Lexington, Ky. - One of the most unique geographical and cross-divisional rivalries in college basketball will be renewed this Friday, October 26 as the Transylvania men's basketball team faces off against the University of Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at 7:00 p.m.
The Pioneers of the NCAA Division III's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference will make the iconic five-block walk down Broadway to play the Wildcats of the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference in the teams' first meeting since November 1, 2013.
Friday's exhibition game between Transy and Kentucky is the first meeting between the two Lexington neighbors since the teams met for three consecutive years from the falls of 2011 through 2013.
The game also serves as the first contest of the 2018-19 season for the Transylvania men's basketball team. It is one of two exhibition games preceding the start of Transy's regular season on November 9 and the lone game against a non-Division III team.
The 2018 Battle on Broadway is the 18th meeting overall between Transylvania and Kentucky including exhibitions. The Pioneers and Wildcats first played on February 20, 1903 with the Pioneers winning 42 to 2. Their last non-exhibition meeting took place over 100 years ago on March 3, 1911 with UK prevailing 30 to 24.
The rivalry laid dormant for a century before the lone two NCAA-affiliated teams based in Lexington met up on November 2, 2011 for the first of three consecutive meetings over the following three seasons as the Wildcats won the exhibition contest, 97-53.
Entering the 2018-19 season ranked No. 2 in the country by the Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Wildcats take on the Pioneers as one of two exhibition opponents before opening up their regular season on November 6 against Duke University in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
WHERE TO WATCH: Friday's game will be broadcast on television on the SEC Network and on radio via the UK Sports Network.
TICKET INFORMATION: Limited tickets for the game are available at TicketMaster.com.
SERIES HISTORY: Transylvania is 7-7 against Kentucky all-time and 0-3 against the Wildcats in exhibition games which took place from 2011-2013. The teams last played against one another in regular-season competition three times during the 1910-11 season; Transylvania won the first meeting of the season 23-18 before UK won the last two games, 22-19 and 30-24.
Most recently, the teams played on November 1, 2013 with the Wildcats defeating Transylvania 76-42. Trevor Tiller led the Pioneers with 11 points in 34 minutes of play while the Wildcats were led by Julius Randle, who registered a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds.
In two of the last three seasons in which Transy played UK, the Wildcats went on to appear in the National Championship game the following April. Concurrently, the Pioneers advanced to the NCAA Tournament in two of those three years in which a game versus Kentucky was contested.
RECENT SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
2011: Kentucky defeats Transylvania 97-53 behind a game-high 22 points by Kentucky forward Terrence Jones on 9-13 FG. Jones's 12 rebounds were also a game-high. Five Wildcats scored in double figures including freshman guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with 19 points on 9-12 FG, guard Doron Lamb's 19 points on 8-11 FG, guard Marquis Teague's 14 points, and guard Darius Miller's 10 points. Freshman forward Anthony Davis, who would go on to win National Player of the Year and be named a First Team All-American, was limited to six points in the contest.
The Pioneers issued the first blow in the game, taking an 11-4 lead on the Wildcats with 16:40 left in the first half. Transylvania continued to hold a lead until Kentucky went ahead 20-19 at the 10:38 mark of the first half. Kentucky held a 14-point lead at the half on Transy (37-23) before outscoring the Pioneers in the second half 60-30 in front of 21,024 in attendance.
Transylvania junior guard Barrett Meyer, who later coached at Transylvania for three seasons as an assistant, scored the first five points of the game. He finished the night with 13 points on 5-13 FG, 3-9 3 pt FG, four rebounds, and three assists.
2012: Kentucky leads the game wire-to-wire and takes down Transylvania 74-28. Kentucky graduate transfer Julius Mays hit three 3-pointers to spark a 19-4 second-half for the Wildcats that blew open a 27-18 halftime advantage into a 24-point lead. Willie Cauley-Stein scored 12 points in the rout as the Wildcats outscored Transyvlania 47-10 in the second half.
One piece of aesthetic beauty that benefited the Pioneers was a highlight-reel dunk by Pioneer wingman Brandon Rash on Cauley-Stein which at the time cut a 17-14 Kentucky lead in the first half down to one point.
