![SEC logo in Kentucky colors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/SEC_logo_in_Kentucky_colors.svg)
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's
intercollegiate athletic squads of the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
(UK), a founding member of the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 students attend the university. Historically, the women's teams and athletes were referred to as the "Lady Kats", but all athletic squads adopted the "Wildcats" nickname in 1995. Collectively, the fans of the Kentucky Wildcats are often referred to as the
Big Blue Nation. Their main and most intense rival is the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...
. The Wildcats are composed of 19 varsity teams that compete nationally.
Background
The nickname "Wildcats" became synonymous with UK shortly after a 6–2 football road victory over Illinois on October 9, 1909. Commandant Philip W. Corbusier, then head of the military department at old State University, told a group of students in a chapel service following the game that the Kentucky football team had "fought like Wildcats." Later the name Wildcats became more and more popular among UK followers as well as with members of the media. As a result, the nickname was adopted by the university.
The university adopted blue and white as its official colors in 1892. Originally, however, UK students had decided on blue and light yellow prior to the Kentucky-
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is a ...
football game on December 19, 1887. The shade of blue, which is close to a royal blue, was chosen when a student asked the question, "What color blue?" At the time, Richard C. Stoll (who lettered in football at UK in 1889–94) pulled off his necktie and held it up. The students then adopted that particular shade of blue. A year later, UK students officially dropped the light yellow color for white because the two colors did not look good together.
Sports sponsored
UK has won 13 national championships including the 2012 men's basketball title. UK also boasts the 1988 women's cross country national championship; 2020–21 women's volleyball championship; 2011, 2018, and 2021 rifle championships, and 8 men's basketball titles. UK was also crowned an NCAA co-champion, after knocking off #1 Oklahoma in the 1951 Sugar Bowl to win the 1950 National Championship in college football.
Basketball
Beginning in the 1890s, students at the University of Kentucky started scheduling
football games with neighboring colleges.
The
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
program began on campus in 1902, originally as a women's sport;
a men's team was added one year later. Several decades later, in 1930, then-
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
coach
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...
was hired as a basketball coach for the university, a career that would span over 40 years until 1972.
During his tenure, he led the Kentucky Wildcats to four
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
crowns in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958.
The Wildcats later won a fifth championship under
Joe B. Hall in 1978, another in 1996 under
Rick Pitino
Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...
, in 1998 under
Orlando "Tubby" Smith, and its most recent in 2012 under Coach John Calipari.
Calipari has been the coach since the 2009–10 season.
![rupparenaK](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/RupparenaK.JPG)
In 2007, the university unveiled the
Joe Craft Center, a $30 million state-of-the-art basketball practice facility for both the men's and women's teams, named after businessman and philanthropist Kentuckian
Joe Craft
Joseph Craft III (born 1950) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States. Craft has taken the G ...
.
Men's
Considered to be an elite
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
basketball program, the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
men's basketball team is the winningest program in the history of college basketball. The team was the first ever Division I squad to reach 2,000 victories after defeating
Drexel University on December 21, 2009. Kentucky also leads all NCAA schools in all-time winning percentage (.762) with an all-time record of 2111–661.
The men's team has earned a total of eight
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships, second only to
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
's eleven championships. UK's eight championships were won by five different coaches –
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...
in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958, Joe B. Hall in 1978, Rick Pitino in 1996, Tubby Smith in 1998, and John Calipari in 2012. Kentucky's 1933 and 1954 teams were also awarded the
Helms national championship, and his
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
,
1947, and
1948 teams were retroactively recognized as the national champion by the
Premo-Porretta Power Poll
The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons.
The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...
. The Wildcats also won two NIT Championships in 1946 and 1976. The program has garnered 45
SEC regular season titles. Since the 2009–10 season,
John Calipari has coached the Wildcats with a "one-and-done" approach to recruiting, resulting in freshman-laden lineups – including a record 5 first round draft picks in the
2010 NBA Draft
The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National ...
and 6 Wildcats taken in the
2012 NBA Draft
The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...
.
Women's
The very first University of Kentucky women's basketball team was organized in 1902, competing for the first time on February 21, 1903. However, in 1924, the University Senate passed a bill to abolish women's basketball in part because "basketball had proven to be a strenuous sport for boys and therefore was too strenuous for girls." After a 50-year absence, women's basketball finally reached varsity status in 1974. The team was given the nickname "Lady Kats" and was coached by Debbie Yow.
