Kentucky Wildcats


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The final season for Head Coach Billy Gillispie as the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats came to a close in a National Invitation Tournament Quarterfinals loss to Notre Dame. It was the first time in 17 seasons that the Wildcats did not make it into the NCAA Championship Tournament. Directly after the loss, the school severed ties with Gillispie citing an “Incompatibility between him and the school”. Gillispie filed a Breach of Contract lawsuit in the State of Texas against Kentucky, who countersued citing they had no formal contract. An out of court settlement was announced on October 1, 2009.

After a lengthy search, the university hired on former Philadelphia 76er head coach John Calipari away from the University of Memphis where he posted nine consecutive 20-win seasons. In 2009 he was named the Sports Illustrated College Basketball Coach of the Year.

The first Kentucky recruiting class for coach Calipari was a home run and has been ranked 1st in the Nation by Scout Magazine, Rivals Magazine and ESPN. The signees include Raleigh Guard John Wall who starred at Word of God High, Mobile Alabama Forward DeMarcus Cousins out of LeFlore High, Center Daniel Orton from Bishop McGuinness High in Oklahoma City, Guard Eric Bledsoe out of Parker High in Birmingham, Guard Jon Hood out of Madisonville North Hopkins in Kentucky, and Small Forward Darnell Dodson out of Miami Dade Community College via his hometown of Greenbelt, MD.

A SHORT HISTORY

The Kentucky Wildcats are the most successful NCAA Division I basketball teams in the history of the sport. They hold the most all time victories in the history of College Basketball in terms of all times wins and all time winning percentage .757 (1988-635-1). They rank second in NCAA Championships with 7 and second in NCAA Tournament wins.

The team plays in Rupp Arena, named after famed Kentucky Coach Adolph Rupp, who was one of the most successful coaches in American college basketball behind Bob Knight and Dean Smith. Rupp won 876 games in 41 years of coaching and was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. Other notable Kentucky Coaches were John B. Hall (1972-1985) Rick Pitino (1989-1997) and Orlando “Tubby” Smith (1997-2007).

The Wildcats have won seven NCAA Championships and were runner up three times. They have made it into the Final Four thirteen times, the Elite Eight thirty-two times and the Sweet Sixteen thirty-six times. They have been Conference Tournament Champions twenty-six times and Conference Regular Season Champions forty-four times.