The WUKY SportsPage

WUKY SportsPage: Wildcat great Jim Andrews

By Keith Elkins

Published August 4, 2022 at 12:17 PM EDT

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Jim Andrews was recently elected to the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame. He played basketball at UK from 1970-73. In three seasons -- freshmen were not eligible for varsity play at that time – he had 43 double-doubles, third in UK history behind Dan Issel and Cotton Nash. He averaged a double-double in each of his last two seasons – 21.5 ppg and 11.3 rpg as a junior, and 20.1 and 12.4 his senior year. The Wildcats won SEC championships in all three of his seasons, and he earned first team all-SEC honors in both his junior and senior years. In this conversation, he talks about his recruitment by UK (it included some help from a gas station attendant who was filling up assistant coach Joe B. Hall’s car on a recruiting trip), the transition from Adolph Rupp to Hall as head coach, the matchups with rival Tennessee at a time when only the conference champion made the NCAA tournament, and how the uncertainty and eventual demise of the ABA affected his professional career. He also covered his international experience in the professional ranks, and his relationships with UK teammates, including Tom Payne, the first African-American to play at Kentucky.

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Keith Elkins

Keith Elkins has an extensive background in broadcasting and public relations. He retired in 2017 after nine years as director of broadcasting and media relations for the Lexington Legends. He was the radio play-by-play announcer for the Legends, who played a 140-game schedule in the South Atlantic League as a class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. For 15 seasons, he was heard on halftime and postgame shows as the studio anchor on University of Kentucky basketball broadcasts on the UK sports network.Keith is a former television sports anchor and reporter with WLEX-TV in Lexington. Later, as a member of the University of Kentucky public relations staff, he produced and narrated many television features and promotional announcements on behalf of the university. Keith also has served as director of public relations at Transylvania University and worked in marketing communications with Wyncom, Inc. of Lexington. He returned to UK as director of communications in the UK College of Engineering, and was the editor of the College of Engineering alumni magazine, Quadrangle. He has served as host of the WUKY Sports Page podcast since 2019.Keith is a native of Bedford, Indiana, a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a longtime Lexington resident. He has two adult sons and two grandsons.

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