With Lamar University putting its unbeaten record on the line tonight against the University of Kentucky in Rupp Arena, a story making the rounds on the basketball grapevine some 18 months ago is worth retelling.

Billy Gillispie had just bolted Texas A&M to take the Kentucky job and was in need of a top-notch recruiter. One of his first calls, according to a very reliable grapevine source, was to Steve Roccaforte, who had just completed his first season as head coach at Lamar.

Gillispie reportedly made Roccaforte a financial offer more that double what Lamar was paying him. Though tempted because of the financial implications, Roccaforte’s feelings for what he often calls his dream job won out.

The LU coach, to this day, refuses to confirm or deny he ever had job conversations with Gillispie, a long-time friend who also tried to hire him when he was head coach at UTEP and at Texas A&M. When asked about it on Tuesday, all the TJ graduate would say is, “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

Lamar’s game with a Kentucky team that’s on a roll after a slow start will be Roccaforte’s second time to go head-up against Gillispie. In the first one, two seasons ago in the Shelby Metcalf Classic in College Stadium, the Aggies wore out the Cardinals, 94-60.

“That was Billy’s third year at A&M and my first at Lamar,” Roccaforte said. “They were really good and a lot farther along than we were. The situation is a little bit different tonight. This is early in his second season at Kentucky. I don’t know that he’s got his system completely in at this point.”

Kentucky, after dropping its first two games to VMI (111-103) and No. 1 ranked North Carolina (77-58), has won four straight. Last weekend, the Wildcats edged Kansas State, 74-72, then throttled West Virginia, 54-43, to win the Las Vegas Invitational.

Gillispie, however, is yet to be embraced by Kentucky fans whose expectations are always off the charts. He took lots of heat last year, during and after a season that ended 18-13. A four-game winning streak, however, suggests things could be turning around.

Lamar, meanwhile, brings a 5-0 record into its second-ever visit to Rupp Arena, including road victories at Louisiana-Lafayette and Rice. Crowds of little more than 2,000 in those games can’t possibly have prepared the Cardinals for the mob in excess of 22,000 that always turn out at Rupp.

“I can see where the crowd could be intimidating,” said Roccaforte, who is making his first trip to the arena named after the Kentucky coaching icon. “It’s going to be a new experience for our guys. But I’ll be high surprised if it impacts on them in a negative way. They’ve been in some difficult situations.”

Best news for Lamar is that 6-7 senior Jay Brown is expected to play. Brown, who is averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds, missed Saturday night’s game against Lyon College while being treated in a Beaumont hospital for a staph infection. And he didn’t take part in the team’s 6:30 a.m. workout Tuesday, before they departed for Lexington.

“I expect him to be available,” Roccaforte said. “The way he was IVed up for three days, he may well be turbo charged.”

Lamar’s major challenges against the bigger Wildcats figures to be rebounding and scoring against Gillispie’s physical man-to-man defense. Kentucky held Cleveland State to 42 points and limited West Virginia to 43.

“Their game is predicated on being physically tougher than the other team,” Roccaforte said. “I don’t know how to simulate in practice what they do in games. We were in physical scrimmages against UTEP and Texas-Arlington and a physical game at Rice and handled it well. But Kentucky has bigger, stronger players.”

The Wildcats top gun offensively is 6-4 junior guard Jodie Meeks, who is the current Southeastern Conference player of the Week. Meeks, who scored 37 points against Kansas State, is averaging 25.5. Six-nine soph Patrick Patterson scores at a 15.5 clip and leads the team in rebounds at 9.0.