Led by UK all-time leading scorer
Valerie Still, Patty Jo Hedges, and Lea Wise, the Lady Kats won the
SEC Tournament in 1982. The following year, the same trio led the team to a #4 ranking in the country, the highest in the team's history.
The team was previously coached by
Matthew Mitchell, named as the SEC Coach of the Year in 2010 after leading the
2009–10 team to a surprising 28–8 season in which they set school records for best start, most consecutive SEC wins, best SEC finish, and most wins in a season, culminating in their first
NCAA regional final since
1982. The team also had the conference Player of the Year in
Victoria Dunlap and Freshman of the Year in A'dia Mathies.
The team is now coached by
Kyra Elzy
Kyra Elzy (born August 17, 1978) is the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team. On December 14, 2020, after starting the season 6-0 and having a top-ten AP ranking, AD Mitch Barnhart removed the "interim" tag and made Elzy th ...
, who took the position in December 2020. The Wildcats would upset top-ranked South Carolina in the 2022 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament finals.
Football
Kentucky plays at
Kroger Field (formerly Commonwealth Stadium from 1973 to 2017), which replaced
Stoll Field
Stoll Field/McLean Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was the home of the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team. The field has been in use since 1880, but the concrete stands were opened in Oc ...
in 1973.
;Paul "Bear" Bryant era
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of t ...
was Kentucky's head football coach for eight seasons. Under Bryant the Wildcats won the 1947
Great Lakes Bowl
The Great Lakes Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played only once, on December 6, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Villanova Wildcats. The game was played at Cleveland Stadium with attendance o ...
, lost the 1950
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...
, won the 1951
Sugar Bowl and the 1952
Cotton Bowl Classic
The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
. In final AP polls, the Wildcats were ranked #11 in 1949, #7 in 1950, #15 in 1951, #20 in 1952 and #16 in 1953.
At the time of the 1951 Sugar Bowl win over #1 Oklahoma, the final polls were taken before the bowl games. The NCAA has never officially recognized a national champion from among the bowl coalition institutions, but in 2004 the NCAA commissioned Jeff Sagarin to use his computer model to retroactively determine the highest ranked teams for the years prior to the BCS. His champion for the 1950 season is Kentucky.
;Fran Curci era
The 1976 Wildcats retroactively claimed a share of the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
championship under coach
Fran Curci
Fran Curci (born June 11, 1938) is a former American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback at the University of Miami in 1959. He served as head coach at the University of Tampa from 1968 to 1970, the University of Miami ...
via a loss later forfeited by Mississippi State (and despite losing at home to conference champion Georgia) and won the
Peach Bowl
The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...
, finishing #18 in the final AP poll. The 1977 Kentucky team went 10–1 and was undefeated in SEC play but, despite finishing the season ranked #6 in the AP poll, did not play in a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions. Kentucky finished at #6 and Penn State at #5 despite the fact that Kentucky defeated Penn State at Penn State during the regular season.
;Jerry Claiborne era
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Jerry David Claiborne (August 26, 1928 – September 24, 2000) was an American college football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Virginia Tech (1961–1970), the University of Maryland, College Park (1972–1981), and his alma m ...
led the Wildcats to the 1983
Hall of Fame Bowl
The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 t ...
. In 1984 Kentucky returned to the Hall of Fame Bowl and defeated a ranked Wisconsin team to finish the season with a 9–3 record and a #19 ranking in the final AP poll.
;Bill Curry era
The Wildcats played in the 1993 Peach Bowl under coach
Bill Curry
William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a retired American football coach and former player.
Most recently, Curry was the head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Previously, Curry s ...
.
;Hal Mumme era
Coach
Hal Mumme
Hal Clay Mumme (born March 29, 1952) is a former American football coach and former player. He most recently served as an offensive advisor for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL. Previously, Mumme served as the head football coach at Iowa Wesleyan ...
led the Wildcats to the 1998
Outback Bowl
The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...
and the 1999
Music City Bowl
The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPer ...
but the program was hit with severe sanctions for infractions during Mumme's tenure.
;Guy Morriss era
Under coach
Guy Morriss
Guy Walker Morriss (May 13, 1951 – September 5, 2022) was an American football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Kentucky for two seasons (2001–2002) and at Baylor University for five seasons (2003 ...
the Wildcats posted a 7–5 record in 2002 but were not eligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.
