Signees visit Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- In Kentucky, two things reign dominant: basketball and horses.\nThe pair met Saturday afternoon as players and coaches in the Derek Anderson Derby Festival Basketball Classic took time out of their schedule to visit Churchill Downs. \nIU signees A.J. Ratliff and James Hardy were part of the crowd touring the home of Saturday's Kentucky Derby.\nOn top of walking around the grounds, the group was addressed by legendary thoroughbred trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who shared stories, insight and jokes with the all-stars. The group was comprised of the two future IU players as well as two signees for Louisville and Kentucky, each among others. \nThe Saturday night game pitted the White All-Stars against the Purple All-Stars. \nHardy paced the White team with 23 points, leading them to a 123-108 win in front of 8,313 spectators at Louisville's Freedom Hall.\nRatliff, who chipped in six points and four rebounds, won the game's slam dunk contest, which was held at halftime. \nLooking forward to next year, Ratliff said -- among the stables on the backside of Churchill Downs -- he is excited for next year, especially with the addition of 7-foot-1 center Robert Rothbart from California.\n"I'm looking forward heavily to playing with James (Hardy), D.J. (White), Robert (Vaden) and the other Robert (Rothbart)," he said. \nFor Hardy, the basketball season will be his second group of new teammates to which he must adjust. \nThe Ft. Wayne native signed a letter of intent to play football for IU coach Gerry DiNardo but has strong feelings for both sports next year.\n"I'm just looking forward to coming in with the class that we have," Hardy said. "Even though I'm playing football, I'm really excited about the basketball program as well as the football program."\nDealing with both sports, Hardy said, could be problematic, but he looks forward to taking on the challenge of handling both.\n"It's going to be a tremendous problem," Hardy said of playing two sports in college. "But I think I can accomplish it if put my mind to it. I'm walking into something that I'm really not too sure about, and hopefully, I can balance both of them."\nOn the basketball side of things, the signing of Rothbart appears to be a welcoming site for the incoming Hoosiers.\n"The 7-1-er kind of eased the pain of the inside presence," Ratliff said. "It would have been nice to get Josh (Smith)."\nSmith, one of the top-rated high school players in the nation, signed a letter of intent to play at IU but recently declared himself eligible for the NBA draft.\nRothbart will attempt to fill the void left by Smith. \n"We need the height," Hardy said. "We needed a big guy. And (a) 7-foot-1er -- that would be a tremendous help to the Hoosiers." \n-- Contact sports editor Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.