The 1953–54 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. The head coach was Adolph Rupp. The team was a member of the Southeast Conference and played their home games at Memorial Coliseum. They were named national champions by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

Season summary

This team finished unbeaten 25–0, and though it won the Southeastern Conference title and could have played in the NCAA tournament, it chose not to because star players Frank Ramsey,

Cliff Hagan Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6′ 4″ forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li’l Abner", played his entire 10-year National Basketball Association, ...

and Lou Tsioropoulos were ruled ineligible because they had already graduated. That rule has since been abolished, but it prevented the Wildcats from competing for the national championship.

Roster

Rankings

Postseason

The Wildcats were the top-ranked team in the nation with a record of 25–0. Despite the undefeated season, the Wildcats did not participate in any post-season tournament. Three players (Lou Tsioropoulos, Frank Ramsey, and Cliff Hagan) had technically graduated the year before (when Kentucky was banned from playing a competitive schedule due to the point-shaving scandal a few years earlier), so those players were ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Despite the wishes of the players, coach Adolph Rupp ultimately decided his team wouldn't play.

Team players drafted into the NBA

No one from the Wildcats was selected in the 1954 NBA Draft, as Ramsey, Hagan, and Tsioropoulos had been drafted the previous year, and those teams held their rights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1953-54 Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball Team

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball program is the men's college basketball team of the University of Kentucky. It has eight NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA championships, the best List of teams with the highest winning perce ...