;Rich Brooks era
Coach
Rich Brooks
Richard Llewellyn Brooks (born August 20, 1941) is a retired American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of OregonMcCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, Oregon: McCann Communic ...
led the team to an 8–5 regular season record in
2006, including a memorable upset over the defending SEC champion Georgia, snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Bulldogs. Brooks also led the football team to its first bowl game since 1999 and its first bowl game victory since 1984, as Kentucky defeated the
Clemson University Tigers 28–20 in the
2006 Music City Bowl
The 2006 Music City Bowl featured the Clemson Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats. Clemson entered the game with a record of 8–4 after having been ranked in the AP poll for most weeks of the season, as high as No. 10; Kentucky was 7–5 and unran ...
. On September 15, 2007. Brooks led UK to a 40–34 win over number 9 ranked
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
. This marked UK's first win over a top 10 team since #4 Penn State in 1977. The Wildcats were ranked 8th in the nation before a loss to South Carolina on October 4. After the loss to South Carolina, Kentucky bounced back on October 13 to defeat #1 LSU in an historic triple overtime game.
The 2007 Kentucky Wildcats football defeated the
Florida State Seminoles 35–28 in the
2007 Music City Bowl
The 2007 Music City Bowl was the 10th edition of the Music City Bowl, and it was played on December 31, 2007. Part of the 2007–2008 bowl season, it featured the Kentucky Wildcats and the Florida State Seminoles. Both teams entered the gam ...
in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 31, 2007. It was the Wildcats second straight bowl appearance. Quarterback
Andre' Woodson was named the Music City Bowl MVP for the second year in a row. The last three bowl appearances for the Cats have been in the Music City Bowl, which they have appeared in more than any other SEC team in the conference's affiliation with the game, which dates back to the inaugural game in 1998.
On January 2, 2009 Kentucky football set a record with the school's first back to back to back bowl games. After a bad start in the Liberty Bowl, Kentucky made a comeback from a 16–3 deficit at halftime to beat East Carolina 25–19. After a fumble by the East Carolina running back, UK Defensive Tackle Ventrell Jenkins returned the ball over 50 yards for the score that gave Kentucky their first lead of the game.
;Joker Phillips era
Former Wildcat
wide receiver and longtime assistant coach
Joker Phillips
Joe "Joker" Phillips Jr. (born May 12, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He is the assistant head football coach and wide receivers coach at North Carolina State University, a position he had held since the 2021 season. Philli ...
was formally named head coach January 6, 2010 after Brooks' retirement. Phillips took Kentucky to the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama in his first season as a head coach, losing to Big East Conference co-champion Pittsburgh 27–10. However, the Wildcats would not return to a bowl in either of the next two seasons. The main highlight of those years came in 2011, when Kentucky defeated Tennessee for the first time since 1984. Phillips was fired in November 2012, effective at season's end.
;Mark Stoops era
Phillips was replaced by
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
defensive coordinator
Mark Stoops
Mark Thomas Stoops (born July 9, 1967) is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the all time winningest head football coach in the history of the Kentucky Wildcats.
Early life
Stoops, one of six children born to ...
, younger brother of
Oklahoma head coach
Bob Stoops. Stoops has gone on to become the winningest coach in Kentucky's history. In 2018, Stoops and Kentucky had arguably the best season in program history going 10–3 and beating Penn State 27–24 in the 2019 Citris Bowl which was led by 2019 7th overall pick
Josh Allen (linebacker) and all-time leading rusher
Benny Snell. Stoops also led Kentucky to win the Belk Bowl along with the Gator Bowl.
2021 Football
During the 2021 Football season the University of Kentucky Wildcats have made history. The football team has qualified to compete in the Bowl. The Wildcats started the season out very strong. Later the team defeated the University of Florida Gators, scoring 13-20.
"The Kentucky Wildcats have made it to the toughest stretch of their schedule unscathed, and must use the confidence from their wins as the No. 1 Florida Gators roll into town for a Saturday SEC East showdown.
No. 23 Kentucky (4-0, 2-0) faces No. 10 Florida (3-1, 1-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. Florida leads the all-time series, 53-18. The Gators have won the last two games in the series, including a 34-10 win in Gainesville last season and a 29-21 win in Lexington in 2019."
Baseball
The Wildcats baseball team began play in their new stadium,
Kentucky Proud Park
Kentucky Proud Park is a baseball stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. It is the home field of the University of Kentucky Wildcats college baseball team. Opened in 2018, with the Wildcats playing their first season in the stadium in 2019, it has a pe ...
, in fall 2018, replacing
Cliff Hagan Stadium
Cliff Hagan Stadium (Officially named Shively Field at Cliff Hagan Stadium) is a baseball stadium located in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Cliff Hagan Stadium or better known to Kentucky Wildcat baseball fans as “The Cliff” is on the So ...