Kentucky went on to finish the season with a 21-12 record and play in the NIT, falling at Robert Morris in the first round. Transylvania captured an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, falling to Illinois Wesleyan in the first round, 80-71. The game marks Transylvania's most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.
2013: Only trailing Kentucky by 11 at the half, the Pioneers are unable to hang with Kentucky in the second half as the Wildcats outscore Transy 35-12 en route to a 76-42 win. Kentucky raised its field-goal percentage from 43 percent in the first half to 57 percent in the second half to turn a 41-30 halftime advantage into a second-half rout.
The Wildcats were led by freshman forward Julius Randle, who put up 16 points and 12 rebounds on 6-9 FG shooting. Dakari Johnson registered nine points while future Sacramento King Willie Cauley-Stein chipped in with seven points.
Transylvania was led by Trevor Tiller's 11 points on 3-12 FG shooting while Logan Wade scored 10 points in 29 minutes of work. Transylvania shot 14-51 from the field on the night and 8-28 from three-point range.
After shooting 10-27 from the floor in the first half, the Pioneers' field-goal percentage regressed to 4-24 (16.7 percent in the second half).
LAST SEASON
Transylvania enters the 2018-19 campaign coming off a 17-9 season and a 12-6 run in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, finishing in fourth place in the conference standings. The Pioneers' season ended in the HCAC Tournament quarterfinals, falling to Anderson (Ind.) 95-82.
Kentucky enters the 2018-19 season as the reigning conference tournament champions of the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats went 26-11 overall, 10-8 in SEC play while also finishing in fourth place in their regular season conference schedule, and were 16-2 at home.
Kentucky clinched an NCAA Tournament berth, reaching the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Kansas State, 61-58. Four members from last year's Wildcats roster were selected in the NBA draft. Two members of the team, freshmen Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were drafted 9th and 11th overall respectively.
HONORING COACH NEWTON
The 2018 edition of the Transy-Kentucky game will also pay tribute to the late CM Newton, one of the great figures in college athletics with ties and rich history in both programs. Both a legend as a college basketball coach and as an administrator, Newton was a key leader in racial integration in college athletics.
Newton passed away on June 4, 2018 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at the age of 88. He left behind a legacy as a pioneer and monolith in college sport.
The University of Kentucky alum began his collegiate coaching career at Transylvania where he coached for three separate stints from 1951 through 1968, guiding the Pioneers men's basketball program for a total of 12 seasons. Newton then moved on to the University of Alabama where he coached the Crimson Tide for 12 years to a record of 211-123. Newton spent a year as the SEC assistant commissioner before assuming head coaching duties at Vanderbilt from 1981 through 1989, leading the Commodores to five winning seasons.
Newton returned to his alma mater in 1989 to become Kentucky's athletic director, ushering in a new era in Lexington. Amidst countless achievements during his reign at Kentucky, Newton spearheaded an expansion of facilities, exponential revenue growth, an increasing of varsity sports offerings, and national championships in men's basketball in 1996 and 1998.
Newton's legacy of leadership and service included the recruitment of the first African-American players at both Transylvania and the University of Alabama and later the hiring of the first African-American coaches at the University of Kentucky in Tubby Smith and Bernadette Mattox.
In addition to his contributions at multiple SEC institutions, Newton was a part of other transformative moments in basketball, serving as manager for the 1984 US Olympic basketball team which captured gold in Los Angeles, and as an NCAA Rules Committee member when the three-point line and shot clock were implemented in college basketball. Newton later was a part of a group which helped select the iconic 1992 Olympic men's basketball Dream Team. Other key responsibilities held by Newton during his career including heading the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee and was the president of USA Basketball.
Newton compiled a coaching record of 509-375 over his time at Transylvania, Alabama, and Vanderbilt.
Newton achieved an assortment of awards as he was named the Athletic Director of the Year by National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in 1999 and was inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2017. He was inducted into the inaugural Transylvania Athletics Hall of Fame class of 1992 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. He also belongs to the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame, the UK College of Education Hall of Fame, and the Ft. Lauderdale Sports Hall of Fame.
Both teams plan to honor Newton at Friday's game prior to the national anthem at the end of the pregame warmup session.
