The 1991–92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the

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 ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

in the 1991–92 season. The team was coached by

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

. This season's team is one of the most fondly remembered in UK's long basketball history. Due to major recruiting violations committed by Pitino's predecessor

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 Cowboys basketball, Oklahoma State) and was a h ...

, the 1991–92 Wildcats were coming off a three-year postseason ban where the team was not allowed to compete in tournament play. (Note the NCAA did not find Sutton personally liable.) The violations had mainly centered on alleged cheating by 1987–89 player Eric Manuel on the ACT college entrance exam and cash payments to the guardian of another former player, Chris Mills. The 1991–92 season was the first year after probation when the Wildcats were allowed to compete and the only opportunity for the team's four seniors, who remained loyal to the program as opposed to transferring to teams allowed in the tournament. Three of these seniors were Kentucky natives. Together, all four would enter Kentucky basketball history as "The Unforgettables": *

Richie Farmer Richard Dwight Farmer Jr. (born August 25, 1969) is an American former collegiate basketball player and Republican Party politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He served as the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture from 2004 to 2012 and ...

, a 6'0"/1.83 m

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, a small town in the commonwealth's eastern coal fields. *

Deron Feldhaus Deron Feldhaus (born December 16, 1968), is an American former basketball player. He is best known for his collegiate career with the Kentucky Wildcats. He is also one of four seniors on the 1991–92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, 199 ...

, a 6'7"/2.01 m forward from Maysville, a small

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

town in the

Bluegrass region The Bluegrass region is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It makes up the central and northern part of the state, roughly bounded by the cities of Frankfort, Kentucky, Frankfort, Paris, Kentucky, Paris, Richmond, Kentucky, Ric ...

, about an hour's drive upriver from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. *

John Pelphrey John Leslie Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he ...

, a 6'8"/2.03 m forward from another eastern

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides reside ...

Paintsville Paintsville () is a home rule-class city along Paint Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,459 during the 2010 U.S. Census. History A Paint Lick Station was referred to in ...

. *

Sean Woods Sean Woods (born March 29, 1970) is an American former basketball player and former head coach for the Southern Jaguars basketball team. Playing career Woods attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis before playing college basketball at ...

, the only non-Kentuckian "Unforgettable," a 6'2"/1.88 m

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

from

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Although the seniors were the heart and soul of the team, its biggest star was sophomore

Jamal Mashburn Jamal Mashburn Sr. (born November 29, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Monster Mash", Mashburn was a prolific scorer as a small forward in his 12 seasons in the National Basketball Assoc ...

, who would go on to become a consensus first-team All-American the following season and have a successful 12-year

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

career; he is now an NBA analyst for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. The Wildcats' run in the NCAA tournament would end in a regional final against

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

that is often cited as the greatest college game ever played. The heavily favored Blue Devils survived an overtime thriller on

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

's last-second shot at the buzzer.

Team legacy

The legacy of "The Unforgettables" was so great within the university that the UK program decided to retire the players' jerseys (but not their numbers) almost immediately after their final tournament game. (While jersey retirement is not uncommon, it is rare for a school to bestow this honor so soon after a player's career ends.) The team also went on a post-tournament all-county exhibition tour, where thousands of Kentuckians gathered in high school gyms across the commonwealth to meet and express pride in the team. National and local sports news outlets continued to cover the players in "where are they now" and similar features for at least 25 years after the tournament. In 2005, a documentary film about the team, "

Beyond the Glory ''Beyond the Glory'' is a documentary series that profiles some of the most legendary and controversial athletes in recent history. Executive produced by Steve Michaels and Frank Sinton and narrated by Jay Mohr, and later by Roy Firestone, the sh ...

," was released.

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=9 style=, SEC Tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA Tournament

NCAA basketball tournament

*East **Kentucky (2) 88, Old Dominion (15) 69 **Kentucky 106,

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

(10) 98 **Kentucky 87,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

(3) 77 **

(1) 104, Kentucky 103 (OT)

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Jamal Mashburn of the Wildcats was claimed in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1991-92 Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball Team

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball seasons

Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildlife, an undomesticated organism * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild ...

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 ...