, where they had played since 1969.
The baseball program, partly hampered by being the northernmost school in the heavily warm-weather SEC, has historically achieved only modest success at best. Wildcats baseball hit bottom at the turn of the 21st century, with only one winning season from 1997 through 2004, and last-place finishes in the SEC East division in every season from 2001 through 2005. In 2003, after the retirement of longtime coach Keith Madison, Kentucky hired Florida assistant
John Cohen as head coach. Cohen was able to lead the Cats to a winning overall season in 2005, despite another SEC cellar finish. In 2008, Cohen left Kentucky to accept the coaching position at
Mississippi State University. He was replaced by former Kentucky assistant
Gary Henderson.
Few could have expected the
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
season the Cats would have in 2006. They literally went from worst to first in the SEC, winning a regular-season conference title for the first time in three decades, and being ranked as high as fourth in the country by one major baseball poll during the season. However, the newly energized Kentucky baseball faithful saw the Cats crash out of the SEC tournament early and fail to make it out of the regionals of the NCAA tournament
at home.
In
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, Kentucky garnered its most successful season ever in program history. Henderson was voted SEC Coach of the Year by the league coaches. Henderson directed the Wildcats to a school-record 45-win season, with UK completing its best finishes in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments in school annals. The 2012 season also marked the first time that UK had ever been ranked No. 1. UK finished the season with a No. 11 ranking by Baseball America. UK also achieved a program record by winning seven of ten series in SEC play. UK also ran up a school-record 22-game winning streak, which is the second longest in SEC history.
In
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, Kentucky produced its first ever College Baseball National Player of the Year in
A. J. Reed. During the regular season Reed was 11–2 with a 2.10 earned-run average on the mound and at the plate led the nation in home runs (23)—more than 193 entire Division I teams — slugging percentage (.768) and OPS (1.259). Reed also won SEC Player of the Year honors. The Wildcats made it to the Semifinals of the SEC Tournament and played in the Louisville regional of the
2014 NCAA tournament.
In
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
, Henderson had resigned and was replaced by
Nick Mingione
Nick Mingione (born September 10, 1978) is a baseball coach and former outfielder, who is the current the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. He played college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate leve ...
, who had been an assistant in the 2006 season. Mingione brought a new attitude to the team and they had a 43–23 record with 19–11 in the SEC. They went on to host an NCAA regional
NCAA Regional. The Cats won the Regional and advanced on the Super Regional and were defeated by Louisville. Minione was named SEC coach of the year.
Softball
The
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
softball team had their inaugural season in 1997.
University of Kentucky Athletic Director
Mitch Barnhart
Mitch Barnhart (born August 27, 1959) is the athletics director for the Kentucky Wildcats athletics program at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Barnhart was hired by the university in 2002 succeeding Larry Ivy. Barnhart served ...
hired Rachel Lawson in July 2007. Since Lawson's hire she has become the winningest coach in program history. She has also guided UK to six NCAA Super Regionals since 2011 including an appearance in the
2014 College World Series
The 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, May 30, 2014 as part of the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2014 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, which start ...
, the program's first.
Now sitting at 361–232 in her eleven seasons at Kentucky, Lawson is the winningest head coach in school history and already has more wins in SEC play than UK had total as a program when she took over in 2007. UK also finished 2016 in the top 14 of both collegiate softball rankings for the third time in school history with eleven wins over ranked teams.
Another accomplishment since Lawson's hire in 2007 is the integration of John Cropp Stadium. The facility cost $9.5 million, and debuted for the 2013 season. UK hosted the 2013 SEC Tournament as well as an NCAA regional, another first for the program. Since 2013, UK has hosted an NCAA regional in 2014 and 2016–2018.
Track and field
Edrick Floréal was hired a UK Track and Field coach in 2012,
and has led the Wildcats to 6 NCAA individual championships and 29 individual SEC championships.
Notable track athletes:
*
Kendra Harrison
Kendra "Keni" Harrison (born September 18, 1992) is an American hurdler. Harrison set the world record in the women's 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, breaking the world re ...
–
100 meters hurdles
*
Jasmine Quinn – 100 meters hurdles
*
Rondel Sorrillo
Rondel Kelvin Sorrillo (born 24 January 1986) is a Trinidad and Tobago sprinter, who specializes in the 200 meters. He was the first University of Kentucky athlete to win the men's 200 m title at the NCAA championships, winning it in 2010.