KEY RETURNEES
Kentucky: PJ Washington (Sophomore, 6-8, forward, 10.8 ppg / 5.7 rpg) Quade Green (Sophomore, 6-0, guard, 9.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.7 apg), Nick Richards (Sophomore, 6-11, forward/center, 5.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
Transylvania: Cooper Theobald (Senior, 6-1, point guard, 11.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg (led team), 3.0 apg, 52% FG, 7-23 3 pt FG, 105-143 FT)
Gabe Schmitt (Junior, 6-2, guard, 12.1 ppg, (leading returning scorer), 2.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, 49% FG, 44% 3 pt FG, 60% eFG)
Michael Jefferson (Sophomore, guard, 6-2, 9.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.3 apg (led team), 59% FG, 6-16 3 pt FG, 61% eFG)
Bo Schuh (Senior, 6-6, forward, 8.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 53% FG, 36% 3 pt FG, 60% eFG)
Spencer McKinney (Junior, 6-4, guard, 6.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 41% FG, 34% 3 pt FG, 51% eFG)
NEW BLOOD
The 2018-19 matchup features a heavy talent infusion for both sides. The Wildcats boast the #2 rated recruiting class according to ESPN and features five top-30 ranked players from the class of 2018. Kentucky's lineup has also been bolstered by the arrival of graduate transfer Reid Travis, who played at Division I Stanford the last four seasons. Transylvania's roster has been augmented by 16 newcomers who fill out a 30-man roster.
Kentucky: Reid Travis (Graduate Transfer, 6-8, forward, 19.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg last season at Stanford), Keldon Johnson (ranked 7th in the ESPN 100, averaged 22.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 4.4 apg for Oak Hill Academy), Tyler Herro (ranked 30th avg. 32.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 3.3 spg at Whitnall HS), Immanuel Quickley (ranked 25th, avg. 20 ppg, 6 rpg, 6 apg at John Carroll HS), EJ Montgomery (ranked 14th, avg. 25.6 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 4.3 apg at Wheeler HS), Ashton Hagans (ranked 20th, avg. 20.2 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 7.6 apg, 3.6 spg at Newton HS)
Transylvania:
Luke Schroeder (Freshman, 6-9, forward/center, Sydney, Australia, was part of a Sydney Boys High team that won the CHS State Cup as a senior)
Zachary Larimore (Freshman, 6-4, forward, Lagrange, Ky., Oldham County HS) avg. 12.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 54% FG, 32% 3 pt FG, 77% FT as a senior, posted career-high game of 39 points, 13 rebounds in junior season, led team to a 31-6 record, falling in the state semifinals to Covington Catholic
Aiden Pashley (Freshman, 6-5, shooting guard, Sydney, Australia, St. Augustine's College Sydney/DME Sports Academy) avg. 20.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1 bpg, 3.2 spg, 56% FG, 53% 3 pt FG, 79% FT as a senior, possesses career-highs of 45 points, 12 assists, 16 rebounds, 10 three-pointers in one game, at national tournament his senior season, finished third in ppg (14 ppg), third in total FT's made, third in total three-pointers made
JD Marshall (Freshman, 6-7, forward, Owensboro, Ky., Owensboro Catholic HS) avg. 12.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 58% FG, 66% FT as a senior at Owensboro Catholic, team went 23-10 and was 9th district champs, 3rd region runner-up, scored 772 career points and totaled 443 rebounds, 77 blocks in high school career
LEXINGTON (COACHING) LEGENDS
Another key component of the Transylvania-Kentucky rivalry lies in its two coaches, each synonymous with Lexington in 10th-year head coach John Calipari of Kentucky and 18th-year head coach Brian Lane of Transylvania.
A native of Lexington, Lane achieved his 250th coaching victory on January 4, 2017 with an 86-62 victory over Earlham College at the Clive M. Beck Center on the campus of Transylvania. He is second all-time at Transylvania in coaching wins, trailing only his father Don Lane, who holds the all-time wins mark at Transylvania with 509.
Lane has won the HCAC Coach of the Year award four times as head coach at Transylvania. In the season of Transylvania and Kentucky's first exhibition meeting in 2011-2012, Lane was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Glenn Robinson NCAA National Coach of the Year award in 2012.
