xt73xs5j9x8h https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt73xs5j9x8h/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky 1964  athletic publications English University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. University of Kentucky Basketball Media Guides (Men) Basketball, 1964 text Basketball, 1964 1964 2012 true xt73xs5j9x8h section xt73xs5j9x8h  			UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY		
			1963-64 BASKETBALL SCHEDULE		
1963			Opponent	Site	Starting Time
Nov.	30	(Sat.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Dec.	2	(Mon.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Dec.	7	(Sat.)		Evanston	8:00 p.m. CST
Dec.	9	(Mon.)	North Carolina .............................	Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Dec.	14	(Sat.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Dec.	20-21 (Fri.-		Sat.) U.K. Invitational Tournament.......................		
			(Wake Forest, Princeton,	7:30 and appx	9:30 p.m. EST
			Wisconsin, Kentucky)	(both	nights)
Dec.	28	(Sat.)	Notre Dame .................................	Lcuisville	8:00 p.m. EST
Dec.	30-31 (Mon		.-Tues.)   Sugar Bowl Tournament .	New Orleans	*
			(Duke, Auburn, Loyola, Kentucky)		
1964					
Jan.	4	(Sat.)		Atlanta	8:00 p.m. EST
Jan.	6	(Mon.)		Nashville	8:00 p.m. CST
Jan.	10	(Fri.)	Louisiana State ..............................	Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Jan.	11	(Sat.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Jan.	18	(Sat.)	Tennessee ...................................	Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Jan.	25	(Sat.)	Georgia Tech (TV Game) ..............	Lexington	3:30 p.m. EST
Feb.	1	(Sat.)		Gainesville	8:15 p.m. EST
Feb.	3	(Mon.)		Athens	8:00 p.m. EST
Feb.	8	(Sat.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Feb.	10	(Mon.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Feb.	17	(Mon.)	Vanderbilt ....................................	Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
Feb.	22	(Sat.)		Auburn	2:30 p.m. CST
Feb.	24	(Mon.)		Tuscaloosa	8:00 p.m. CST
Feb.	29	(Sat.)		Knoxville	3:30 p.m. EST
Mar.	2	(Mon.)		Lexington	8:00 p.m. EST
* First game opening night starts 7:30 p.m. CST. First game second day starts 1:15 p.m. CST.
(NOTE: UK Freshman schedule on inside back cover. Other dates to rememberNCCA First Round March 7-9-10 at sites to be decided, Mideast Regional March 13-14 at Minneapolis, Finals March 20-21 at Kansas City. East-West College All-Star Game March 28 at Lexington. State High School Tournament March 18-21 at Lexington.) University of Kentucky Basketball Facts  1963-64
INDEX
All-Americans, All-Conference 30-31
Asst. Coach Lancaster ..................15
Asst. Coach Reed ..........................16
Athletics At Kentucky ....................5
Athletic Director Shively 7-8 Background Briefs (Player
Sketches) ................................32-42
Coach Rupp ..............................11-13
Coaches Through Years ................16
Coliseum ....................................60-61
Colors ..............................................74
Fabulous Five ..................................20
Frosh Record ..................................74
Frosh Schedule1963
Results ........................ Inside Back
Greatest Team, Player, Thrill ......20
Home Floor Losses ............................9
Hotels on the Road ..........................9
Invitational Tournament 24-26
Kentucky In SEC ............................23
Kuhn-Brown-Hukle ........................17
Lettermen Through Years ........78-79
Mascots' Names ............................63
Medal-Trophy Winners ............29-30
NCAA Champions ............................8
NCAA In Memorial Coliseum 8 Nickname, Origin Of ......................2
Outlook Story ............................19-20
Pictures (Varsity-Frosh) ............43-46
Polls................................................66
Records (Varsity) ......................67-73
Records vs. All Opponents 75-77
Review  1962-63 ..........................21
Rosters (Varsity-Frosh) ............44-45
Rupp and UK Winningest 62-63
Rupp EraMilestones ..................14
Schedule Details ......................47-59
Schedule (Varsity) ........ Inside Front
Scores ........................................80-92
Season Record-^ 962-63 22 SEC Cage Champs By Years 23 SEC Composite Standings 23
SEC Final Standings1962-63 ......21
Statistics ........................................64
Time PlayHigh Games ..............65
To Press-Radio-TV ..........................3
Top All-Time Scorers................65-66
Tournament Trail ......................27-29
T-Viewing The Wildcats ................61
University of Kentucky ....................5
UK General Information ..................2
Wildcats Are Popular ....................63
Wildcats At A Glance....................18
Editor: KEN KUHN, Director of Sports Publicity
1 UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
General Information
LOCATIONLexington, Ky., a community of 100,000 in the heart of Kentucky's famed Blue Grass region. Renowned as the world capital of the thoroughbred horse industry and known also as the world's largest loose-leaf tobacco market.