Sorr ...
–
sprinter
*
Dezerea Bryant – sprinter
*
Andrew Evans –
discus
*
Sydney McLaughlin –
400 meters hurdles
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...
*
Daniel Roberts –
110 meters hurdles
*
Abby Steiner
Abby Kathryn Steiner (born November 24, 1999) is an American track and field sprinter. She is the U.S. indoor record holder in the 200 m and 300 m, and the NCAA record holder in the 200 m. Steiner holds personal bests of 10.90 ...
-
200 meters
Cheerleading
The University of Kentucky cheerleaders have won the UCA (Division I-A)
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
Championship 24 times, more than any other school. They are the only school to win more than two consecutive championships, having won each year from 1995 through 2002 and from 2004 through 2006, and are the only school to win consecutive championships on multiple occasions, having done so four times (1987–1988, 1995–2002, 2004–2006, and 2008–2010). They have won championships in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019; have also placed second four times, and have finished in the top ten every year since the existence of the UCA National College Championships. The squad has been featured on the "
CBS Evening News
The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature st ...
",
Connie Chung
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von B ...
's "Eye to Eye", and the "CBS Morning Show", NBC's ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
'', in "Southern Living" and ''
Gentlemen's Quarterly
''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles on ...
'', "ESPN the Magazine", and "
Seventeen" magazines.
A reality show on
WE: Women's Entertainment called "Cheerleader U." followed the team during the 2006–2007 season.
Golf
The men's and women's golf teams call the
University Club of Kentucky their home course. Notable alumni of the golf team include
1967 Masters Tournament winner
Gay Brewer
Gay Robert Brewer Jr. (March 19, 1932 – August 31, 2007) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament.
Life
Brewer was born in Middletown, Ohio, and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. As an amat ...
, current
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
golfers
J. B. Holmes
John Bradley "J.B." Holmes (born April 26, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Early life
Holmes, born in Campbellsville, Kentucky, began to play on the varsity golf team at Taylor County High School in Campbel ...
and
Steve Flesch, current
Champions Tour golfer
Russ Cochran, and former Kentucky governor
John Y. Brown Jr.
Soccer
Men's tennis
The University of Kentucky Men's Tennis Team is coached by longtime assistant coach and former All-American
Cedric Kauffmann. They play their home matches at the Boone Tennis Center since January 1986. They have won the SEC Regular Season title twice (1992,2012) and the SEC tournament once (1992)
Notable Kentucky tennis athletes:
*
Cedric Kauffmann
*
Andy Jackson
*
Mario Rincón
*
Greg Van Emburgh
*
Jesse Witten
Rifle
The co-ed Rifle team is coached by Harry Mullins. It began as a club sport in 1982. UK is a member of the single-sport
Great America Rifle Conference
The Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rifle-only conference. The GARC was established for schools that sponsor rifle teams, but do not have rifle sponsored in their respective conferences. ...
. UK won the team national championship in 2011, as well as the title in smallbore. Individual National Champions include: Nancy Napolski – 1994 Air Rifle, Ethan Settlemires – 2011 Smallbore, Connor Davis – 2014 Air Rifle, Henrik Larsen – 2018 Air Rifle, and Mary Tucker - 2021 Smallbore and 2021 Air Rifle.
:Facility: Buell Armory
:Head Coach: Harry Mullins
:NCAA Appearances: 21
:NCAA Team Championships: 3
:NCAA Team Runner up: 6
:National Individual Champions: 6
:NCAA All-Americans: 86
:
Conference Championships (Regular Season): 8
:
Conference Championships (Tournament): 6
Championships
NCAA team championships
Kentucky has won 14 NCAA team national championships.
*Men (8)
**
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
(8): 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012
*Women (2)
**
Cross country (1): 1988
**
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
(1): 2020
*Co-ed (4)
**
Rifle (4): 2011, 2018, 2021, 2022
*see also
**
SEC NCAA team championships
**
Other national team championships
The following national team titles were not bestowed by the NCAA:
*Men (2)
**
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
(1): 1946 (
NIT)
**
Football (1): 1950
*Co-Ed (24)
** Cheerleading (24): 1985, 1987–88, 1992, 1995–2002, 2004–2006, 2008–2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016–2019.
Ice Hockey and other non varsity sports
Hockey
UK has a men's
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
team that competes at club level, which means that it is student-operated without university assistance, and they compete in the
American Collegiate Hockey Association's Division II level.