He has authored 13 winning seasons in 17 total campaigns at Transylvania. Lane has led the Pioneers to 20 or more wins four times and qualified for the NCAA Tournament five times. In 2006, Lane led the Pioneers to their best postseason finish in school history as the Pioneers reached the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Tournament and a 27-5 overall record.
Entering his 18th season at Transylvania, Lane holds a head coaching record of 277-177 and a 176-105 win-loss record within HCAC play.
Lane has been part of six coaching staffs which have advanced to the NCAA Tournament – five at Transylvania and one at UNC-Charlotte as an assistant coach in 1992.
Prior to returning to his alma mater in 2001 as the head coach, Lane spent a decade as an assistant coach with multiple NCAA Division I programs.
Lane is the latest in a pattern of unparalleled coaching continuity at Transylvania. - Transylvania has had four coaches since 1955. Brian Lane has headed the Transylvania men's basketball team from 2001 to the present. His father Don was the head coach for the Pioneers from 1975 through 2001. Lee Rose's second stint with the Pioneers occurred from 1968 through 1975. CM Newton's third and final stint as head coach of Transylvania took place from 1965 until 1968. Lee Rose's first stint with the Pioneers was from 1964 until 1965, and CM Newton's second tour of duty with the Pioneers ran from 1955 until 1964.
Each of Transylvania's last four coaches has commanded a wealth of success. After his time at Transy, Lee Rose became the head coach at UNC-Charlotte in 1975, taking the 49ers to the NIT Championship game in 1976 and to the Final Four in 1977. Following the 1977 season, Rose was named the Sporting News National Coach of the Year and the Sun Belt Coach of the Year. Rose became the head coach at Purdue University in 1978 and led the Boilermakers to the Final Four in 1980. He is one of ten coaches in NCAA history to lead to different programs to the Final Four. He later served as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, the New Jersey Nets, the Milwaukee Bucks, and Charlotte Hornets.
Don Lane is the all-time leader in coaching wins at Transylvania with 509 wins. The basketball court at the Clive M. Beck Center on the campus of Transylvania was named after him in 2013 and an annual nonconference tournament occurring during the holiday season is hosted at Transylvania – The Don Lane Classic. He is considered by all as a fixture at Transylvania and in Kentucky basketball history. During his 26-year coaching career at Transylvania, Lane earned NAIA, NABC, and Basketball Times National Coach of the Year honors. He also served as Transylvania's Athletic Director from 1975 until 1996.
In his final year of 2000-2001, he led the Pioneers to a 27-2 record, an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament, and a number one ranking during the regular season. He served on Transylvania's physical education faculty for 41 years. He was inducted into the Kentucky Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Don Lane, Rose, and Newton are all in the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame as well as Transylvania's Pioneer Hall of Fame.
Newton was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame in 2017. The latter is considered the highest honor for a collegiate athletic administrator.
Brian Lane and his father Don have combined to win 786 games as head coach at Transylvania University since 1975.
Over a 29-year head coaching career spanning the collegiate and NBA levels, Calipari has compiled 608 wins against 202 losses. His crowning achievement came in 2012 when he led Kentucky to a national championship, the program's eighth overall. He has led three different programs to a Final Four (UMass 1996, Memphis 2008, Kentucky 2012, 2014, 2015).
During his time at Kentucky, 26 players have gone on to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, and 35 players in total. While at Kentucky, three of Calipari's players have been No. 1 overall picks (John Wall, 2010, Anthony Davis, 2012, Karl-Anthony Towns, 2015). In 2015, Calipari was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2017, Calipari was chronicled in ESPN's critically-acclaimed 30 for 30 sports documentary series entitled "One and Not Done."
