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Originally the Cadets, the University of Kentucky officially were renamed the Wildcats in 1909. After a football game against the University of Illinois, a faculty member claimed the team fought like wildcats and the name stuck.
The men’s basketball program is considered to be one of the elite in the NCAA having won a total of seven NCAA championships as of 2007. This, in fact, ranks them second only to UCLA who has won 11 championships. Certainly most successful was the span when Adolph Rupp was at the helm of the Wildcat organization. During his 41 years in Kentucky, the Wildcats won four championships – in 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1958. In 1966, Rupp’s Wildcats would make it all the way to the Finals once again, however they would lose to a Texas Western team coached by Don Haskins. The improbable win over Kentucky by Texas Western is one of the most famous games in college basketball history and the subject of the book and Disney movie, Glory Road.
Through the completion of the 2007 tournament, Kentucky had a total of 1,948 all-time wins making it the most winnings men’s college program in the United States. The Wildcats are also the leaders in all-time winning percentage at an incredible .762.
Since 1976, the Kentucky Wildcats have played their home games at Rupp Arena. Despite the official capacity of the arena being 23,000, in 2007 and most seasons since the early 90s, Kentucky has led the nation in home court attendance with 23,324 spectators.
The Kentucky program has developed some of the best basketball talent from the United States. Former Wildcat players Tayshaun Prince and Jamaal Magloire went on to successful NBA careers, future NBA player and coach Pat Riley played under Rupp in the 1960’s and the 1996 Championship Kentucky team contained nine players who would eventually play in the NBA. Incredibly, two years later, now with Tubby Smith as the head coach, Kentucky would be national champions again. It would be the fist time in over 20 years that a team would win without having a First team All American or a future NBA Lottery Pick on the team.
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