FOUNDED1865 ENROLLMENT12,000
PRESIDENTDr. John W. Oswald
EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTDr. A. D. Albright
VICE-PRESIDENT, MEDICAL CENTERDr. William Willard
FACULTY CHAIRMAN OF ATHLETICSDr. William Matthews (UK's faculty representative to Southeastern Conference)
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONSR. W. Wild
CONFERENCESoutheastern (member since founding in 1933)
NICKNAME OF TEAMSWildcats COLORSBlue and White
MASCOT"Tucky" (stuffed wildcat) FIGHT SONG"On, On U. of K." BANDVarsity (Director Phil Miller)
STADIUMMcLean Stadium on Stoll Field (capacity 37,500) GYMNASIUMMemorial Coliseum (capacity 11,500)
Athletics Staff
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICSBernie Shively (Illinois '27) HEAD BASKETBALL COACHAdolph Rupp (Kansas '23) ASSISTANT COACHESHarry Lancaster and Neil Reed
HEAD COACHES OTHER SPORTSFootball: Charlie Bradshaw, Baseball: Harry Lancaster, Track and Cross Country: Bob Johnson, Tennis: Dick Vimont, Golf: Dr. L. L. Martin, Swimming: Algie Reece, Rifle: Major Robert Weaver.
TICKET SALES MANAGERHarvey Hodges
ACCOUNTANTJulien Harrison
BASKETBALL TRAINERJoe Brown
BASKETBALL EQUIPMENT MANAGERGeorge Hukle
SPORTS PUBLICITY DIRECTORKen Kuhn (Michigan State '42)
ORIGIN OF "WILDCATS" NICKNAME
Kentucky's athletic teams are known to sports fans as the Wildcats. This first and only nickname borne by University varsities had its origin in 1909 in a speech made by Commandant Corbusier, then head of the military department of old State College. Speaking to a chapel audience of students on the showing of the Kentucky football team in defeating Illinois six to two, the Commandant declared "they fought like Wildcats." The tag was popularized by word of mouth and by the press with the result that it has since become synonymous with all major Kentucky athletic teams.
While the name is old in origin, no claim is made regarding precedence over similar nicknames boasted by Northwestern, Villanova and about 10 other major athletic teams.
An alumnus in 1947 presented a live Kentucky Wildcat to SUKY, student pep organization. Named "The Colonel," the cat served as a live mascot for UK teams until his death in 1955. The current mascot is a stuffed wildcat obtained from a Brooklyn taxidermist just before the 1958 football season and named "Tucky."
2 TO THE PRESS AND RADIO-TV
Here is your copy of the 1963-64 facts booklet on Kentucky basketball which we sincerely hope will aid you in covering and answering questions on the Wildcats this season. If you desire additional information, special stories, pictures or have questions not answered herein, please feel free to contact the Sports Publicity Office in Memorial Coliseum (Telephone 252-2200, Ext. 2241).
KEN KUHN Miss Barbara King Ronnie Cathey
Director of Sports Publicity Secretary Student Assistant
Information
WORKING TICKETSAddress requests to Sports Publicity Office as far in advance as possible. Tickets will not be mailed unless requested and will be held at the Reservation Window at the main entrance of Memorial Coliseum for pickup on game night.
PRESS DOOREntrance to the area set aside for press and radio should be via the Press Door located to the extreme left of the Coliseum entrance foyer.
COMPSNo individual game allotment.
