Michael P. Pratt (August 4, 1948 – June 16, 2022) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. He was a 6'4" (1.93 m), 195 lb (88.5 kg)

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. Born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

, Pratt attended Meadowdale High School, graduating in 1966. He then went on to 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 ...

where he was a three-year letter winner under legendary 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 Un ...

from 1967 through 1970. Following his career with the Wildcats he was selected in the 1970

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

draft by the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

, where he played two seasons and averaged six points per game. Following his playing days he became an assistant coach under Lee Rose at

UNC Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

(now known athletically as Charlotte), helping the 49ers to reach the 1977 NCAA Final Four. After Rose accepted the head coaching job at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mo ...

following the 1977–78 season, Pratt was chosen as his successor. Pratt coached the 49ers for four seasons, compiling a record of 55–52 before being relieved of his duties following the 1981–82 season. Pratt did analysis on

radio broadcasts Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

of Kentucky men's basketball games. In 2009, he was inducted into the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

Footnotes

References

External links

ABA stats
@ basketballreference.com

at bigbluehistory.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Mike 1948 births 2022 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Dayton, Ohio Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coaches Charlotte Hornets assistant coaches Charlotte Hornets announcers College basketball announcers in the United States Kentucky Colonels draft picks Kentucky Colonels players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Shooting guards