Page outshoots coach: Ford says where's proof?
Published: 1/11/2011 5:08 PM
Last Modified: 1/11/2011 5:08 PM
This is a deleted scene that didn’t quite make the cut for a soon-to-be-published story about Oklahoma State basketball player Keiton Page:
There’s an urban legend circulating that Page actually beat coach Travis Ford in a shooting contest prior to a game against Kansas State last season. FYI, Ford’s got game. Back in his college days, Ford was the first Kentucky player ever to make 100 3-pointers in a season and he also was the MVP of an NCAA Tournament regional.
Ford had fun with his response when asked to verify he was beaten by Page. “There is no video of that is there?” the coach said. “If there is no video of that, I am not going to attest to it.”
But Marshall Moses was willing to go on the record. Moses said Ford never loses shooting competitions with players -- with one exception. The senior forward confirmed Page bested Ford in Manhattan.
Let’s go to a source for corroboration.
“I got him at K-State last year,” Page said. “I was kind of surprised. We have had a couple of times where we have been on the road and we have played him in horse and he has gone through the whole team in about five minutes....
"I was pretty fortunate and lucky to get him last year, but I know there will be a time when he hollers for a rematch, so I’ve got to get my jumper back. I’ve got to get it falling before he asks me to give him another game of horse.”
Full disclosure, Page said he lost to his coach a couple of times before the breakthrough moment.
“I tried everything,” he said. “ I would step out and shoot deeper, but that doesn’t work. He’s still got the range. Despite being a little bit older, he’s not in his Kentucky days anymore, but he’s still got his jump shot. I think I was having a good day that day and he was having an off day. If you are going to beat coach Ford, that’s the kind of day you have got to find. You have to catch him on one of those days.”
After the comment about lack of video verification, Ford acknowledged that Page “can probably get me.”
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