WESTERN UNIONWire facilities are available at court side. Please advise if you will be filing from the Coliseum and also notify manager of Western Union in Lexington.
RADIO BROADCASTSApplications must be directed at least one week in advance to Radio Director, University of Kentucky, Lexington. Tickets will be supplied by the Sports Publicity Office only upon receipt of approved permit from the Radio Director. Spotters are available if requested in advance. Line orders should be made to General Telephone Company, Lexington. Broadcast accommodations are at the press tables located on side court at floor level.
TV AND MOTION PICTURESNews clip film highlights will be furnished to TV stations or newsreel agencies at actual cost upon arrangement at least one week in advance. Stations or agencies desiring to shoot own film must make application to the University Radio Director at least one week in advance. Forms may be signed to cover the entire season. Tickets will be issued by the Sports Publicity Office only upon receipt of approved permit. A maximum of 200 feet of filmed highlights may be shown on a delayed basis. Live TV coverage prohibited except under arrangements made with UK Athletic Director. Photographers are restricted to working areas at either end of the floor adjacent to team benches.
SERVICESWorking press and radio will be furnished game programs, brochures, running play-by-play, halftime quickie box and final statistics in the form of a complete, seven-column dittoed box score.
3 JOHN W. OSWALD
President University of Kentucky THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
. . . The State Is Our Campus
Located in Lexington, an urban community of over 100,000 population in the heart of Kentucky's famed Blue Grass region, University of Kentucky is a state-supported, land-grant institution now approaching its centennial year to be celebrated in 1965.
The present school, which currently enrolls about 12,000 students and offers instruction in 10 academic colleges plus a Graduate School and a division of Extended Programs, had its beginnings in 1865 when it was established as a part of old Kentucky University. This action by the State Legislature united sectarian and public education under one organization for the first time. Federal funds authorized under the Morrill Act were used to develop agriculture and mechanical arts within KU and, in 1878, A&M College was separated from KU to become a separate state institution on the general site of what is now the 706-acre main campus. Name changes in 1908 and 1916 resulted in the title by which the school is now known.
A new chief administrative officer, Dr. John W. Oswald, took over reins of the University for the 1963-64 school year. The 46-year-old new president, who succeeds Dr. Frank Dickey, has an athletic background including collegiate football play at De-Pauw and letters in basketball and track. He was selected on the Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All-America Team in 1962. Dr. Oswald, whose special field is plant pathology, comes to Kentucky from a position as vice-president-administration, Statewide University, University of California.
The University is on the approved list of the Association of American Universities and is a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. It is fully accredited in its respective colleges and departments by all of the major professional societies and educational organizations.
ATHLETICS AT KENTUCKY
Kentucky's athletic program, a well-balanced and ambitious activity featuring inter-collegiate competition in nine different sports, is organized under the Department of Athletics and a corporation known as the University of Kentucky Athletics Association.
The program is conducted without overemphasis or sacrifice of educational objectives and in strict compliance with the rules of the University, the Southeastern Conference and the National Collegiate Association.
A board of directors, headed by University President John W. Oswald in the capacity of chairman, maintains overall policy supervision of the athletic program. In addition to the UK President, board officers include Dr. A. D. Albright as vice-chairman and Dr. W. L. Matthews in the capacity of secretary. Twelve other men, drawn from the University faculty and the general public, also serve on the board as appointees of the president as does a student representative.
Supervising the steady growth and balanced development of one of the nation's top athletic programs is Bernie A. Shively, a former Illinois grid All-American and a veteran of 25 years in the post of Director of Athletics.
The Association's Board of Directors is composed of the following: Dr. John W. Oswald, Chairman Dr. Aubrey J. Brown Prof. John Kuiper
Dr. W. L. Matthews, Jr., Secretary     Dr. Loren Carlson       Robert Stephens Dr. A. D. Albright, Dr. Thomas Clark       Dr. D. V. Terrell
Vice Chairman Dr. Lyman Ginger      Prof. William A. Tolman
James B. Allen Dr. A. D. Kirwan        Floyd Wright
Dr. Ralph Angelucci (Student Representative)
5  DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS BERNIE A. SHIVELY
Supervising the steady growth and balanced development of one of the nation's top athletic programs is the Herculean task being carried out successfully by Bernie A. Shively.
