Out Of The Shadows - Bledsoe Shining As A Sun

Eric  Bledsoe's early season play has been a revelation for many basketball fans. He's lead the Phoenix Suns to a surprising 5-2 record to start the season.  It was conceded that the Suns would be one of the organizations that would want to tank this season; especially since they traded Marcin Gortat, who most pundits believed to be the team's best player, prior to the start of the season.  Apparently you can't really grade a player's competitive nature when evaluating him; not when he's ready to seize his shining moment.

BBN Report: Keith Bogans Profile

6'5"  215 lbs
Alexandria, Virginia
10 NBA Seasons
Career:  6.4 ppg  2.7 rpg  21.7 mpg
2012/13: 4.2 ppg 1.6 rpg  19.0 mpg
2003 SEC Player of the Year
2003 3rd Team All-American

Keith Bogans was implanted as a starter from the day he set his feet in Lexington.  He made the SEC All-Freshman team in 2000. The 2000/01 season was his best individually when he averaged almost 18 ppg and NBA draft experts had him pegged as a potential lottery pick.  He decided to stay for four years, and in his senior season, he lead the Wildcats to an undefeated conference slate; they also finished the regular season ranked on top of the AP polls.  That team was nicknamed the "Suffocats" for the way that their defense suffocated opponents. There was high National Championship hopes for the Big Blue Nation but tragedy struck as Bogans suffered a high ankle sprain in the sweet 16 win over Wisconsin.  Bogans made a valiant effort to try to lead his team to victory over Marquette two days later but it was all for not as Dwyane Wade ripped his one-legged defender apart for a 29 point triple double.

BBN Report - Tayshaun Prince Profile

6'9" 215 lbs
Compton, California
12 NBA Seasons
Career 12.6 ppg  4.6 rpg 2.6 apg
2001 SEC Player of the year
2001 2nd Team All-American
2004 NBA Champion
2008 Olympic Gold Medal
4 time NBA All Defensive 2nd Team

Tayshaun Prince arrived in Lexington the year after Tubby Smith's first Big Blue squad cut the nets down. He was the first of Tubby's small handful of blue chippers that played in Rupp Arena.  He never turned out to be what most of Kentucky fans were used to seeing from top flight recruits.  What he did become was the exact type of basketball player that Tubby wanted for his system.  In his junior year, he garnered SEC Conference Player Of the Year honors.  His gritty play on defense and intelligent play on offense carried over to a lucrative professional career.

BBN Report - Nazr Mohammed profile

6'10" 220 lbs
Chicago, Illinois
15 seasons
career: 6.3 ppg 5.0 rpg 16.9 mpg
2012/13: 2.6 ppg 3.1 rpg 11.0 mpg
'96 & '98 NCAA Champion
2005 NBA Champion

Nazr is the last of Rick Pitino's high flying Kentucky Wildcats that is still playing in the NBA.  While in Lexington he rode the bench as a 300 pound freshman, playing sparingly as team cut the nets down in 1996. After he got in shape, he became a key player on the '97 team that lost to Arizona in the National Championship final game; it was also the last game of the Pitino era.  The 1997/98 season ushered in the Tubby Smith era of UK hoops with a National title.  Nazr entered the NBA draft after his junior season.