TRANSYLVANIA RETURNING PLAYER PROFILES
21 Cooper Theobald, Point Guard, Senior, 6-2, 170 lbs., Fort Mitchell, Ky. (Covington Catholic HS)
-Second-leading returning scorer from last season at 11.7 ppg. Led team in rebounds with 6.1 rpg. Avg. 3 apg and totaled 17 steals
-Started in all 26 games for the Pioneers, averaging 28.3 mpg
-Played the most total minutes on the team last year with 736
-Had two double-doubles as a junior (16 pts, 10 rebs at Franklin, Jan. 17, 44 pts, 10 rebs. Vs Anderson Feb. 20 in HCAC First Round game). His 44 points against Anderson are his career-high
-Was 4th in HCAC in rebounds
-Ranked 3rd in HCAC in Free-throw attempts with 143. As a sophomore, led the conference in free throws attempted and made (151-197). As a freshman, set the conference record in free throws attempted and made (169-219)
-During his sophomore year set a new NCAA record for single-game free throw attempts in a 111-104 double-overtime victory at Defiance on Jan. 7, 2017. Theobald shot 29-32 on free throws, each setting new HCAC conference records. The 32 attempts broke the NCAA Division III men's record, previously set by Brant Bailey of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Dec. 11, 1999
-Enters the 2018-19 season as Transylvania's 37th-highest all-time scorer with 1,115 points.
-Named All-HCAC Honorable Mention in 2017-18, All-HCAC Second Team as a sophomore in 2016-17
15 Gabe Schmitt, Guard, Junior, 6-2, 170 lbs., Louisville, Ky. (Trinity HS)
-Named All-HCAC Honorable Mention in 2017-18
-Returning leading scorer at 12.1 ppg. Led team in three-point shooting (49-112 3 pt FG, 44%).
-Scored a season-high 27 points twice (Nov. 20 vs. Centre, Jan. 3 at Earlham)
-Ranked sixth in HCAC in three-point shooting percentage
-Led team in minutes per game (29.4 mpg)
-Hit season-high 7 three-pointers in 104-96 win against Earlham on Jan. 3, grabbed season-high 9 rebounds vs. Greenville on Nov. 15
Had best plus-minus per game on the team (+6.12)
10 Michael Jefferson, Guard, Sophomore, 6-2, 165 lbs., Berea, Ky. (Madison Southern HS)
-Started 18 games and appeared in 26 for the Pioneers as a freshman in 2017-18
-Led the Pioneers in assists at 3.3 apg, ranked fourth in HCAC in assists
-Scored a season-high 20 points twice (Dec. 20 vs Emory & Henry, Jan. 6 vs Defiance)
- Logged 22.7 minutes per game
- Dished a season-high eight assists in the Pioneers 104-96 victory over Earlham on Jan. 3
- Led the Pioneers in field-goal percentage and ranked sixth in the HCAC with a shooting percentage of 58.7 percent
11 Bo Schuh, Forward, Senior, 6-6, 205 lbs., Fort Mitchell, Ky. (Covington Catholic HS)
- Started seven games and appeared in 22 for the Pioneers as a junior
- Logged 16.8 minutes per game
- Ranked third on the team in rebounds with an average of 4.2 per game
- Scored a season-high 17 points in Transylvania's 80-77 victory over Guilford on Dec. 21
- Grabbed a season-high nine rebounds in the Pioneers' 95-81 victory over #7 Hanover on Dec. 6
- Is a Skyline Chili fanatic, and was officially the first customer at the only Skyline Chili restaurant in Lexington when it opened this past September
14 Spencer McKinney, Guard/Forward, Junior, 6-4, 180 lbs., Danville, Ky. (Danville HS)
- Appeared in all 26 games and started two games for the Pioneers as a sophomore
- Played 16.8 minutes per game
- Is also a member of Transylvania's men's golf team. Won the HCAC individual championships and conference MVP in men's golf in spring 2018, his sophomore season. Advanced to the NCAA Men's Golf National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. This fall, has finished 5th at Rhodes Classic in Tunica, Miss., and in the top 20 at the Gordin Classic in Columbus, Ohio
-Says his favorite athlete is Tiger Woods
20 Devin Twenty, Guard, Sophomore, 5-11, 165 lbs., Bradenton, Fla. (Lakewood Ranch HS)
-Played in all 26 games for the Pioneers as a freshman
-Was fourth on the team in three-point attempts (shot 15-53, 28 %)
-Scored a career-high 16 points on Jan. 31, 2018 against Earlham, had season-high 4 assists on Jan. 27 against Rose-Hulman
