Kentucky villain Christian Laettner to coach in Rupp Arena

Christian Laettner, perhaps the most hated man in the state of Kentucky, has agreed to face his foes on their home court in a charity basketball game next month.

Laettner is the Duke All-American who hit the game-winning shot in what is called by most as the greatest college basketball game ever -- the Blue Devils' 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky in the Elite Eight of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.


Christian Laettner will coach against a team of Kentucky legends. (AP photo)
Laettner, 42, has agreed to coach the "villains" team in an Oct. 24 charity game at Lexington's Rupp Arena. Laettner's team -- to consist of players from rival schools -- will play a team of former Kentucky stars in a game to benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Kentucky All-American Rex Chapman will coach the former UK stars.

"It should be standing-room-only for the fans to get a chance to boo the hell out of me and to boo Rudy Gay, Kemba Walker and Tyler Hansbrough," Laettner told Kentucky Sports Radio on Wednesday. "And I hope it's an earth-shattering boo they all get with me getting the biggest one."

Sheppard said both teams' rosters will be announced Thursday.

"It's a great opportunity for Kentucky fans to come out and tell Christian Laettner exactly how they feel about him," game organizer Jeff Sheppard, a former Kentucky guard, told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Laettner scored 31 points, hitting all 10 field-goal attempts and all 10 free-throw attempts, in that famed East Regional final at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. However, he almost wasn't around for game's climax. He was assessed a technical foul in the second half for stomping on the chest of UK center Aminu Timberlake, in retaliation for an earlier shove, as he lie on the ground under the basket. Kentucky fans hate Laettner as much for that incident as for the shot that ended the Wildcats' miraculous season.

"I made a mistake and I thought it was Timberlake (Kentucky guard Richie Farmer had done the shoving), so when Timberlake was underneath me 30 seconds later or a minute later, I had a bad reaction," Laettner told KSR. "It was just from the emotion of the game. There was maybe too much adrenaline flowing, but it was a big mistake.

"It's worthy of a technical. I don't think it's worthy of getting kicked out of the game even though all the Kentucky fans will disagree with me on that. But it looks horrible. It's one of the things that I'm embarrassed about in my Duke career. There aren't many things, but that's one of them. Coach K was not happy with me about doing that. And he made a point to let me know about it a few times the following week going into the Final Four."

Read more at www.sportingnews.com