National Players of the Year
The UK players listed here received at least one NCAA-recognized national player of the year award.
A number of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players have been honored with various Southeastern Conference and national awards.
Forty-three former Kentucky men's basketball players, coaches, and contributors are honored in Rupp Arena with banners representing their numbers hung from the rafters. With the streamlining of jersey numbers by the NCAA, the jerseys are retired but the numbers remain active. To have a banner hung, the athlete must be elected to the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. [1]
| No. | Name | Years | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Cliff Barker | 1947–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| 12 | Ralph Beard | 1946–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| 22 | Jerry Bird | 1954–56 | |
| 50 | Bob Burrow | 1955–56 | 1956 Second Team All-America |
| 56 | Burgess Carey | 1925–26 | |
| 24 | Johnny Cox | 1957–59 | 1958 NCAA Champion, 1959 First Team All-America |
| 10 | Louie Dampier | 1965–67 | 1967 Second Team All-America |
| 7 | John DeMoisey | 1932–34 | |
| 00 | Tony Delk | 1993–96 | 1996 NCAA Champion, 1996 First Team All-America, 1996 SEC Player of the Year, 1996 NCAA Tournament M.O.P. |
| 42 | Bill Evans | 1952–55 | |
| 32 | Richie Farmer | 1989–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
| 12 | Deron Feldhaus | 1989–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
| 21 | Jack Givens | 1975–78 | 1978 NCAA Champion, 1978 Second Team All-America, 1978 SEC Player of the Year, 1978 NCAA Tournament M.O.P. |
| 44 | Phil Grawemeyer | 1954–56 | |
| 15 | Alex Groza | 1945–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| 35 | Kevin Grevey | 1973–75 | 1975 First Team All-America, 1973 and 1975 SEC Player of the Year |
| – | Joe B. Hall | 1973–85 | 1978 National Championship Head Coach |
| 6 | Cliff Hagan | 1951–54 | 1951 NCAA Champion, 1952 First Team All-America, 1954 First Team All-America |
| 52 | Vernon Hatton | 1956–58 | 1958 NCAA Champion |
| – | Basil Hayden | 1920–22 | |
| 44 | Dan Issel | 1968–70 | UK All-time leading scorer, 1970 First Team All-America |
| 27 | Wallace Jones | 1946–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| – | Bill Keightley | 1962–2008 | Mr. Wildcat, Equipment Manager |
| – | Cawood Ledford | 1953–92 | Voice of the Wildcats |
| 4 | Kyle Macy | 1978–80 | 1978 NCAA Champion, 1980 First Team All-America, 1980 SEC Player of the Year |
| 44 | Cotton Nash | 1962–64 | 1964 First Team All-America |
| 24 | Jamal Mashburn | 1991–93 | 1993 First Team All-America, 1993 SEC Player of the Year |
| 34 | John Pelphrey | 1989–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
| 22 | Mike Pratt | 1967–70 | 1970 Second Team All-America |
| – | Rick Pitino | 1990–97 | 1996 National Championship Head Coach |
| 30 | Frank Ramsey | 1951–54 | 1951 NCAA Champion, 1954 Second Team All-America |
| 26 | Kenny Rollins | 1943–48 | 1948 NCAA Champion |
| 42 | Pat Riley | 1965–67 | 1966 First Team All-America, 1966 SEC Player of the Year |
| 53 | Rick Robey | 1975–78 | 1978 NCAA Champion, 1978 Second Team All-America |
| 4 | Layton Rouse | 1938–40 | |
| – | Adolph Rupp | 1931–72 | 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958 National Championship Head Coach |
| – | Forest Sale | 1931–33 | Helms POY 1933, 2 time all American 1932 and 1933 |
| – | Carey Spicer | 1929–31 | |
| 77 | Bill Spivey | 1950–51 | 1951 NCAA Champion, 1951 First Team All-America |
| 20 | Gayle Rose | 1953–55 | |
| 16 | Lou Tsioropoulos | 1951–54 | 1951 NCAA Champion |
| 34 | Kenny Walker | 1983–86 | 1986 First Team All-America, 1985–86 SEC Player of the Year |
| 11 | Sean Woods | 1990–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
The UK players listed here received at least one NCAA-recognized national player of the year award.
The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award has been presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 2015 to the top Division I center.
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The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players that were named First or Second Team All-Americans:
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The Wayman Tisdale Award, known before the 2010–11 season as the USBWA National Freshman of the Year Award, has been presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association since 1989 to the top freshman in Division I men's basketball.
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The National Association of Basketball Coaches, the trade organization for college men's basketball coaches, has presented its own Freshman of the Year award since the 2016–17 season.
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The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players who have been named SEC Player of the Year:
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The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players who have been named either SEC Freshman of the Year (awarded by the league's head coaches, and open only to freshmen) or SEC Newcomer of the Year (awarded by the AP and open to any player in his first year at an SEC school, including transfers).
All listed players won both awards except for the following:
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One of the NCAA's main student-athlete awards is the Elite 90 Award (previously the Elite 88 and Elite 89), presented at the site of each of the NCAA's 90 annual championship finals. In Division I men's basketball, eligible individuals are those on the playing squads of all Final Four participants who have played at least two seasons at their current school. The recipient is the eligible player with the highest grade point average, with completed credit hours as a tiebreaker if needed.
