The 2024–25 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 ...

during the

2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament that began with the First Four on March 18 and ended with t ...

. The Wildcats, founding members of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, played their home games at

Rupp Arena Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility ...

and are led by

Mark Pope Mark Edward Pope (born September 11, 1972) is an American collegiate basketball coach and former player who is head men's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, his alma matter. As a player, Pope played power forward and small forward ...

in his first season as head coach for the Wildcats.

Previous season

The

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

finished the 2023–24 season with a record of 23–8, 13–5 in SEC play to finish in a 3-way tie for second place in the SEC. Desoite being the number two seed in the SEC tournament, they were upset in the quarterfinal round by

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they got upset by

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

in the first round, finishing the season with an overall record of 23–10 record. This marked John Calipari's final season as Kentucky's head coach, he left for Arkansas a month later.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

Class of 2024 commitments

Roster

Schedule and results

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Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball seasons

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 basketball, men, 2024-25 Kentucky basketball, men, 2024-25