Fans who have been begging and praying for the members of the 2009 University of Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting class to return for another year have reason to celebrate as the players held a joint press conference announcing they’ll be around next year.
The sadness surrounding the #1-seeded Wildcats loss to West Virginia this past weekend seems a distant memory as Joe Wall, Demartin Cousins, Aaron Bledsoe, Peter Patterson and Donald Orton all confirmed their desire to stay in Lexington. It was a welcomed announcement after months of speculation of who would return to the university once the tournament was over.
It has been a foregone conclusion Joe Wall would be the #1 pick, with Demartin possibly going in the top-5 as well. Peter Patterson graduates this May, yet he has decided to go ahead and begin his Masters program- just to have a chance to play with this once-in-a-lifetime team one more year. Both Aaron Bledsoe and Donald Orton had amazing numbers for the second-half of the season, giving the possibility of all five players being guaranteed millionaires in just a little over two months… if they hadn’t chosen to stay at UK.
A Facebook group calling itself “UK One More Year” surpassed the 18,000 member mark early Thursday morning, prompting the players to announce their decisions. Shrieks of excitement could be heard around the state, as office workers, school teachers and businessmen alike were all full of complete elation.
“We were all talking after the loss and we decided the NBA could wait. Yes, we are turning down tens of millions of dollars and the chance to go in the first round- but what is more important… Money or hanging another banner for the University of Kentucky? Most people would answer ‘money’, but those people have never played basketball for UK”, Joe Wall stated.
Kentucky basketball fans rejoiced, and all 5 players immediately returned to their classrooms where they plan to ace their finals and continue on with a goal of a 4.0 GPA for the next school year.