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The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players who have been named McDonald's All-Americans during their prep careers:
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The following Kentucky players, coaches, and contributors have been enshrined as individuals in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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In addition to these, Adrian Smith was a member of the 1960 US Olympic team that was inducted as a unit in 2010.
The following Kentucky players and coaches have represented their country in basketball in the Summer Olympic Games:
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The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball program is the men's college basketball team of the University of Kentucky. It has eight NCAA championships, the best all-time winning percentage, and the most all-time victories. The Wildcats compete in the Southeastern Conference and are coached by Mark Pope.
The 2009–10 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky during the college basketball season of 2009–10. This season was the first of John Calipari's tenure as head coach; he accepted the position on March 31, 2009.
The 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2002, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on April 7, 2003 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Syracuse Orange and coach Jim Boeheim won their first NCAA national championship with an 81–78 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.
The 2011–12 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2011–12 college basketball season. The team's head coach was John Calipari, who was in his third season after taking the Wildcats to their first Final Four in thirteen seasons. The team won the 2012 NCAA Championship, bringing Kentucky its eighth title. The team's 38 wins broke a record shared by 5 teams for the most wins in NCAA men's Division I history.
The 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their seventh national championship by defeating the Utah Utes 78–69 on March 30, 1998. They were coached by Tubby Smith and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Jeff Shepherd.
The 2013–14 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2013–14 college basketball season. The team played its home games in Lexington, Kentucky for the 39th consecutive season at Rupp Arena, with a capacity of 23,500. The team was led by fifth-year head coach John Calipari. This team was nicknamed the "Tweakables" in reference to Calipari's comment prior to the 2014 SEC tournament. The team was the National Runner-up in the NCAA tournament, and also marked Kentucky's 16th Final Four appearance. It was Calipari's third Final Four appearance at Kentucky.
The 2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by eighth-year head coach Sean Miller, and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference. Coming into the '16-'17 season Arizona has been ranked in 78-consecutive AP polls & 81-straight coaches polls. The 97-consecutive weeks in the AP poll is currently the second-longest streak in the nation behind Kansas at 161 weeks. They have been ranked every week in the 2016-2017 season, bringing those totals to 97 weeks for the AP & 100 weeks for the coaches poll. Arizona won its first 10 conference games, the best start since the '97-'98 season when they started 16-0. They finished the season with at record of 31–4, tied at 16–2 with Oregon in Pac-12 play for first place to win their 3rd Pac-12 regular season championship title for the 15th time. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 2-seed, the Wildcats defeated 7-seed Colorado in the quarterfinals, 3-seed UCLA in the semifinals and 1-seed Oregon in the championship game, Wildcats won their 2nd Pac-12 Tournament championship title for the 6th time since 2002. Arizona received as an automatic bid to the 5th straight NCAA tournament as a 2-seed in the West regional, The Arizona Wildcats defeated the 15-seed North Dakota 100–82 in the first round, 7-seed Saint Mary's 69–60 in the second round before being upset by 11-seed Xavier 71–73 in the Sweet Sixteen.
The 2017–18 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by ninth-year head coach Sean Miller, and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 27–8, 14–4 in Pac-12 play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Colorado, UCLA, and USC to win the Pac-12 tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where, as a No. 4 seed, they were upset in the first round by No. 13 seed Buffalo.
The 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their sixth national championship by defeating the Syracuse Orangemen 76–67 on April 1, 1996. They were coached by Rick Pitino and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Tony Delk.
Oscar Tshiebwe is a Congolese professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Indiana Mad Ants of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kentucky Wildcats. In 2022, Tshiebwe was the consensus national player of the year.
The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the championship game at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The 2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, founding members of the Southeastern Conference, played their home games at Rupp Arena and were led by John Calipari in his 13th season as head coach. The Wildcats finished the season 26–8, 14–4 in SEC play to finish a tie for second place. As the No. 3 seed in the SEC tournament, they defeated Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals before losing to Tennessee in the semifinals. They received an at large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East region. The Wildcats became just the 10th No. 2 seed to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to No. 15-seeded Saint Peter’s 85–79 in overtime. It also marked the first time Kentucky had suffered a First Round exit under Calipari, and allowed eventual tournament champion Kansas to take the all-time record for most wins in Division I men's college basketball history.
The 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1977, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 27, 1978, at The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri. The Kentucky Wildcats won their fifth NCAA national championship with a 94–88 victory over the Duke Blue Devils.
The 1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1974, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 31, 1975, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The UCLA Bruins won their tenth NCAA national championship with a 92–85 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats.
The 1972–73 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in November 1972, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1973 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1973, at St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The UCLA Bruins won their ninth NCAA national championship with an 87–66 victory over the Memphis State Tigers.
The 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1970, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1971 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 27, 1971, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The UCLA Bruins won their seventh NCAA national championship with a 68–62 victory over the Villanova Wildcats.
The 1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1969, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1970 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 21, 1970, at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland. The UCLA Bruins won their sixth NCAA national championship with an 80–69 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins.
The 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1968, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 22, 1969, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The UCLA Bruins won their fifth NCAA national championship with a 92–72 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers.
The 2022–23 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October followed by the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season which started on November 7, 2022. Conference play began in December 2022. This was the eleventh season under the Pac–12 Conference name and the 64th since the current Pac-12 charter was established in 1959. Because the Pac-12 includes the history of the Pacific Coast Conference, which existed from 1915 to 1959, in its own history, this was the 108th season of Pac-12 men's basketball.
