Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball at Rupp Arena
Lexington, Kentucky, is home to the gold standard in college basketball, and the winningest program in NCAA Men's Division I. The Wildcats play at Rupp Arena, which opened in 1976 and currently seats 23,500, and was also the site of Villanova's legendary upset of Georgetown in the 1985 Final Four. The Wildcats are coached by John Calipari, who previously led UMass and Memphis to Final Four appearances in 1996 and 2008, respectively, before replacing Billy Gillispie at Kentucky in 2009.
Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball History
The University of Kentucky first fielded a men's basketball team in 1903, one year after the first women's basketball team was founded at the school. Adolph Rupp took over as head coach in 1930, leading the Wildcats to their first four titles, in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958. Rupp was replaced upon his retirement in 1972 by assistant coach Joe B. Hall, who brought Kentucky their fifth Final Four victory in 1978. Rick Pitino would arrive from the New York Knicks in 1989, and capture the 1996 championship before leaving after the next season to coach the Boston Celtics. In 1998, first-year coach Tubby Smith led Kentucky to a seventh championship, though it would take the Wildcats another 13 years to reach another Final Four, and 14 before winning their eighth title under Calipari.
Kentucky has won an outstanding 50 regular-season conference titles and 31 conference tournament championships, in addition to the National Invitation Tournament in 1946 and 1976. Countless legends have suited up for Kentucky, including coaches Pat Riley and Travis Ford, as well as such players as Dan Issel, Louie Dampier, Antoine Walker, Kenny "Sky" Walker, Rajon Rondo and Rex Chapman. Within the past decade, such current NBA stars as Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Demarcus Cousins and John Wall have played for the Wildcats. Kentucky has numerous conference and national rivals, but their in-state rivalry with Louisville is the most heated by far, further stoked by former Wildcats coach Rick Pitino leading the Cardinals from 2001 to 2017.
