Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, a member of Norcross’ 2006 state championship team, scored 54 points in a win over Tennessee to break the Wildcats’ single-game scoring record held by Dan Issel. Should this come as a surprise? Not if you had been watching Meeks play this season.
But the thing is, this is probably the first time a lot of basketball fans had heard about Meeks, who was a heralded, but not hyped, recruit (a four-star prospect according to Scout.com, he averaged 23 points a game as a senior), and has had an uneven career at UK up to this point, showing promise as a freshman but missing much of his sophomore year with injuries.
This year, however, Meeks had quietly moved up to fifth in the nation in scoring before Tuesday’s game, setting a season-high of 46 against Appalachian State in December. But Tuesday’s performance makes him an immediate UK legend, and a darkhorse for national player of the year. His 54 points was also the most by an SEC player since Chris Jackson (later Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) scored 55 points in 1989.
Here is the AP writeup on the story, and here is Pat Forde’s take on Meeks’s outburst. Heck, if you want to see the game again, tune in to ESPNU at 4:30 p.m. today or ESPN Classic at 6 p.m., as it’s being re-aired on those stations.
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