When Todd Tackett was a senior at Paintsville (Ky.) High School, he had to decide between playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky or pursuing a career in professional baseball.

After three years as a lightly-used reserve guard on the UK basketball team, he has apparently decided that his original decision was the wrong one.

According to the Friday, Aug. 24, edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Tackett has left the Wildcats to chase his dream on a baseball field.

"With Keith Bogans and Rashaad Carruth back, there wasn’t going to be much playing time," said Jerry Tackett, Todd’s father, in the article. "Maybe I would be satisfied and maybe you would be satisfied with being on a team that could win a national championship, but Todd wants to play."

And Todd rarely played, averaging just six minutes a game in those contests he left the bench. He leaves UK with a scoring average of 0.9 points over 40 games, having hit just three of 33 3-pointers (9.1 percent), including but one of 22 his sophomore year.

Lexington-based agent Dick Robinson will help Tackett pursue a career in baseball. Tackett, who was also an all-state baseball player at Paintsville before giving up the sport after his junior year in high school, is expected to try out with the Florida Marlins over the next two weeks.