Sean Woods might not have many friends in return to Lexington

Sean Woods is somewhat of a legendary figure in Lexington, Kentucky.

He was a member of “The Unforgettables” at Kentucky, a group of seniors that had stayed with the program through harsh NCAA punishment following the tenure of Eddie Sutton that resulted in several severe sanctions including an NCAA Tournament ban. Woods and other players such as Richie Farmer, John Pelphrey and Deron Feldhaus made it all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to Duke on the legendary Christian Laettner shot.

Well, Woods made his way up the coaching ranks, taking Mississippi Valley State to the NCAA Tournament last season — a nearly impossible feat if you look at the conditions of the athletic programs at the Itta Bena school. He’s now in his first season at Morehead State and he brings the Eagles down Interstate 64 to play the Wildcats.

After some of his comments in his pregame press conference, Woods might not get the reception he would like when the two teams tip-off on Thursday.

The question was posed by a reporter in the teleconference about how current Kentucky freshman Willie Cauley-Stein said he knew nothing about Laettner’s shot in 1992. From there, well, I’ll just let Woods tell it.

“Kids now-a-days, they play too many video games,” Woods said. “I mean, [just] being honest with you. They don’t get it. They play basketball, but they don’t know what basketball really is…I walked into a deal the other day when they had that telethon [for Hurricane Sandy relief] at WKYT, and I didn’t like the vibe, I’m just going to be honest with you, of those guys.

“It’s just, it’s totally different now. And it’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just the way society is now. And you know, I think my generation…my [graduating] class to maybe four, five years after that, you know what I’m saying, these kids don’t know anything. And I bet you any type of money, besides the kids that are from Kentucky that’s on UK’s team, they couldn’t tell you anything about not one player in the history of Kentucky basketball.”

This is some pretty serious chatter from such a simple question, but if you listen to the audio, Woods seems to go off on a tangent that he probably has been thinking about personally for some time.

Earlier in the press conference, Woods started by prefacing what he meant. Pointing out that he never saw players like Earl Monroe and Wilt Chamberlain play, but knew all about them.

The comments look worse in print/online than they actually are. Woods seemed to be wanting to point out that the history of Kentucky basketball and how kids today don’t seem to know much about it, but took it a little too far.

He has a point. But history itself fades to some degree in everything. Our grandparents remember Pearl Harbor like it was yesterday (not that I’m comparing the two, just using it as a basis for a significant event) but for the 70s and 80s babies, it’s an historic holiday, but nothing that really gets to our hearts.

In sports parlance, it’s the same way for Kentucky basketball. I was way too young to remember “The Shot” itself, but I remember a lot of stories about it. Though I’m from the area, so it was unavoidable. Recruits of today outside the state aren’t necessarily devoid of history, they just have more current events and issues and moments to remember, not ones that happened before they were born (which makes me feel old as well).

Woods has since backtracked a bit via his Twitter account in a series of tweets.

In no way were my comments meant to offend or insult the current players at UK. Simply an observation of today’s youth everywhere….I greatly admire Coach Cal and what he has done for the University of Kentucky and college basketball….I will always be proud to have worn a Kentucky Wildcat uniform and to be the head coach at Morehead State University.

So there. It wasn’t the smartest of moves for Woods to say what he said at that length, but he did and he owned up to it (somewhat). He’s a great person and coach, and in dealing with him in several interviews and games, he’s a very honest and engaging person. Sometimes that’s a gift and a curse.

Regardless, Woods will probably have a few less fans when he enters Rupp Arena on Thanksgiving.

David Harten is the editor of The Backboard Chronicles. You can follow him on Twitter at @David_Harten.