2. Baylor
3. Stanford
4. Tennessee
5. Xavier
6. Duke
7. Oklahoma
8. Ohio State
[B]9. KENTUCKY[/B]
10. Texas A&M
11. Notre Dame
12. Georgetown
2010-11 [URL=”http://www.athlonsports.com/”]ATHLON SPORTS[/URL] PRESEASON TOP 15 POLL
1. Connecticut
2. Stanford
3. Tennessee
4. Baylor
5. Ohio State
6. Xavier
7. Texas A&M
8. Duke
9. West Virginia
10. Maryland
[B]11. KENTUCKY[/B]
12. Georgetown
2010-11 [URL=”http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball”]SPORTING NEWS[/URL] PRESEASON TOP 15 POLL
1. Connecticut
2. Baylor
3. Stanford
4. Xavier
5. Tennessee
6. Duke
7. Ohio State
8. Notre Dame
9. West Virginia
10. Oklahoma
11. North Carolina
[B]12. KENTUCKY[/B]
Kentucky’s top-10 recruiting class of Sarah Beth Barnette, Maegan Conwright, Samantha Drake, Kastine Evans and Jennifer O’Neill, featured the Wildcats’ first McDonald’s All-America selection (O’Neill) and three state players of the year from Connecticut (Evans), Kentucky (Barnette) and Texas (Conwright).
The Cats will begin regular-season play at home on Nov. 12 against Morehead State. The game will tip off at 11 a.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum as the nation’s first women’s basketball game of the season.
Go Cats!!!
