College
Padgett saw limited playing time during his freshman season (1994–95) on a roster that included future NBA players Wayne Turner, Tony Delk, Rodrick Rhodes, Walter McCarty, Jeff Sheppard, Mark Pope and Antoine Walker. Padgett averaged 2.0 points per game and 1.2 rebounds per game while appearing in 14 games. He also had academic problems and was not eligible to play during the following year.
Padgett returned to Kentucky for the second half of the 1996–97 season. He became an integral part of that team, playing alongside future NBA players Ron Mercer, Derek Anderson, Nazr Mohammed and Jamaal Magloire. Padgett scored 15 points against his hometown University of Louisville, 24 points against the University of Tennessee and 17 points in the NCAA national championship game against the University of Arizona. The 1996–97 Kentucky team finished as the NCAA runner-up. For the season Padgett averaged 9.6 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game, and was named to the All-NCAA Final Four Team.
Padgett was the starting power forward on the 1997–98 team, and was one of its leading players as it won the 1998 NCAA Tournament. During that season, he distinguished himself nationally with good inside play, strong rebounding, and surprising outside shooting skills for a big inside player. On the season Padgett averaged 11.4 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 48.0% from the floor, 39.4% from 3 point range and 83.7% from the free throw line. In the NCAA tournament, he scored 19 points in a regional semifinal matchup against UCLA, 12 points - including a go-ahead three pointer to cap a 17-point comeback - in a regional final against Duke University, and 17 points in the NCAA national championship game against the University of Utah. Honors Padgett won that season included being named First Team All-American (Wooden), All-NCAA Final Four Team, All-NCAA Regional Team, Second Team All-SEC (Coaches), Third Team All-SEC (AP), All-SEC Tournament and Academic All-SEC.
During Padgett's senior season he tallied his 1,000th career point at Kentucky. That 1998–99 team lost the NCAA regional final. In his senior season, he averaged 12.6 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game. Highlights of the season included scoring 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against the University of Kansas in a second round NCAA tournament game. Padgett was also named to the All-NCAA Regional Team, was First Team All-SEC (Coaches) and Second Team All-SEC (AP) and Academic All-SEC. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
NBA
Padgett was selected with the 28th overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft. During his rookie season, he started nine games and averaged 2.6 points per game. By his third season Padgett was already established in the team's rotation, averaging 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, and appeared in every game during his fourth and final season with the team.
In 2003, Padgett joined the Houston Rockets and was mainly utilized as a backup for two seasons which included the highlight of his NBA career where on January 21, 2005, he made a one-handed, off balance last second shot to win against the New York Knicks. After which he signed with the New Jersey Nets.
On June 30, 2006, Padgett was waived by the Nets, and returned to the Rockets on September 30. On February 13, 2007, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for center Jake Tsakalidis. [1] He was waived on April 4. [2] At the end of his seventh NBA season, Padgett scored 1,874 points in 448 games.
On April 7, 2007, Padgett signed for the remaining of the year with CB Granada of the ACB. [3]
Coaching career
On April 16, 2009, it was announced that Padgett would be returning to his alma mater along with his former college teammate Tony Delk to serve on coach John Calipari's staff at the University of Kentucky. [6] Padgett left Kentucky to take a job coaching at Manhattan College for the 2010–2011 season where he served as an assistant under former teammate Steve Masiello. [7]
On April 25, 2012, Padgett was hired by new head coach Bennie Seltzer to the coaching staff at Samford in Birmingham, Alabama. [8] When Seltzer was dismissed in June 2014, Padgett was promoted to head coach of the Bulldogs. [9] Padgett was let go on March 16, 2020, after six seasons. [10] On July 31, 2020, Padgett was hired as an assistant coach on Paul Weir's staff at New Mexico.
Antoine Devon Walker is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft out of the University of Kentucky and played in the NBA from 1996 to 2008. Walker played for the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, the BSN's Mets de Guaynabo and the NBA D-League's Idaho Stampede before retiring from basketball in 2012. Walker, a three-time NBA All-Star, won an NCAA championship with Kentucky in 1996 and an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006.