Few who have observed the untiring efforts of the tall, silver-haired former All-America footballer in the service of the University of Kentucky since 1927 and as Director of Athletics since 1938 will argue his fitness as an athletic Hercules. Not only has Shively guided the development of Kentucky as a nationally-respected power in major sports, but he has also gained personal prestige through a fair-minded approach to many problems.
During his quarter-century tenure as Athletic Director, Shively has directly supervised major expansions in Kentucky's athletic plant resulting from the progression of the school's football and basketball teams to greater national prominence and increased patronage by the sports-minded public.
The seating capacity of Kentucky's football stadium, McLean Stadium on Stoll Field, has been doubled to bring the current number of seats to approximately 37,500 and on par with most other schools located in heavier-populated areas. Powerful lighting equipment also was installed during the 1948-49 construction and a new-type "iodized" light put up in 1961 to bring night football into new popularity. Partly to satisfy the overwhelming number of basketball devotees, who could not squeeze into the 2,800-seat Alumni Gymnasium, a long-planned Memorial Coliseum was completed in 1950. Sating 11,500 persons for cage contests, the four-million dollar Coliseum also houses the Athletic Department. More recently, Shively directed the acquisition of a pair of modern, ranch-style living units which have served as the home of the football team since 1954. "Wildcat Manor" and "Kitten Lodge" replace three frame houses which the gridders had occupied since 1949.
Plans Spacious New Sports Center
A large dressing room building and football practice field, used since 1955, was abandoned in 1959 to make way for a huge new men's dorm. Under Shively's supervision, a spacious new Sports Center was prepared a short distance away on the University farm to take even better care of the footballers and spring sports teams. The Sports Center is generally regarded as one of the finest sports facilities in the nation.
Stoll Field recently underwent, with Shively's supervision, a major "face-lifting" to improve its playing surface and the view of the fans sitting in the lower rows of the stands.
Born in Oliver, III., May 26, 1903, Shively attended Paris (III.) High school and there began his athletic career by participating in track and. football. Although he was considered an outstanding backfield man in high school, Shively didn't attract the serious attention of collegiate scouts. He entered Illinois and tried out for the football team on his own. From that humble beginning, Shively went on to become a great guard under Coach Bob Zuppke on the same I Mini team made famous by the immortal Red Grange.
Shive played two years with Grange, running interference for the "Galloping Ghost" and made All-America in 1926 as a senior despite a bad knee that handicapped his playing. He also won the heavyweight wrestling championship of the Big 10 and was a standout in track to rank as one of the finest all-around athletes in Illinois' history.
Shively came to Kentucky in 1927 as line coach of football under Harry Gam-mage and six years later was named head of the UK Physical Education Department. He succeeded Chet Wynne as Athletic Director in 1938. During this period and the years following, he also served as track and baseball coach for several seasons and
7 continued to assist the football staff as line coach until 1944. The next year, 1945, he assumed full charge of the grid squad for one season before turning the job over to mentor Paul (Bear) Bryant in 1946.
The Kentucky Athletic Director is currently chairman of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Committee and for the past 10 years has been president of the Southeastern Conference Coaches and Athletic Directors Association. He served as chairman of the SEC Basketball Committee for a number of years and is a past chairman of the NCAA summer baseball group.
Shively and his wife, Ruth, have two children. Doug was a star end on the UK grid team for three years ending in 1958 and is now coaching at VPI while daughter Suzanne was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in 1957.
THE NCAA IN MEMORIAL COLISEUM
University of Kentucky's specious Memorial Coliseum, one of the largest and finest basketball arenas in the South, has been the site of portions of the NCAA Tournament six times since its completion in 1950. First round playoffs were staged in the UK Coliseum in 1955, 1959, 1960 and 1962 while regional tournaments were held in the building in both 1957 and 1958. The Wildcats played in the two regional eliminations, being eliminated by Michigan State in '57 and defeating Miami (Ohio) and Notre Dame in '58 enrouts to its fourth and last National Championship.
