You don’t want to be only remembered for something from two decades ago. Cameron Mills hit one of the most memorable shots in the illustrious history of Kentucky basketball.

Kentucky will be hosting No. “Does that make sense?” he asked. CM: "Well, they are very similar in a lot of ways, but the biggest difference in them were in the scouting reports.

After all, Pitino’s methods had led to the team winning the 1996 championship, and very nearly the 1997 championship as well. Did we just win the national championship?’”. ", "As far as (welcoming) ex-players, I really appreciate it. “I wound up having twelve points off the bench,” Mills said — leading to the team’s first win under Pitino in Arkansas. By Stephen Burnett Do you like it? Cameron Mills is perhaps the greatest underdog story in the illustrious history of the University of Kentucky basketball program. I really had no confidence to shoot the ball, which is what led to a little bit of a celebration on my part. “I never wanted to play anywhere else. The two sat together talking, crying and praying before they rejoined the group, but the conversation stayed with Mills throughout the drive back to Lexington. But we began blowing out teams in the SEC Tournament, and carried that on to the NCAA Tournament.".

Mills was also being asked to play even more often. His mother told him his father was himself a sports figure, and began bringing out old newspaper clippings and magazine pictures. UK lost its first game of the season against Arizona in the Maui Classic, then home games against Florida and Ole Miss. Also tell your brother hello, hope he is doing well. CM: "College basketball has changed, it's much different, even much different than when I played.

Mills had done what few college basketball players had done: gone to three NCAA Final Fours, and helped win a tournament. Legal.

Most of his speaking is in Kentucky, but he’s also spoken at FCA events. Mills was born with Kentucky-blue blood coursing through his veins. There is a reason it's called March Madness. When UK men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino left that position in 1997 and Tubby Smith replaced him, many players were uncertain of the team’s future — among them Cameron Mills.

The 1997–98 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team were coached by Tubby Smith. Experience Mill Springs Battlefield in Nancy, Kentucky, the site of the Union's first decisive Civil War victory and where General Felix Zollicoffer was killed. “If you think about it, it was an FCA Rally in Maysville where I very clearly heard what I was going to do with the rest of my life,” Mills said. We started just blowing teams out, I think we won the (SEC) championship game by 30 (86-56 over South Carolina), and we cruised through the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament.". “They were kind of treated like second-class citizens. … I started cheering for him myself.”. Knowing the influence he had as the speaker, he took time to talk with students after the event. … God used you to help change somebody’s life.”. Simply awesome! He never let his players embrace success.". He became certain UK would regain its high ranking, and make it far into the tournament. Seldom, if ever, has a walk-on had the immense impact that Cameron Mills had on his Wildcat teams. Are you a Stathead, too? “Any time that happens — and I am even remotely involved, whether I’ve been praying for somebody or I actually spoke in a service where someone decided to accept Christ — that alone is what keeps me going. But he’s got the sweetest disposition and spirit you’ll ever find,” Stewart said. But after all the excitement, he knew what he wanted to do. ", "When Patterson was struggling, he began to put in 30 minutes extra work in practice, and it built his confidence, he knew he had worked hard and that gave him the confidence the needed.". ASOB: Your father played at UK in the late '60's and early '70's. Even when life stinks, there’s joy and satisfaction.”. He began to realize he could do this work full-time. During the 1996 season, Pitino put him on the JV and varsity squads. You’re going to run into a game where you just don’t have it.” Great talent matters, but seeming luck must also favor the title winner, he said. Once the crowd was gone, the teenager approached Mills. “But that was what God had put on my heart, and I felt like that was what He wanted those high-schoolers to hear.”. “And you’re a person, and if your faith permeates you, you’re going to bring it into everything you do.”, Photo from Cameron Mills Ministries Facebook page, I was your Art teacher at Beaumont many years ago, and saw you a few times since then. It’s a prestigious place in Kentucky history, but it’s not always easy living life after earning all the glory. It failed, and a Duke player swatted the ball backward. “[There are] probably about three different reasons I wanted to play at UK,” Mills said. Alan Edwards' mother passed away, and I think that helped bring us all together. Their games began to improve. Sports are for everybody. You have to do the booster stuff, you have to embrace the boosters and fans, it's a part of the job, and he's been great at that.

… Add that to Coach Pitino’s coaching, who kind of refined my shot a little bit and added to that.”. The 1997–98 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team were coached by Tubby Smith. 1.8K likes. A product of Lexington Dunbar High School, and … “I realized that playing ball at UK is a pretty big deal. It was the only vocation to which he truly felt called.

That led to Mills’ first significant contribution to the team’s wi on Super Bowl Sunday in Arkansas in 1997. I started hitting three pointers, and I kept hitting them. It was just so unexpected; it was a disappointing game overall, because we lost, but it felt good to kind of catch fire. 3 Wildcats among PFF’s highest-graded SEC players thus far. There were many memorable moments along the Comeback Cats’ conquest to the top of college basketball, but none were more memorable then “The Shot Heard Round the Bluegrass.”. www.cmm21.com “Her boyfriend had pressured her and pressured her, and she’d finally given in.”. “I guess I kind of knew it, but it never really mattered much to me,” Mills said with a laugh. From 1966 to 1971, Terry Mills, No. He was in his first season as head coach after taking over from Rick Pitino.The team finished the season with a 29–4 record and won the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship over the Utah Utes, 78–69. The 6-3 guard averaged only 4.3 points per game in his four year career, but Mills came up big in the biggest games. Cameron Mills is perhaps the greatest underdog story in the illustrious history of the University of Kentucky basketball program.

Cameron Mills Radio. Mills conveyed his message with boldness and captured the attention of the audience. In 1990, Mills was a member of the inaugural freshman class at Lexington’s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where he and his classmates had the opportunity to help shape everything from the school’s traditions to the selection of the fight song. His first speech with that group was in June that year at an Owensboro church. For a while, Smith’s style had seemed to hurt the team.