1. MUST READS: Warriors’ Curry named NBA MVP, B2 » Wall says injury won’t keep him out of Game 2, B2
Sports Editor Gene Abell » Phone (859) 231-3237 » Email hlsports@herald-leader.com » To report a score call 231-3225 or toll free at (888) 222-7026 after 5 p.m.
SPORTS
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015
LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER SECTION B
THE DAILY
FEEDWhat you’re
hungry for on Kentucky.com
Follow us on Twitter
Updates on all sports: @KentuckySports
Sports columnist John Clay: @johnclayiv
Sports columnist Mark Story: @markcstory
Staff writer Mike Fields: @MikeFieldsNotes
Staff writer Mark Maloney: @MarkMaloneyHL
Ben Roberts on UK recruiting: @NextCats
Updates on former UK players: @ExCats
Jerry Tipton on UK men’s basketball: @JerryTipton
Jennifer Smith on UK football/women’s hoops: @jenheraldleader
Alicia Wincze Hughes on horse racing: @horseracinghl
Former University of Kentucky basket-
ball star Willie Cauley-Stein’s hyphenated
last name is official now, as is a change in
his middle name.
Cauley-Stein, 21, was born Willie Dur-
mond Cauley Jr. He filed a name-change
order Friday with the Probate Division of
the Fayette District Court to legally change
his name to Willie Trill Cauley-Stein.
“I want to include my mother’s last name,”
was Cauley-Stein’s reason for the change, ac-
cording to the court document.
Cauley-Stein’s mother, Marlene Stein,
said her son decided to change his middle
name since he was already there to change
his last name.
Trill is the “nickname his ‘boys’ call
him,” Marlene Stein said.
By Hannah Scheller
hscheller@herald-leader.com
Hannah Scheller: (859) 231-1330.
Twitter: @HannahScheller.
Cauley-Stein’s
name change
is official
Former UK basketball star Willie Cauley-Stein
signed an autograph for 6-year-old Piper
Lee and her dad, Kevin, before the Lexington
Legends’ home opener this season.
MARK CORNELISON | mcornelison@herald-leader.com
Bengals offensive tackles Andre Smith, left, and Andrew Whitworth flanked QB
Andy Dalton as they walked off the field following a victory over the Atlanta
Falcons last season. Both linemen are entering the final year of their contracts.
MICHAEL CONROY | ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI — As soon
as the Bengals’ draft picks
were announced, team cap-
tain Andrew Whitworth start-
ed getting texts and tweets.
Concerned teammates
wondered what was going
on. So did many Bengals
fans. Was Cincinnati draft-
ing someone to replace him
as the starting left tackle?
Why did the club take offen-
sive tackles with its first two
picks in the draft?
CINCY’S FIRST 2 PICKS
PLAY THEIR POSITION
By Joe Kay
Associated Press
Bengals tackles
Whitworth, Smith
wonder what’s next
NFL
See BENGALS, B2
COMMENTARY
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There was a
nearly five-year period for Dale Earnhardt
Jr. when being a famous race car driver
wasn’t all glitz and glamour.
He was a non-factor on the race track,
barely even contended at Daytona and
Talladega, the two places he was supposed
to be unbeatable, and he is the first to
admit his confidence had crumbled.
Rebuilding NASCAR’s most popular
driver was a lengthy process that took a
firm commitment from Rick Hendrick and
a ton of patience from Earnhardt’s rabid
fan base. The turnaround was slow —
some laps led here, a win there — until
he finally hit his stride last season with a
Daytona 500 victory and three other wins.
So it was no surprise Sunday to see
Earnhardt back in victory lane at Tal-
ladega Superspeedway, a track he at one
time had conquered with the same ease
as his father. The late Dale Earnhardt won
10 times at the Alabama restrictor-plate
track; his son once reeled off five wins in
seven races.
What was a surprise was the pure
emotion that poured out of Junior when
he climbed from his car following his
sixth Talladega victory, his first at the
track since 2004, and one that came just
four days after what would have been his
By Jenna Fryer
Associated Press
DRIVER ACKNOWLEDGES HIS
NAME GARNERED 2ND CHANCE
Reflective
Earnhardt Jr.
values his
opportunity
“I feel like if my name wasn’t Earnhardt that
I wouldn’t have had the second chance,” Dale
Earnhardt Jr. said after his win Sunday.
DAVID TULIS | ASSOCIATED PRESS
See NASCAR, B3
Quick hitters from the Derby after-glow:
21. The football recruiting “star system.”
If your end-all is recruiting rankings, the
first round of the 2015 NFL Draft must
have rocked your world.
20. Three-stars rule. Of the 32 play-
ers who were drafted in Thursday’s first
round, there were more Rivals.com three-
star recruits (12) than either four-stars
or five-stars (eight of each). Heck, there
were four two-stars taken in round one.
19. The two-star position. Of the four
former two-star recruits taken in the first
round, three were cornerbacks.
18. Kentucky and the NFL Draft. Bud
Dupree (first round, Pittsburgh) and
Za’Darius Smith (fourth round, Balti-
more), UK has now had at least one play-
er chosen in the past eight NFL drafts.
17. The UK “recruiting star” draft break-
down. Of the 16 Wildcats drafted since
2008, three were four-star recruits; seven
were three-stars; and five were two-stars.
One, fullback John Conner, is not in the
Rivals recruiting database. (Dupree, by the
way, was rated as a three-star ... tight end.)
16. Louisville’s draft bounty. A year after
PRO TEAMS’ SELECTIONS
SPEAK LOUDER THAN
RECRUITING RANKINGS
‘STAR SYSTEM’ DOESN’T
ENSURE DRAFT SUCCESS
Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick Bud Dupree, center, took pictures with fans at a promotional event on Saturday. Dupree, a defensive anchor
at Kentucky, was rated as a three-star prospect coming out of high school. Maybe more surprising in retrospect? Dupree was rated as a tight end.
KEITH SRAKOCIC | ASSOCIATED PRESS
MARK STORY
HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST
See STORY, B3
Kentucky has had 16 players selected in the NFL Draft since 2008. Of those selections, three
were rated as four-star recruits, seven were three-stars and five were two-stars.
NAM Y. HUH | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bud Dupree, left, was one of 12 players
selected in the first round of the NFL Draft who
was rated as a three-star high school recruit.
In fact, the amount of three-star players
selected Thursday outnumbered former
four-star and five-star recruits (eight of each).
KEITH SRAKOCIC | ASSOCIATED PRESS PITTSBURGH STEELERS
See a photo gallery of first-round draft
pick Bud Dupree at Kentucky.com.