ON THE TRAIL OF TITLES  NCCA CHAMPIONS
1939	Oregon		1948	Kentucky	1956	San Francisco
1940	Indiana		1949	Kentucky	1957	North Carolina
1941	Wisconsin		1950	CCNY	1958	Kentucky
1942	Stanford		1951	Kentucky	1959	California
1943	Wyoming		1952	Kansas	1960	Ohio State
1944	Utah		1953	Indiana	1961	Cincinnati
1945	Oklahoma	A&M	1954	LaSalle	1962	Cincinnati
1946	Oklahoma	A&M	1955	San Francisco	1963	Loyola (Chicago)
1947    Holy Cross
8 HOME FLOOR LOSSES SINCE 1943 (Total of 18)
Date                 Opponent Score Margin
Jan.    8,  1955     Georgia Tech .................................................... 59-58 1
Dec. 10,  1955     Temple ............................................................ 73-61 12
Dec. 21,  1955      Dayton (UKIT) .................................................. 89-74 15
Dec. 10, 1956     St. Louis .......................................................... 71-70 1
Mar. 16, 1957     Michigan State (NCAA) .................................... 80-68 12
Dec. 20,  1957     West Virginia (UKIT) ...................................... 77-70 7
Dec. 19, 1959     West Virginia (UKIT) ...................................... 79-70 9
Jan.    2,  1960     Georgia Tech .................................................... 62-54 8
Feb. 27, 1960     Tennessee ........................................................ 65-63 2
Dec.   3, 1960     Florida State .................................................... 63-58 5
Dec. 22, 1960     St. Louis (UKIT) .............................................. 74-72* 2
Dec.   4,  1961      Southern California .......................................... 79-77 2
Feb.  12,  1962     Mississippi State .............................................. 49-44 5
Dec.    1, 1962     Virginia Tech .................................................. 80-77 3
Dec. 17, 1962      North  Carolina ................................................ 68-66 2
Jan.    5,  1963      Georgia Tech .................................................... 86-85** 1
Jan.  19, 1963     Tennessee ........................................................ 78-69 9
Feb. 18, 1963     Vanderbilt......................................................... 69-67 2
* One overtime period. ** Double overtime.
Points for UK1203 Points against1301 Average loss margin5.4
(Kentucky's home floor winning streak started against Ft. Knox on Jan. 4, 1943, following a loss to Ohio State two nights earlier. Before Ga. Tech snapped the string, the Wildcats had posted a national record 129 consecutive victories. All told, since the Ohio State loss, the Ruppmen have won 237 and lost only 18 at home. Since Memorial Coliseum became the home floor at the start of the 1950-51 season, the record is 1 53-1 8.)
KENTUCKY HOTEL HEADQUARTERS ON THE ROAD
Northwestern at Evanston on Dec. 7 .................................................. Orrington Hotel
Notre Dame at Louisville on Dec. 28 ................................................ Kentucky Hotel
Sugar Bowl Tournament at New Orleans on Dec. 30-31 ............................ Jung Hotel
Georgia Tech at Atlanta on Jan. 4 ........................................ Georgian Terrace Hotel
Vanderbilt at Nashville on Jan. 6 ............................................................ Noel Hotel
Florida at Gainesville on Feb. 1 ...................................................... Holiday Inn Motel
Georgia at Athens on Feb. 3 .......................................................... Holiday Inn Motel
Auburn at Auburn on Feb. 22 ................................................ Heart of Auburn Motel
Alabama at Tuscaloosa on Feb. 24 ...................................................... Hotel Stafford
Tennessee at Knoxville on Feb. 29 ...................................................... Farragut Hotel
9  ADOLPH FREDERICK RUPP
"Nation's Winningest Basketball Coach" 33 Years  Won 684, Lost 134  83.6%
For over three decades, the sports world has watched an amazing record being forged with near perfection out of meager raw material by a colorful figure in the Blue Grass country of Kentucky known familiarly to hundreds of thousands as the "Man in the Brown Suit."
He is Adolph Rupp of Kentucky and when the sport of basketball is mentioned today, a direct chain of thought brings out the name of this maker of champions who holds undisputed rank as the "Nation's Winningest Basketball Coach." The name of Rupp, feared and respected in opponents' hearts and beloved by the millions who have witnessed the remarkable success of his Wildcat cage teams, has become synonymous with the game of basketball.