-Wore the number 1 uniform as a freshman but switched his number this year to 20 to match his surname when the number became available
34 Dominique Turner, Forward, Sophomore, 6-5, 185 lbs., Shelbyville, Ky. (Collins HS)
-Appeared in four games for the Pioneers as a freshman, averaging 3.3 ppg
-Enjoys playing tennis and bowling in his down time
-As a senior at Martha Layne Collins HS, led the team to an Elite 8 appearance in the Kentucky State Tournament which was played at Rupp Arena
31 Spencer Hemmerich, Guard, 6-2, 195 lbs., Burlington, Ky. (Conner HS)
-Scored a career-high 11 points twice as a freshman (both vs. Earlham, Jan. 3 and Jan. 31)
-Played in 24 games for the Pioneers in freshman campaign, averaging 8 mins. per game
-Scored 1,184 career points at Conner HS
-Had a 42-point game in high school
-Is a car enthusiast and his favorite athlete is Kevin Durant
25 Will Anderson, Forward, 6-7, 185 lbs., Tampa, Fla. (Jesuit HS)
-Appeared in 15 games and started one game for the Pioneers as a freshman
-Averaged 6.9 mpg
-Had career-high 8 points on Jan. 13 vs. Manchester, also had career-high 3 blocks in that game
-Posted career-high 7 rebounds in season-opener last year against Greenville
-Was bitten by a snake when he was six years old
12 Will Sivills, Guard, 6-3, 180 lbs., Paducah, Ky. (McCracken County HS)
-Appeared in 14 games for the Pioneers as a freshman, averaging 5 mpg
-Scored career-high 12 points in season-opener against Greenville
-Favorite athlete is former Wildcat Devin Booker
-Graduated as McCracken County's all-time leading scorer
-Lived in South Korea for three weeks
0 Gavin Root, Guard, 6-0, 175 lbs., Elizabethtown, Ky. (North Hardin HS)
-Scored a career-high 8 points at Mount St. Joseph
-Appeared in 13 games for the Pioneers as a freshman, averaging 4 mins per game
-Fun fact is he's a Duke fan who lives in Kentucky
-Majoring in Accounting at Transylvania
22 Lucas Gentry, Forward, 6-5, 205 lbs., Mt. Vernon, Ky. (Rockcastle County HS)
-Appeared in 11 games for Transylvania last season, averaging 2.8 mpg
-Hit 5-12 FG last season
-Plans on majoring in Accounting at Transylvania to become a CPA
-Can solve a Rubik's cube in less than two minutes
3 Alex Cunningham, Guard, 6-4, 190 lbs., Melbourne, Fla. (Heritage HS)
-Transferred into Transylvania at the semester break during the 2017-2018 year, did not play for Transylvania last season
-Averaged 13.5 ppg, 4 apg, 5 rpg as a senior, team advanced to Sweet 16 of FHSAA state playoffs
PIONEERS PROJECTED FOR SECOND-PLACE FINISH IN HCAC PRESEASON POLL
Transylvania has been projected to finish second out of 10 conference teams in the Thursday, October 25 release of the annual Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll. Voted on by the HCAC's 10 coaches, the Pioneers received 86 voting points and one of 10 first-place votes. Rose-Hulman has been voted on by coaches to finish in first place in the 2018-19 season, receiving 96 voting points and seven of 10 first-place votes.
Defending conference tournament champion Hanover has been picked third, receiving 80 points and the other two first-place votes, followed by Anderson College in fourth place. Mount St. Joseph, Franklin, Bluffton, Earlham, Defiance, and Manchester round out the voting. Rose-Hulman, Hanover, and Mount St. Joseph all finished conference play in a three-way tie for first place, each with a 14-4 record.
Transylvania finished in fourth place in the HCAC during the 2018-19 season. The Pioneers are aiming for their first conference regular-season title since the 2011-12 season.
WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THE PIONEERS (FROM?)
-After fielding a 16-man roster with all 16 hailing from the state of Kentucky two seasons ago in 2016-17, the 2018-19 roster comprises 30 players from five states and two countries. (Kentucky: 20, Florida: 5, Australia: 2 Connecticut: 1, Virginia: 1, Tennessee: 1). The closest player is freshman Cameron King from Lexington's Lafayette High School. The furthest traveled member for Transylvania are freshmen Aiden Pashley and Luke Schroeder, who each come from Sydney, Australia.
