Sports in Kentucky runs each Tuesday in the Daily News.

Murray State basketball coach Tevester Anderson isnt about to adopt the latest fashion of his senior players. For one, it hurts. For another, once youve gone there, theres no turning back. And perhaps most importantly in Andersons case, wife Joyce might not see the appeal. She probably wouldnt let me in the house, Anderson said. There are other ways of making a fashion statement. Not for his seniors. Four of the five Racer seniors sport the games latest fashion fad body art, otherwise known as the tattoo. Seniors Isaac Spencer, Rod Murray, Marlon Towns and Aubrey Reese brandish one or more tattoos. Its so common that I hardly had given it much notice, Anderson said. But the players sure notice them. As a high school junior in 1995, Spencer remembers watching a televised college game featuring Arizona star Damon Stoudamire, now a guard for the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA. A large, Old English D tattoo adorns Stoudamires upper left arm. He was one of the first players I saw wearing a tattoo, and I thought, That looks cool. That looks good. I had to get one, Spencer said. Spencers mother, Esther, wouldnt consent until he graduated. Spencer eventually got a tattoo on his left arm a basketball passing through a basket accompanied by the words Mr. Spencer in script. I was one of the first in my high school to get one and it was neat, Spencer said. Now its more common. Even girls have them. Towns and Murray have tattoos that represent something special. Towns tattoo sports his middle name, Ray-Ray, in Old English below a caricature of a Bulldog, the mascot of Farley High School in Memphis, Tenn. He acquired the tattoo following his senior season. I wanted it as a memory of my achievements at Farley, said Towns, the player of the year in Tennessee as a senior. Mostly, it was for my coach, Sylvester Ford. He was like a father to me. On his left arm, Murrays tattoo features a basketball going through a hoop. Below that, four hearts form a bow around the names Bessie, his mother, and Jaysmne, his daughter. My mom died when I was a junior in high school, so I wanted to put her on my arm. At the end of my junior year, I had my little baby, so I had both of them put on at the same time, Murray said. Tigers adorn the right arms of both Spencer and Murray. Near the end of their freshman semesters at Murray State, Spencer, Murray and Reese visited a tattoo parlor in Paducah. Spencer had his tiger done with his mothers name printed above it. Murray and Reese returned the following day to get their artwork. Murray opted for a different tiger, and his nickname, Ra Ra below it. It hurts for a while but then your arm gets numb, Spencer said. The tiger took about two hours. Even though you get used to it after a while, dont let anyone tell you that it doesnt hurt. Murray doesnt think much about the tiger tattoo now, but was ecstatic when he first got it. Every day for a while Id get up in the morning and look at it in the mirror. I enjoyed every minute of that, he said. Now, its just kind of there on my arm.