Tuesday's Birthday Shout-Out: Walter McCarty Gets Smooth

For all of the jokes made the past few years about Urban Meyer's almost creepy attachment to Tim Tebow, we've all forgotten about long-running partnership between Rick Pitino and his protege Walter McCarty.

From Kentucky to Boston to Louisville, McCarty was never too far away from the man who recruited him to help win a national championship in 1996. Unfortunately, the two of them could never duplicate that magic anywhere else.

Not that their time in Beantown was all bad. The pair made a cameo in Spike Lee's "He Got Game". Then Walter decided to step out on his own. In 2003, McCarty dropped an R&B album called "Moment for Love".

Actually, it's not bad. Sampling from 112's "Peaches and Cream", McCarty sounds a bit like he could be a backup singer for any one of a number of R&B groups. And considering it was recorded in the days before Auto-Tune ruined ruled the world, it's a quality effort.

McCarty showed off some of those vocal skills before an NBA event, singing the National Anthem prior to the start of All-Star Saturday, one night before the 2006 All-Star Game. Now that he's an assistant coach for the Pacers, maybe he can team up for a duet with Jim Nabors for the start of the Indianapolis 500 at the end of May. I can guarantee that he'll be available.