Such unprecedented recognition for the fabulous mentor is only natural since his sucess in the past 33 years as head man of the fabled Kentucky cage thoroughbreds has been nothing short of phenomenal. It would take a book longer than his onw technical best-seller, "Championship Basketball," to recite the record completely.   Briefly, however, that record includes:
An amazing 684 victories out of 818 starts for an unparalleled winning percentage of better than 83 percent against major competition.
Certification by the NCAA Service Bureau as the nation's most successful collegiate basketball coach, both for the decade ending in 1961 and at the 20-year level.
One of only three still-active collegiate cage coaches with "membership" in the exclusive 600 club in which the dues are 600 victories. And he is looking for No. 700 this season.
Selection as the national "Coach of the Year" in 1959 for the second time in his career.
An unprecedented honor roll of four NCAA Tournament championships picked up by his Wildcats who hold the all-time record of 13 appearances in the national classic and can claim more victories in NCAA play (23) than any other team.
A nominal world's championship as co-coach of the successful USA entry in the
1948 Olympic Games which included members of Kentucky's NCAA champions. Producer of more Olympic gold medallion winners (7) than any other cage coach. An all-time record total of 20 Southeastern Conference titles since the league
was organized in 1933. Election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959 and previous
selection (in 1946) by Helms Athletic Foundation as a member of their exclusive
Hall of Fame.
Trustee and member of selection and honors committees of Basketball Hall of Fame. Also chairman NABC Hall of Fame Committee and headed the group last last winter picked players to appear in East-West All-Star Game benefitting the Hall of Fame.
Recipient of the Governor's Medallion in 1959 for meritorious service to the Commonwealth of Kentucky and plaques of appreciation from the U.S. Air Force (1959) and Sugar Bowl committee (1951).
Election to the Kentucky Hall of Fame (1945), outstanding citizen of Lexington (1949) and twice honorary citizen of the City of New Orleans.
Coach of the winning East team in the Shrine East-West game 1959.
Development of more All-Americans (20 players honored 29 times) and more material for the pro ranks (21) than any other coach.
Four Sugar Bowl Tournament championships, a National Invitation Tournament title and five trophies from the first nine UK Invitational Tournaments.
Membership on the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee.
1 1 Rupp's Teams Play In Most Tournaments
Tournament invitations in pre-Rupp years were almost unheard ofKentucky played in only seven sectional eliminations. In contrast, the Rupp-led Wildcats have the distinction of playing in more tournaments of all types than any other team. All told, his Bluegrass fives have achieved the unequalled feat of 139 victories against only 38 defeats, covering action in 38 national classics plus 29 conference meets and the '48 Olympics.
Although the competition was nowhere near as rugged as the schedules played by today's nationally-recognized Wildcat brigades, Rupp's very first team compiled a highly-successful, 15-3 record and Kentucky basketball has been on a winning plane ever since. The most games lost in a single season since Rupp added his touch were nine in 1960-61 and again last season. The remarkably low average number of losses per season in the Rupp Era is three.
Rupp's teams have finished as national champion in the press association polls four times in the last 14 years. They were unranked in the top 20 only in the 1952-53 campaign, when they were idle, and last season. Possibly his greatest achievement came in the 1953-54 season when the Wildcats rolled unchecked through a 25-game schedule of top-flight opposition to become the biggest-winning, perfect-record unit in all basketball history up to that time.
Rivaling that achievement, in the opinion of the sportswriters and broadcasters, is the tremendous coaching jobs turned in by the basketball miracle man in more recent seasons. Seven years ago, Rupp guided a moderately talented club to an 18th SEC title, third place in the polls and a ninth NCAA Tournament appearance while achieving a 23-5 record. The surprised experts, who had predicted UK would not win its own conference, voted Coach Rupp the runner-up spot as 1957 "Coach of the Year."
Even that effort went by the boards in 1958, however, as Kentucky's talentless wonders copped the NCAA title for an unprecedented fourth time. The Wildcats were unsung and almost unknown except by reputation and heritage. Not a single man had been honored on the All-Conference fives selected before tournament time and they had lost more games (6) in regular season play than any UK team in 17 years.