The University of Kentucky Hockey Team (founded 1984) competes in the
American Collegiate Hockey Association. The "Coolcats" play their home games at the Lexington Ice Center. Traditionally the team ranks as the 3rd most popular spectator sport behind Football and Basketball. The hockey program is funded by private funds outside of the athletic department. In 1998 the cats released their first poster featuring actress and UK alum
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...
. Since the debut of the first poster, the cats have issued an annual poster featuring a celebrity with ties to the bluegrass. The program has achieved great success including 3 national tournament appearances, 1992 national runner-up, and 18 winning seasons.
Recently, the Cool Cats simply became the Wildcats. The Wildcats have enjoyed a regional bid in the 06–07 season. In the 2007–08 season the cats finished in the national tournament failing to make it out of pool play. All home games are played at the Lexington Ice Center at midnight.
Rugby program
The University of Kentucky Rugby Club was founded in 1970. The club was organized by an engineering professor Dr. Roy Elmore and two of his students Larry Sonnifield and Rick Wunderlich.
The team began competing in the fall of 1971 and quickly become a power in the newly formed SEC Conference. Since its inception the size and success of the club has grown. Kentucky has been named SEC champion three times, first in 1979 then again in 1986 and 1987, along with numerous runner-up honors.
The program currently plays
college rugby
College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...
in Division I in the
Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference
The Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC) is an annual college rugby competition played every spring among 10 universities from the Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference ...
. This conference is made up of the traditional SEC teams, and divided into East and West.
The program has an internationally experienced head coach (Tony Vince), and two other full-time coaches. While rugby at UK is not considered a varsity sport and does not have the budget of football or basketball, the program includes three full-time coaches, travel throughout the SEC, and recruiting. The program also offers a limited amount of scholarship funding to rugby players.
"Kentucky Players Earn Scholarships"
Goff Rugby Report, February 18, 2015. The UK staff spends a lot of their time recruiting at the high school level. The program funds itself with the support of an alumni base that puts together many events throughout the year. This is capped off each year with an Alumni Game where the old boys play against the present UK squad.
Mascots
The University of Kentucky ha
*''Blue'' — A live bobcat (note that in American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
, "wildcat" generally refers to this particular mammal). He lives at the state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
-operated Salato Wildlife Education Center near Frankfort. Unlike the school's two costumed mascots, he never attends games, because bobcats are very shy by nature and do not react well with large crowds.
*''The Wildcat'' — A costumed student, he made his debut in the 1976–77 school year. The Wildcat is the universities main Mascot.
*''Scratch'' — A later addition, he is a more child-friendly version of The Wildcat. Scratch wears his hat backwards, drinks Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
, and loves to have fun.
The true name of the university's costumed mascot has often been disputed – even amongst sports industry executives. Some argue for "Wildcat", while others vehemently contend it's "Scratch". In the absence of a definitive position by the university, fans, pundits and executives alike are left to decide for themselves.
All-time records by sport
''Men's and Women's Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis, and Baseball all updated as of 6/26/17.''
See also
* Bill Keightley
* Cawood Ledford
* C. M. Newton
*Pat Riley
Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...
* Keenan Burton
*Tim Couch
Timothy Scott Couch (born July 31, 1977) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Kentucky, where he set the Southeaster ...
*Mark Higgs
Mark Deyon Higgs (born April 11, 1966 in Owensboro, Kentucky) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. He was drafted in the 8 ...
* Art Still
* Jeff Van Note
* Moe Williams
*Jared Lorenzen
Jared Raymond Lorenzen (February 14, 1981 – July 3, 2019) was an American football quarterback and administrator who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the New York Giants. He played college football at Kentucky ...
* Wesley Woodyard
* Craig Yeast
*Billy Gillispie
Billy Clyde Gillispie ( ; born November 7, 1959), also known by his initials BCG and Billy Clyde, is an American college basketball and current men's basketball coach at Tarleton State. Gillispie had previously been head coach at UTEP, Texas A ...
*Eddie Sutton
Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) and was a head coach at the high school, junio ...
*Antoine Walker
Antoine Devon Walker (born August 12, 1976) 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 ...
*Mickie DeMoss
Mickie Faye DeMoss (born October 3, 1955) is a former American college basketball coach and player. She was the women's head coach at the University of Florida and the University of Kentucky. She was also an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech Univ ...
* Bernadette Locke-Mattox
*Brandon Webb
Brandon Tyler Webb (born May 9, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Webb pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2003 through 2009, and, after multiple shoulder surgeries, signed with but ...
Notes
References
External links
*
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