QUICK HITTERS
-The Pioneers have gone on to have 20-win seasons in two of the last three seasons they played Kentucky (Transylvania went 9-17 in 2013-2014 after the 2013 exhibition game)
-Transylvania scored 130 points in their regular-season opener last season against Greenville (a team that plays "the system" form of offense). It was the most points the Pioneers had scored in 15 years
-In the four seasons since the last season in which the Pioneers and Wildcats clashed, Transylvania has posted a record of 57-48
-Transylvania defeated Kentucky in five of the first six matchups in the rivalry's history
-Cooper Theobald holds the NCAA Division III record for single-game free throw attempts in a game, set on January 7, 2017 at Defiance in a 111-104 double overtime victory. Theobald went 29-32 from the free throw line in that game, setting new conference records for makes and attempts in a game. It also is the most free throws made in Division I, III, and III, surpassing Pete Maravich's single-game attempts record; "The Pistol" once shot 30-31 on free throws in a game
-Transylvania played against one ranked team last season, defeating conference opponent Hanover College 95-81 on December 6, 2017 when Hanover was ranked 7th in the country at the Division III level
-Transylvania's best season during the Brian Lane era came in the 2005-2006 season. The Pioneers tied the program record for most wins, going 27-5 and advancing to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. It is the deepest run in NCAA postseason history for any Transylvania men's basketball team
-The Pioneers men's basketball team was a Sunday participant in Coach John Calipari's coaching clinic at the Joe Craft Center. 20 members of the Transy basketball team assisted with demonstrating a variety of drills in the worldwide coaching clinic which was streamed live online via CoachCal.com. The clinic preceded that night's Kentucky Blue-White scrimmage game at Rupp Arena. The daylong event was offered for male and female coaches, offering a look into Coach Calipari's strategies and philosophies
-Last season, Transylvania's longest win streak was five games as the Pioneers opened the season 5-0; their longest losing streak was two games
-Over the past two years, each team has taken turns beginning its season in the Caribbean. Transylvania tipped off its 2017-2018 preseason with a trip to the Dominican Republic which contained elements of both service and gameplay. The trip offered the Pioneers the chance to play multiple games against local teams in the Dominican. Transylvania also collaborated with Go Ministries to serve the local communities in the Dominican Republic, an endeavor which included feeding the less fortunate, interacting and running basketball clinics with local children, and engaging in community service
This season, Kentucky basketball tipped off its season with four preseason games in Paradise Island, Bahamas from August 6-13 where they played against four professional basketball teams. The once-every-four-year opportunity to embark upon a foreign trip allowed the Kentucky men's basketball team to acclimate to a season filled with high expectations
-Transylvania opens up its season versus Mount Union on Friday, November 9 at the Beck Center at 7 PM
THE BATWALK – Located in Downtown Lexington, Transylvania University and its home venue, the Clive M. Beck Center (capacity 1,200) famously sit five blocks from Rupp Arena, the home of the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team.
Rather than commuting by vehicle, the Pioneers men's basketball program has chosen during its last three exhibitions to make the approximately 11-minute (uninterrupted) walk on foot from the Transylvania campus to Rupp Arena, traversing five blocks down Broadway, adjacent to Triangle Park, and into the bowels of Rupp. The Transylvania men's basketball team will again reprise the tradition with the new name "The Batwalk" as it pays homage to the newly-introduced and nearly one-year-old mascot, Raf the Bat.
According to Coach Lane, the roots of the Batwalk lie in the first year of the revitalization of the exhibition series in 2011. Said Coach Lane: "I thought that it would be a nice marketing ploy. The walk could be a way to involve our campus and local community in the lead-up to the game, highlight our close proximity to vibrant downtown and Rupp Arena, and it also saved our team $2.37 in gas"
Transylvania is a five-block walk to Rupp Arena along Broadway, or 0.5 miles according to google maps. On the edge of the Kentucky campus is the UK Good Samaritan Hospital, which sits 0.5 miles away from Rupp Arena.
