The University’s humble beginning was in Lexington, Kentucky as the Agricultural and Mechanical College in Kentucky, a part of Kentucky University. As a land-grant school the college separated from Kentucky University in 1878, officially becoming a university in 1908. The university underwent a name change in 1916, assuming the name “University of Kentucky”.
While UK, as it is familiarly called, is well established as a center for learning in multiple disciplines, it also has a thriving athletics program. Major sports for men and women include baseball, soccer, football, and basketball. The men’s basketball team is a source of great pride and notability for all who are connected to UK, as well as its hometown of Lexington.
The story of the beginning of UK basketball is an interesting one. The UK Wildcats basketball program was established in 1903 by W.W. Mustaine, who became its first head coach. He brought a group of young men from the University, took up a collection of $3.00 to fund the purchase of a basketball, and told the the fledgling team to “start playing”! In its first five years of existence, the Wildcats team did not have a winning season. In fact, of its first 44 games, the team only managed to win 15. That all began to change in 1908, when full-time head coach Edwin Sweetland became the first paid basketball coach. During Coach Sweetland’s first season with the team, they were able to win 5 of the 9 games that they played. Only three years after that season, in 1911, the Wildcats celebrated an undefeated season with 9 victories. Alpha Brummage, coach from 1913-1915, would bring the team to a 12-2 season wherein they defeated every one of their “Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association” opponents.
George Buchheit came to be the head coach in 1919. He brought with him the playing styles of the University of Illinois, his alma mater. He adapted that style, with an emphasis on defense. One player was designated to be under the basket while others moved about on the court itself. Buchheit also taught and implemented a “man to man” defense, as well as a “figure eight” or “zig-zag” offense for the team. Learning this new way of playing the sport meant that the first season of his leadership was not a winning season. However, the following year the UK Wildcats won the “Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association” championship.
Following Buchheit’s exit as head coach after the 1924 season, UK performed well each season for the next four years, despite having a new coach each of those years. Coming onboard in 1927, Coach John Mauer continued the winning reputation and seasons for the Wildcats. From 1927-1930, Coach Mauer brought the team forty wins out of fifty-four games played. He inherited a group of players coming up from the junior varsity team, yet discovered they were deficient in their skills and understanding of the game itself. He started holding three-hour practices, five days each week all through the pre-season. Focusing on shooting drills and full court scrimmage each day, he worked to educate the players and build their game skills as well as knowledge. He was an avid proponent of teamwork in playing. Each player was expected to know and be able to cover any position on the court. Short passes to allow good court position for shooting were part of his slow-break defense strategy. Man-to-man defense was a hallmark of his coaching, as it had been with Coach Buchheit. One technique he taught and saw successfully used was a “bounce pass”, frustratingly referred to by opponents as the “submarine attack”. The bounce pass is a highly successful way to transfer the ball to another teammate, while maintaining control of the pass. The focus is to have the ball hit the court about ¾ of the way between you and the teammate. This allows the ball to “bounce” to about chest height for that player, allowing for that player to have better receiving control. This may be done “one-handed” or “two-handed”. Particularly controllable is the two-handed bounce. The passer starts with the ball at his/her own chest and “flicks” with both wrists, sending the ball on a good trajectory for the receiver. Coach Mauer was never able to bring the team to a championship trophy, and he left UK in 1930 after the season ended.
Coach Adolph Rupp left a high school coaching job to become the head coach at UK. He was a legend who coached the Wildcats from 1930-1972. He would prove to be a powerhouse coach who brought the Wildcats four NCAA championships and holds the UK record for longest head coaching career there. He was a strong proponent of “set offense” and “fast break” play. He was considered a great strategist, and intense and strict competitor and motivator who pushed his teams to powerful success. He became the first of three UK basketball head coaches to receive a place in the coveted “Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame”. Coach Rick Pitino (1989-1997) and John Calipari (2009-present) followed in his footsteps to that award.
The UK Wildcats have won eight NCAA championships, second only to UCLA with eleven. The team has appeared in the “Final Four” no less than fifteen times. The Wildcats were the first college team to crack the ceiling on the one-thousand-win category in 1968. They cracked the ceiling on the two-thousand-win category in 2010. They currently have over twenty-two hundred wins for their all-time record. No other school’s team has matched or exceeded that number.
On the heels of Coach Rupp, Coach Joe Hall brought the team to its fifth NCAA championship, and current head coach John Calipari has the distinction of bringing the team through three more NCAA championships, along with the afore mentioned two thousand all time wins. Coach Calipari shows no signs of letting up the pressure for the team to succeed, and emphasizes team play, skills, and successful education for his players.
The number of awards, trophies, and milestone markers achieved by the Wildcats is amazing. General consensus is that the University of Kentucky Wildcats have put college basketball on center stage in the country. The innovation and leadership from not only head coaches but team members through the years has made UK a powerhouse home for basketball. Heads in the game each time, hearts fueled with passion for the game and the team play seems to pass from team to team each successive year. The future is wide open, and the end is not at all in sight. Watch them play. You’ll be amazed and become just as passionate as they are.