Achievements Galore
86 Wildcats - Something To Be Proud Of i
The 1985-86 edition of the University of Kentucky basketball team will go down as one of the greatest ever in the illustrious history of UK basketball. The Wildcats compiled a 32-4 record, becoming only the sixth UK team to pass the 30-win plateau. The last team to reach that mark was the 1977-78 squad that went 30-2 and won the national championship. Before that, one must go back to the 1950-51 season to find a UK team that won 30-or-more games.
The Wildcats made their 31st appearance in the NCAA tournament and their 20th appearance in the Final Eight. UK has appeared in the Final Eight in three of the last four years. Kentucky's overall record in NCAA Tournament play now stands at 53-28. Only UCLA can claim more victories in NCAA play (55).
Kentucky owns a 4-2 record against the Final Four teams. The Wildcats defeated LSU three times and Louisville once, while losing once to LSU and once to Kansas. UK did not play Duke.
Kentucky captured the Southeastern Conference championship with a 17-1 record, marking only the third time since the league went to an 18-game schedule in 1967 that a team has won 17 conference games. Before losing to LSU in the NCAA Southeast Regional final, UK had won 20 straight games against SEC foes. All told, the Wildcats compiled a 21-2 record against the SEC this season. The 23 games versus SEC opponents in a single season is another league record.
The Wildcats also captured the SEC Tournament title, marking the first time a team
Jerry Happy With First Scrimmage
Running back Mark Higgs, slowed last season with a knee injury, gained 44 yards on only six carries and scored a touchdown last Saturday in an intrasquad scrimmage during Kentucky's spring football practice.
Higgs, who will be a junior in the fall, led a ground attack that netted 245 yards on 82 attempts. Greg Baker, who also suffered a severe knee injury last spring, led all rushers with 54 yards on 13 carries. He had a one-yard touchdown run.
"I felt that for our first scrimmage, we gave a great effort," said Wildcat coach Jerry Claiborne.
Quarterback Bill Ransdell completed five of seven passes for 40 yards and one 7-yard touchdown aerial in limited play.
"The defense came up with a couple of good goal-line stands, which means that our offense needs to improve," Claiborne said.
The Wildcats will conclude spring drills with the annual Blue-White game April 26 at Commonwealth Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
has won the tournament twice since the event was renewed in 1979. It also marked only the second time since the renewal that the league champion captured the tournament crown.
While some cynics downplayed Kentucky's accomplishments in the league, citing a "down year" in the SEC as the reason UK enjoyed such success, those cynics were proved wrong at season's end. All four SEC teams invited to the NCAA tournament advanced to the Final 16, with three advancing to the Final Eight. It was by far the league's finest showing ever in the NCAA.
With LSU advancing to the Final Four, this marks the fourth time in the last six years that the SEC has placed a team in college basketball's showcase.
In guiding the Wildcats to their 32-4 record, Coach Eddie Sutton became one of the most successful first-year coaches in the history of the sport. Sutton inherited a team that had struggled to an 18-13 record last season and was picked to finish third in the SEC this year.
What Sutton did was nothing short of amazing. He molded the group without a dominating big man into one of the powerhouses in the country. The squad with three guards utilized their speed and quickness to advance to the NCAA Final Eight before being knocked out by LSU.
The Wildcats finished the regular season ranked third in the nation by AP and UPI and were seeded first in the Southeast Regional of the NCAA Tournament. For his efforts, Sutton was named national Coach of the Year by AP and Kodak (selected by coaches) and the SEC's "Coach of the Year" by AP and UPI.
While going 32-4 this season, Sutton annexed his 17-year college coaching record to 374-129. That's a winning percentage of 74.4, one of the best in the nation. Sutton's NCAA Tournament record now stands at 15-11. He has guided a team to the NCAA Tournament for 10 straight years now, a feat matched only by North Carolina's Dean Smith.
The '85-86 Wildcat squad included one of the greatest players ever to wear the legendary Blue and White  Kenny Walker. The AU-American forward finished his career at Kentucky with 2,080 points, which places him second on UK's all-time career scoring list. "Sky" Walker averaged 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds this season in earning first-team All-America honors by nearly every poll, including AP, UPI, USBWA and NABC, in addition to numerous publications. The Roberta, Ga., native was the SEC "Player of the Year" for the second straight year and earned first-team All-SEC honors by AP, UPI and the coaches. He was named the national "Player of the Year" in a poll by ESPN.
In establishing his scoring marks, Walker became only the third player in UK history to pass the 2,000-point mark. Dan Issel leads the way in the UK scoring parade with 2,138 points, Walker scored 2,080 and Jack Givens scored 2,038. In addition, Walker is one of only 15 players in the history of the SEC to pass the magical 2,000-point mark.
Besides scoring, Walker earned his way into the UK record book in three other categories. Last year, he set a new UK record for free throws attempted (284) and free throws made (218). This season, he set a single-game field goal percentage record when he tossed in 11-for-ll shots against
'Cats During 4th Straight Win Over 'Bama
Western Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. That 100 percent performance surpassed Rick Robey's and Jack Givens' record of 91.7 percent (minimum of 10 made).
Another member of the 1985-86 Wildcat squad to earn his way into the UK record book was senior guard Roger Harden. The Valpariso, Ind., native dished out 232 assists this season, shattering the old mark of 188, set by Dirk Minniefield in 1981-82.
Harden enjoyed by far his best season in a Kentucky uniform, averaging 6.8 points and 2.2 rebounds while starting every game and averaging 31.1 minutes of playing time.
Kentucky continues to be the winningest team in college basketball, both in number of wins and in winning percentage. Through the years, the Wildcats have won 1,408 games, while losing only 440. That's a winning percentage of 76.2. Second on the NCAA list of all-time victories is North Carolina with 1,373 wins.
Kentucky has extended its string of non-losing seasons to 58, the longest such string in college basketball. The last time UK suffered a losing season was in 1927, when the 'Cats were 3-13.
More than a half-million fans watched the Wildcats play in person this season, while millions more watched on television and listened on radio, making UK basketball one of the more popular attractions in all of sports.
UK's attendance this season broke down as follows:
Home (regular season): 348 (23,210 avg.) Other (regular season): 157,958 (11,283 avg.)
Tournament: 115,312 (16,473 avg.) Total: 621,880 (17,274 avg.)
All but four of Kentucky's games in 1985-86 were on television with eight shown on the national networks (CBS or NBC) and five on ESPN.
The Wildcats compiled a perfect 18-0 record at Rupp Arena this season, improving UK's 10-year record in the largest built-for-basketball arena in the country to 140-14. That's a winning percentage of 90.9 in the building named for the winningest coach in college basketball history, the late Adolph Rupp.
Three of those 14 losses have come in postseason action, once in NIT play, once in NCAA play and once in SEC Tournament
Play-According to an unofficial CBS-TV survey earlier this season, Kentucky now enjoys the third best home-court winning percentage in the country, behind only Nevada Las Vegas and UCLA.
The two top priorities for UK coach Eddie Sutton are now recruiting and hiring an assistant coach to replace Leonard Hamilton, who accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma State.
Kentucky will be seeking to sign "two or three" players during the spring signing period of April 9 through May 15, according to Sutton. The Wildcats signed two players, 6-4 guard Rex Chapman and 6-8 forward Reggie Hanson, during the November signing period before the season.
Sutton has not set a timetable for hiring a new assistant.