Tony Lorenzo Delk is an American former professional basketball player and college assistant coach. He last served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team. During his playing days, he was team leader of the Kentucky Wildcats team that won the 1996 NCAA Championship Game. After college, he played for eight National Basketball Association (NBA) teams over 10 seasons.
Tayshaun Durell Prince is an American professional basketball executive and former player. The 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) small forward graduated from Dominguez High School before playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. He was drafted 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2002 NBA draft and went on to win a championship with the team in 2004.
Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected with the second overall pick by the Bullets in the 1968 NBA draft. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year during his rookie season and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only two players in NBA history to accomplish the feat. Unseld won an NBA championship with the Bullets in 1978, and the Finals MVP award to go with it. After retiring from playing in 1981, he worked with the Bullets/Wizards as a vice president, head coach, and general manager.
Samuel Paul Bowie is an American former professional basketball player. A national sensation in high school and outstanding collegian and Olympic team member, Bowie's professional promise was undermined by repeated injuries to his legs and feet. In spite of the setbacks, the 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) and 235 lb (107 kg) center played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Hakim Hanif Warrick is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange from 2001 to 2005. Warrick won an NCAA championship in 2003 and blocked a potential game-tying three-pointer in the title game.
Daniel Paul Issel is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis is a Georgian-born Greek former professional basketball player.
Bailey E. Howell is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball at Mississippi State, Howell played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howell was a six-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA champion and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Kenneth Victor Payne is an American college basketball coach and former player who is the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Louisville. Prior to being hired at Louisville, Payne spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 195 lb (88 kg) small forward, Payne played college basketball at Louisville and was a member of the 1986 NCAA championship squad. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 19th pick of the 1989 NBA draft.
Winston George Bennett III is an American former professional basketball player and coach.
Matthew Wayne Freije is a Lebanese/ American former professional basketball player. Freije attended Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, Kansas before attending Vanderbilt University where he was an All-SEC performer. He was selected 53rd overall in the 2004 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, was then released and later played for the New Orleans Hornets. He played 19 games for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2006–07 season but was waived in December 2006 to clear a roster spot for Slava Medvedenko.
Orestes Jodie Meeks II is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. On January 13, 2009, he gained national recognition by breaking the Kentucky single-game scoring record with 54 points in a nationally televised game on ESPN against Tennessee. In the same game, he broke the university's single-game three-point record by making 10 three-pointers. Meeks won the 2019 NBA championship as a member of the Toronto Raptors.
David Christopher Padgett is an American former basketball coach and player. As a college basketball player, he played at Louisville after transferring from Kansas.
Anthony Marshon Davis Jr., nicknamed "AD", is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for the New Orleans Pelicans. He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is a nine-time NBA All-Star and has been named to four All-NBA First Teams and four NBA All-Defensive Teams. In his first season with the Lakers, he won the 2020 NBA Finals. In 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. He also won the inaugural NBA Cup in 2023 with the Lakers. Davis is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time.
Jerry "Moose" Harper was an American basketball player best known for his collegiate career at the University of Alabama between 1952 and 1956. Harper, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, was 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and played the center and forward positions.
Allen Eugene Edwards is an American basketball coach and former basketball player. He is best known for winning two NCAA championships at the University of Kentucky as a player. Edwards was formerly the head basketball coach at the University of Wyoming.
Russ Antoin Smith is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Nardò of Serie A2, the second division in Italy. He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals, playing a starring role as a junior in helping them win the 2013 NCAA championship, while earning third-team All-American by the NABC and the Sporting News. As a senior at Louisville, he was named a consensus first-team All-American. As of March 5, 2023, his 65-point performance remains the NBA G League single game scoring record.
The 1970–71 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team was head coach Adolph Rupp's second to last team. While not as successful as his past Wildcats teams, would go reach the Sweet Sixteen, finishing the season with a 22–6 record (16–2) and a Southeastern Conference regular-season championship.
David Ricardo Johnson is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals, and was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the 2021 NBA draft.