Wins National 'Coach of Year' Honor
If the experts thought that was tops in miracles, they reckoned without the amazing drive of this man Rupp. With four-fifths of his starting lineup gone, he re-built shattered foundations in such an astonishing fashion that the Wildcats rolled through the 1959 season almost unchecked. Although they failed to win the title in their increasingly-tough Southeastern Conference for only the third time since 1943, UK was generally conceded to be the nation's top team. Most experts agreed that the Kentuckians, who finished with a 24-3 record and ranked second nationally, missed a golden opportunity to pick up a fifth NCAA crown as they were upset by Louisville in the tourney opener. This feeling was given meaning as Rupp was accorded "Coach of the Year" honor by United Press International.
The 1959-60 season admittedly was not a great one as the UKats chalked up only an 18-7 marksecond worst season of the Rupp Era. However, many experts considered the outcome to be a tribute to one of the greatest coaching efforts ever turned in. Plagued from the beginning of the season to the end by adversity (sickness, injuries, eligibility difficulties and personnel problems, complete disaster was always imminent and avoided only by masterful juggling (16 different starting combos) and artful strategy moves.
It was a similar story of great coaching technique against the heavy odds of personnel and schedule in 1960-61. Although the final record read only 19-9 (worst ever for a Rupp team), a closer look reveals the touch of Rupp was there for the Wildcats were regrouped into a fearsome outfit after early troubles and rolled to 1 1 wins in their last 12 starts. Enroute they conquered eventual SEC champ Mississippi State on the road and demolished Vanderbilt in a SEC Playoff for an NCAA berth. They never ran out of gas until stopped by Ohio State in regional finals.
12 There was no way of anticipating the tremendous season that evolved in 1961-62 except to depend on the proven touch of master rebuilder Rupp. He had done it before, but losing four starters off the "worst" team of his career (19-9 in '61) presented a terrific challenge. Undaunted by odds, Coach Rupp guided his "Fearless Five" past challenge after challenge, copping the title in the UK Invitational and cornering a share of the SEC championship for the 20th time. Finally, critical lack of height and bench strength caught up with the 'Cats in the NCAA Regional finals and they put gear away until next year with an amazing, 23-3 record that even Rupp admitted was "one of the most surprising ever."
Not much could be said for 1962-63, which resulted in the posting of the poorest record ever (16-9) of the Rupp Era, except that it easily could have been worse without a dedicated coaching effort. And there was some solace to be found in the knowledge that a great majority of the nation's cage outfits would gladly settle for such a "poor" (by Rupp standards) mark any year.
Rupp Credited For Increasing Interest
Rupp is recognized by sports authorities with doing more than any other modern tutor to make basketball a national spectator sport. From the very outset of his career at Kentucky, which began in 1930, he has introduced or popularized many new and revised trends in the game that have aided materially in making the country basketball-minded. One such innovation was the controlled fast break offensive pattern that has since become the crowd-pleasing trademark of Wildcat cage teams.
The outstanding success of this man as a basketball coach is matched only by the personal fame he has attained off the court.
The masterful story-teller is equally renowned on the banquet and coaching clinic circuit and is in constant demand as a speaker in the off season. He annually appears in more than a dozen states to make speaking engagements and believes he has missed only Alaska in tours throughout the 50 states. Rupp undoubtedly has conducted more coaching clinics than any other tutor. Overseas assignments for the Army and Air Force have taken him in recent years to Europe three times (last, Germany 1961) and twice to Hawaii and the Far East (last, summer 1962). Several foreign Olympic coaches have studied under Rupp at UK.
Internationally recognized for his avocation as a registered Hereford breeder-enthusiast, Rupp is currently in his eleventh term as president of the Kentucky Hereford Assn. He owns and operates one of the largest farms in the Bluegrass area and serves as a director of the Central District Warehousing Corp., world's largest tobacco marketing organization. The coach in 1962 was named to a five-year term on the Board of Governors of the Agricultural Hall of Fame and National Agricultural Center.
Coach Rupp is active in Shrine affairs, being chosen in 1950 as one of the 10 outstanding Shriners of the na