Kentucky's Funkhouser building, which lies in UK's Central campus, sits 1.1 miles away from Rupp Arena, which by that measure, places Transylvania University's center geographically closer to Rupp than Kentucky itself.
THE KYLE MACY CLASSIC: Kentucky men's basketball legend Kyle Macy gears up for his third season as Transylvania men's basketball assistant coach. Friday's exhibition will pit Macy against his alma mater on the floor where countless moments of past glory occurred for Macy during his collegiate playing days.
Macy's presence in Lexington is well-known due to his history as a three-time All-American with the Wildcats. As a starting point guard with the Wildcats, Macy won SEC Player of the Year in 1980 in his senior season. Perhaps most notably, he won a national championship with the Joe B. Hall-coached team in 1978. Macy went on to play seven years in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, and Indiana Pacers before completing his professional playing career in Italy for Dietor Bologna and Benetton Treviso.
Macy and Coach Brian Lane are in their second tour of duty together on a coaching staff. Prior to becoming head coach at Transylvania in 2001, Lane served under Macy as an assistant coach at Division I Morehead State University, where Macy coached from 1997 through 2006.
RETURN TO GLORY: Another Transylvania coach who had enjoyed immense success on the floor of Rupp Arena is second-year assistant coach Steve Wright. Carrying 38 years of head coaching experience at the high school level in the Bluegrass State to Coach Brian Lane's staff, Wright coached four different high school teams in Kentucky over an illustrious coaching career now spanning four decades, compiling a record of 697-247.
One of Wright's legendary moments memorable to many Kentucky basketball fans came in the 2005 season when he led South Laurel High School to the KHSAA State Championship. During his longest career stint at South Laurel, Wright won seven regional championships, three appearances in the Elite 8, and one state title. Prior to arriving at Transylvania in August 2017, Wright spent a year as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS: Transylvania's lone two seniors on the 2018-19 roster, forward Bo Schuh and point guard Cooper Theobald have played together on the same team since high school. Both class of 2015 graduates of Covington Catholic in High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, the two were a part of the Colonels' 2014 Kentucky High School state title-winning team as juniors, won on the floor of Rupp Arena. This is the first time each player has played against the University of Kentucky in their college careers.
FAMILY AFFAIR: Spencer McKinney's father Ed was a men's basketball teammate of Lane's at Transylvania. He is now the head coach at Danville High School (about 40 miles down the road from Lexington).
Both Calipari and Lane each currently coach their sons in a collegiate sport. Brad Calipari is a guard playing under John at Kentucky, while junior Harrison Lane is a standout golfer on the Transylvania men's golf team, which is also coached by Brian in the fall and spring. Harrison also spent a year with the Pioneers men's basketball team as a freshman in 2016-17.
D-III ATHLETES: The 2017-18 Pioneers men's basketball team espoused the Division III philosophy of placing the highest priority on the overall quality of the educational experience by earning the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award. The award is given to men's basketball teams which achieve a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better. Additionally, senior Tristan Burgess and junior Cooper Theobald were named 2017-18 NABC Honors Court recipients; the award is given to individual men's basketball players who post cumulative GPA's of 3.2 or higher.
UP TO BAT: The 2018 meeting will mark the first time Transylvania competes against Kentucky with a new mascot in tow. While referred to officially by the team name of "Pioneers," the Transylvania Athletic Department introduced a new mascot on December 9, 2017: Raf the Bat.
The mascot Raf the Bat pays homage to the university's legendary professor, Samuel Constantine Rafinesque, a charismatic naturalist whose tomb is on the first floor of Transylvania's main administrative building, Old Morrison. The campus also boasts a fast-food dining area bearing his name. The mascot is a big-earned bat named in honor of the legendary professor.
Transylvania has deployed Raf in this year's clash with the hashtag #BatsvsCats leading up to the October 26 matchup.
Transylvania Media Contacts
Twitter: @TransyHoops
Website: TransySports.com
Official Transy Game Hashtags: #BatsvsCats, #BattleonBroadway
Justin Sweeney, Sports Information Director
O: 859-233-8284
C: 971-998-0552
E: jsweeney@transy.edu
Neal Settle, Assistant Sports Information Director
O: 859-233-8287
C: 502-319-3380
E: nsettle@transy.edu
