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'You're famous now': Coal miner, family get VIP treatment at UK basketball game

When Michael McGuire and his wife, Mollie McGuire, were sitting at the podium after the game, he explained how he found out he went viral.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Weeks after a viral photo shows a coal miner at a University of Kentucky (UK) scrimmage basketball game with his son, he and his family got some special treatment Friday.

Michael McGuire is the coal miner UK basketball head coach John Calipari shared a photo of. McGuire was in the stands and still covered in dust, but he rushed to the game to be with his son Oct. 24.

Calipari said the scene hit home for him, and that he had tickets for McGuire and his family at Rupp Arena to be treated as VIPs.

During the game, McGuire was the "Y" in the cheerleaders' traditional cheer where they spell "Kentucky." 

When Michael and his wife, Mollie McGuire, were sitting at the podium after the game, he explained how he found out he went viral.

"When I came up from underground I got called to the foreman's office," he said. "They said, 'You're famous now.' And I said, 'No, no I'm not.'"

Credit: Travis Breese/WHAS-TV
Michael and Mollie McGuire are sitting at a podium after the UK basketball game Friday, Nov. 11. Michael is the coal miner coach John Calipari saw in the stands at a scrimmage game Oct. 24.

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