Meet UK’s Former Wildcat Mascot Ross Turner

Name: Ross Turner
Graduation Year: 2014
Major: Pharmacology
Future Plans: Make babies, make money, take over the world.
 
So you were the UK mascot? Which one: Wildcat or Scratch? For the last four years I had the honor to rock the cat suit as “The Wildcat.” It was slightly amazing, and when I say slightly, I really mean incredible.
 
How did you get started being the official mascot for UK? We have a long line of former greats who have donned the suit, and I was lucky enough to meet a former Scratch, who recruited me into the “Furrr-ternity.” I was told I should come to tryouts (which are held usually every spring) and so I took the chance, went for it and got the spot.
 
How long were you the mascot? I started my freshman year and did all the way up through my senior year.
 
Which of UK’s sports did you mascot for? All of them. From women’s soccer to swim meets, to sold out crowds at Rupp. You name it, I have mascotted at it.
 
About how many games did you go to? A bazillion. To be fair, in the mascot program there are actually 4 guys who are a part of it. Two head mascots (one for Scratch and one for Wildcat) then we have two backups. This allows us to be at a lot more games and events. UK is a huge university and you can only imagine the requests that come in on a daily basis for Wildcat and Scratch.
 
Did you get to travel a lot? If so, where were your favorite places you went to? The Wildcat travels to all away football games and pre-season and post-season tournament games for basketball. I traveled a ton, all over the U.S. My all-time favorite football venue would have to be Alabama or LSU. But overall, hands down my favorite trip was to Houston last year for the Final Four in basketball season. Running the team out of the tunnel in Houston is one of the coolest moments of my life.
 
What was your favorite part about cheering on all of the UK teams? My favorite part was just being able to entertain the crowd. Being able to make people smile and laugh and really enjoy the game that much more meant everything to me. The mascot is the staple of the university in many ways, and being able to represent UK every time I put on the suit gave me a lot of pride. I grew up dreaming of playing basketball for UK, and even though that never came true, mascotting turned out to be almost as cool, in my mind anyway.
 
What made you stop being a mascot? I finished up mascotting last year and was accepted to UK’s School of Pharmacy and handed over the reins to someone new. I miss it a lot but thanks to pharmacy school, I haven’t had too much time to realize how much I really do miss it.
 
What do you believe is the best thing you learned from being a mascot? I think the biggest thing I took away from being the mascot is summed up in this quote… “if the furrr ain’t flyin’ you ain’t tryin’.” Hard work and dedication are what I learned the most. Mascotting seems really goofy to some and honestly if you would have asked me in high school if I ever wanted to be a mascot, I would have laughed at you. It goes to show you that life is random, and that many different opportunities will come knocking sometime and you should never sell yourself short by being close-minded. Be open to new things and at least give them a try.