Sean Woods is a member of the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame, and is one of four players who are known as the Unforgettables. Woods, John Pelphrey, Richie Farmer and Deron Feldhaus were at Kentucky in the late 1980s when there was a coaching change and a probation period, but they all decided to stay at UK for their entire college careers. They eventually led the team to an NCAA regional final in 1992, the first year that Kentucky was allowed to compete in the NCAA tournament following probation. Woods is still UK’s all-time leader in assists per game at 5.3. He has been a head coach in college at Morehead State, Mississippi Valley State and Southern University for a total of 14 seasons. He played in high school at Indianapolis Cathedral, and was named to the Indiana All-Star team for the games against the Kentucky All-Stars in 1988. In addition to the Unforgettables and their decisions to stay at UK, we talked about his coaching career, and Indiana high school basketball in general, including his start in basketball in East Chicago before he moved to Indianapolis.

Kenny Walker earned All-American honors in basketball at the University of Kentucky. He is the second leading all-time scorer in men’s basketball with 2,080 points, behind only Dan Issel who had 2,138. A native of Roberta, Georgia (2020 population: 813), Kenny was a McDonald’s All-American in high school before coming to UK in 1982. He is a member of the charter class of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. He was the fifth overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, and played in the NBA for the Knicks and the Washington Bullets. He also played professionally in Spain, Italy and Japan. We talked about his coming to UK from Roberta, his development into a college star and some of the teammates who were a big part of his success, as well as his relationships with coaches Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton and later in the NBA, Rick Pitino. His professional experience, both in the NBA and internationally, are also part of the conversation.

Jerry Tipton covered University of Kentucky basketball for the Lexington Herald-Leader for 41 seasons before retiring in 2022. He was known for his straightforward questioning of UK coaches, from Joe B. Hall to John Calipari. Tipton was inducted into the U.S, Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame in 2005, the Marshall University Journalism Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2020. He has recently written a memoir titled Deja Blue: A Sportswriter Reflects on 41 Seasons of Kentucky Basketball, published by Acclaim Press. In this conversation he tells some entertaining stories about some of his interactions with UK fans, talks about his Sunday Herald Leader "notes" column and plugs his upcoming appearance at this year's Kentucky Book Festival Saturday November 2nd at Joseph Beth Booksellers.

Mike Battaglia is known to thoroughbred racing fans everywhere as an announcer, an analyst and handicapper. He called the races at Churchill Downs, including the Kentucky Derby, from 1977 to 1996. He worked with ABC and for many years, NBC, on national coverage of the Triple Crown races. He has set the morning line odds at Churchill Downs and Turfway Park. For years, racing fans would look for Mike’s picks in newspapers around the state before heading to the track. A native of northern Kentucky, he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. In this conversation, he recalls his first assignment in race calling at Miles Park in Louisville, his days on network television (including a less-than-smooth relationship with ABC’s Howard Cosell), and his first call of a Kentucky Derby, the 1978 running that was part of the great Affirmed-Alydar rivalry.

Jerry Tipton covered University of Kentucky basketball for the Lexington Herald-Leader for 41 seasons before retiring in 2022. He was known for his straightforward questioning of UK coaches, from Joe B. Hall to John Calipari. A native of Hamtramck, Michigan, Jerry graduated from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and worked for the Huntington Herald-Dispatch before coming to Lexington.He was inducted into the U.S, Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame in 2005, the Marshall University Journalism Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2020. He has recently written a memoir titled Deja Blue: A Sportswriter Reflects on 41 Seasons of Kentucky Basketball, published by Acclaim Press. In this interview, he talks about his start in journalism, his working relationships with coaches, including some of the memorable dialogue involved, and many of the highlights of his 41-year tenure on the UK basketball beat.

Ben Chandler has certainly made his mark on Kentucky politics and he's also the grandson of former MLB commissioner A.B. 'Happy' Chandler. On this episode of the WUKY SportsPage the current executive director of the non-profit Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky talks with Keith Elkins about his own introduction to the game, the opportunity to meet some of baseball’s greatest players and personalities, and his grandfather’s significant term as commissioner. And he is still very proud of a 3-for-3 performance in a Congressional baseball game.

Dorian Hairston was a hard-hitting outfielder for the University of Kentucky from 2013-16, batting .318 in SEC games in his junior year, and starting 31 games in his senior season. He also received numerous academic and community service honors during his time as a Wildcat. Now, he’s making his mark as a poet. His first book, “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow,” published earlier this year, uses a collection of his poems to tell the story of baseball great Josh Gibson. With his poetry, Hairston gives voice to Gibson, his children, and his baseball connections such as fellow Hall of Famer Satchel Paige and Pittsburgh Crawfords manager Hooks Tinker, who is credited with discovering Gibson at an industrial league game in 1927. The poems address baseball accomplishments, life in the Negro Leagues, race issues, and tragedies in the life of Gibson, who became a widower at age 18 when his wife died giving birth to their twin children. Gibson himself died at the age of 35 in 1947, just three months before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.Some of this interview covers adult themes - parental discretion is advised.

Jack (Goose) Givens is among the most popular athletes ever to wear Kentucky’s blue and white. He led the Wildcats to the 1978 NCAA basketball championship, scoring 41 points against Duke in the final game. He earned All-American and multiple All-SEC honors while at UK. He is third on the all-time scoring list for UK men’s basketball with 2,038 points, behind only Dan Issel and Kenny Walker. Givens went on to play professionally in the NBA, and in Italy, Belgium and Japan. He has had a long and successful broadcasting career in college and professional basketball, and just completed his second season as the analyst for UK radio broadcasts, teaming with play-by-play announcer Tom Leach. Givens recently released a book about his life, They Call Me Goose, co-written with Doug Brunk.

For a second time, Alan Stein has brought the Legends to Lexington. The minor league baseball team opened play as a Houston Astros affiliate in 2001, following years of effort and planning led by Alan. He stepped away from the team in 2011. Now, after a year of being called the Lexington CounterClocks, the Legends are back in 2024. Alan is part of a new ownership group that has brought back the old nickname, and hopes to bring back the fan base with some new ideas as well as some familiar favorites. This conversation covers the recent developments that resulted in the “Legendary” comeback.

Marc Logan was a star running back at Kentucky in the mid-1980s. He was an outstanding rusher, receiver, and kick returner. A graduate of Bryan Station High School, he also had great success as a sprinter, including a win over Willie Gault, a 1980 U.S. Olympic qualifier and a star receiver at Tennessee and in the NFL. After much extra work to improve as a receiver, Logan led the Wildcats in receptions in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He was the Most Valuable Player in the Hall of Fame Bowl as Kentucky defeated Wisconsin following the 1984 season. He went on to an 11-year career in the NFL with Cincinnati, Miami, San Francisco and Washington, and was a part of two Super Bowl teams, including the champion 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX. He is a member of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Lexington African-American Sports Hall of Fame. In this interview, he talks about favoring track over football before college, his accomplishments at UK, his Super Bowl teams, some of his NFL teammates, including Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason, and how a surprise call from coach Don Shula led to his signing with the Dolphins.