| Top prospect Orton commits to Cats |
| Sports - Sports News Headlines |
| Written by Dan Rieffer |
| Sunday, 12 October 2008 23:15 |
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LEXINGTON, KY - Big man Daniel Orton - rated as the nation's No. 3 center for the Class of 2009 by rivals.com - gave his verbal commitment to Kentucky on Sunday following his official visit with the Wildcats.
The five-star recruit called a press conference on Sunday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Lexington to announce his decision. Media were alerted of his planned announcement about an hour before the event - within that hour about 100 UK fans and local media had gathered in the Hyatt lobby. Orton said, "It's truly something special. I didn't expect this many people to be here, so it's incredible." Orton's opening statement, "I called this press conference today just to let every body know, in fact, that I have decided to commit to the University of Kentucky," was greeted with a hearty applause by crowd. Patrick Patterson, Josh Harrellson, Michael Porter, Jared Carter and a few other UK players showed up in support of Orton, who said of Patterson, "Walking around with him, just realzing all the people that know him and love him really, that just kind of helped me out." While at Big Blue Madness Friday night in Rupp Arena, Orton was serenaded with "Dan-iel Or-ton" chants several times throughout the event. The last of which resulted in Orton standing up and waving to the crowd, eliciting a standing ovation. Orton said, "Everyone really told me that the fans were crazy about basketball and that just proved it." Orton's dad, Larry, already knew. "That's Kentucky basketball, Kentucky people. I mean you are in the mecca of basketball when you come to the University of Kentucky," Larry Orton said, adding, "I think Pat Riley said it best when he said that not only do coaches recruit you but the state of Kentucky recruits you." Orton's dad said he would have supported his son's final decision whatever it ended up being but wanted his son to come to UK all along. "I was hoping and praying, as a matter of fact, I spent numbers of days praying that he'd choose Kentucky," Larry Orton said. When a reporter noted that his son had several good schools from which to choose (Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State), Larry Orton responded, "But none better than Kentucky. None better than Kentucky. I think Kentucky basketball is it." Orton said he had narrowed his choices down to Kansas and Kentucky and made his decision recently after getting a call from Jayhawks head coach Bill Self. "I decided about two nights ago when Coach Self told me that they didn't have a scholarship for me, and they were going to cease recruiting (me). Which Kentucky wasn't a back-up plan, but they just made my decision a lot easier for me to go ahead and commit when he told me that." According to rivals.com, Kansas received a verbal commitment from another five-star big man, Thomas Robinson out of New Hampshire. Orton averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots a game last season in leading Bishop McGuinness High School(Oklahoma) to its third consecutive state title. He has a video on youtube of him shattering a backboard. Orton thanked the fans, who he called amazing at Big Blue Madness, and thanked the players for making him feel like he was already a part of the team. "Daniel wanted to play in front of a crowd and he got it," his dad said. "Kentucky? Kentucky basketball? How can you turn Kentucky basketball down? If you love basketball, then you'll love Kentucky." At about 4 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, a Solid Blue-clad Hyatt Regency lobby just next door to Rupp Arena loved Daniel Orton. |