1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1989–90 season of University of Kentucky men's basketball team March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1989-90 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Wildcats logo (1984-2005).png 150 Southeastern Conference SEC 14–14 10–8 Rick Pitino 1st Herb Sendek Billy Donovan Tubby Smith Ralph Willard Rupp Arena The 1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Rick Pitinohttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/kentucky/1990.html 1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats 27 October 2013 and the team finished the season with an overall record of 14–14.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/kentucky/1990-schedule.html 1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results 27 October 2013 Coming off the controversy of the Eddie Sutton scandal,https://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/3/28/2889948/kentucky-wildcat-basketball-the-unforgettables-20-years-ago-today Kentucky Wildcat Basketball: The Unforgettables 20-years ago today 28 March 2012 the NCAA banned the Kentucky Wildcats from television for one season. The NCAA sanctions placed on the program would also ban any postseason competition for two years and a three-year probational period.Associated Press. “Kentucky Put on 3 Years’ Probation: NCAA Bans Postseason Play 2 Years, Orders Limited Wildcat Scholarships.” Los Angeles Times. 9 May 1989. Kentucky Put on 3 Years' Probation : NCAA Bans Postseason Play 2 Years, Orders Limited Wildcat Scholarships (latimes.com). Accessed 3 December 2021 Pitino knew this and still took the challenge of making this team successful despite the many deficient parts of the program. Coming off a decent season in the NBA with the Knicks, Pitino missed the college experience and felt that Kentucky would be the most interesting choice. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/12/08/pitinos-honeymoon-begins-at-kentucky/9664671d-1a22-4e90-9392-d54aa9ecdcab/ PITINO'S HONEYMOON BEGINS AT KENTUCKY - The Washington Post The Washington Post Pitino was reportedly offered six million dollars for a seven-year contract with Kentucky.Kerber, Fred. “Report has Pitino going to Kentucky.” Sun-Sentinel. 30 May 1989. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1989-05-30-8901280284-story.html. Accessed 24 October 2021. Coming into the new season, not all of Kentucky's players were completely committed to playing due to the program being in shambles. Some players were reported to have skipped class or not put forth 100% effort into practices. Ironically, the students that did not compete were focusing more on their grades so they could graduate.https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/09/03/pitino-kentucky-surprise-each-other/ Pitino, Kentucky Surprise Each Other Chicago Tribune 2018-04-19 2018-04-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20180420010705/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-09-03/sports/8901100284_1_kentucky-fans-rick-pitino-derrick-miller live Despite Rick Pitino's intense coaching effort, the season included many difficult moments for the Wildcats, including a 150–95 loss to Kansas (which is the largest margin of defeat in Kentucky history).https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-10-sp-402-story.html Archives Los Angeles Times 10 December 1989 Despite all these obstacles, the Wildcats finished with a respectable .500 record, and Pitino was named SEC Coach of the Year (for the first of three times) for guiding Kentucky to a 10–8 record in conference and was named the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year in 1990.Rick Pitino (2005) - UK Athletics Hall of Fame https://ukathletics.com/honors/uk-athletics-hall-of-fame/rick-pitino/136 2021-12-04 University of Kentucky Athletics en Roster 1989 Kentucky Wildcats y yes Derrick Miller 4 G 6 6 170 SR Savannah, GA Bible Baptist School Sean Woods y 11 G 6 2 180 SO Indianapolis, IN Cathedral HS Deron Feldhaus y 12 F 6 7 210 SO Maysville, KY Mason County HS Jeff Brassow 14 G 6 5 195 FR Houston, TX Elsik HS Tony Cooper 20 G 5 9 150 FR Savannah, GA Windsor Forest HS Henry Thomas 21 F 6 5 160 FR Clarksville, TN Clarksville HS Junior Braddy 23 G 6 3 190 FR Jacksonville, FL Middleburg HS Skip McGaw 25 G 6 4 190 JR Madisonville, KY North Hopkins HS Richie Farmer y 32 G 6 170 SO Manchester, KY Clay County HS Johnathon Davis 33 F 6 8 200 SO Pensacola, FL Pine Forest HS John Pelphrey y 34 GF 6 7 195 SO Paintsville, KY Paintsville HS Reggie Hanson y 35 CF 6 7 200 JR Somerset, KY Pulaski County HS Michael Parks 42 G 6 3 180 FR Irvington, KY Breckinridge County HS Rick Pitino (UMass) Ralph Willard (Holy Cross) Tubby Smith (High Point) Herb Sendek (Carnegie Mellon) Billy Donovan (Providence) Personnel In the wake of the previous season's alleged scandal, Pitino brought in new assistant coaches. One of which was a close friend of his, Ralph Willard. He would leave the New York Knicks to follow Pitino to Kentucky.Jent, Brian. “Friendship, tradition attracts assistant coach to Lexington.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021. Tubby Smith left his position as assistant coach at the University of South Carolina to pursue his new career at the University of Kentucky.Hau, David A. “Assistant Smith brings knowledge of Southern high schoolers to staff.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021. Herb Sendek was also brought in as an assistant coach. Sendek had previously served as a graduate assistant to Pitino at Providence College.Hall, Gregory A. “New assistant Sendek gave up sweet life for sweat life.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021. Pitino brought in Billy Donovan as the graduate assistant coach. This would be after a short career on Wall Street and a stint playing in the Continental Basketball Association.Bowmar, Kip. “Prototype Pitino point guard begins coaching career.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021. Schedule and results |- !colspan=9 style=Kentucky Wildcats| Regular Season November 28, 1989 yes Ohio Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 76–73 1–0 December 2, 1989 yes Indiana Rivalry 14 RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana 69–71 1–1 December 4, 1989 1989 men Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 102–97 2–1 1–0 December 6, 1989 yes 1989 men Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Tennessee Tech Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 111–75 3–1 December 9, 1989 yes yes Kansas 2 Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas 95–150 3–2 December 19, 1989 yes 1989 men Furman Paladins Furman Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 104–73 4–2 December 22, 1989 yes 1989 men Portland Pilots Portland Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 88–71 5–2 December 23, 1989 yes 1989 men Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Southwestern Louisiana Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 113–116 OT 5–3 December 27, 1989 yes North Carolina 24 Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky 110–121 5–4 December 30, 1989 yes Louisville 8 Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 79–86 5–5 January 3, 1990 yes Georgia Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia 91–106 5–6 1–1 January 6, 1990 yes 1989 men Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee 85–92 5–7 1–2 January 10, 1990 1989 men Florida Gators Florida Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 89–81 6–7 2–2 January 13, 1990 yes 1980 men LSU Tigers LSU 14 Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 81–94 6–8 2–3 January 17, 1990 Alabama 25 Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 82–65 7–8 3–3 January 20, 1990 1989 men Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 95–83 8–8 4–3 January 24, 1990 yes Auburn Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama 70–74 8–9 4–4 January 27, 1990 1989 men Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 98–79 9–9 5–4 January 31, 1990 yes 1989 men Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi 86–87 9–10 5–5 February 3, 1990 no Georgia Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 88–77 10–10 6–5 February 7, 1990 Vanderbilt Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 100–73 11–10 7–5 February 12, 1990 yes Florida O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida 78–74 12–10 8–5 February 15, 1990 LSU 9 Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 100–95 13–10 9–5 February 17, 1990 yes Alabama Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama 58–83 13–11 9–6 February 21, 1990 yes Tennessee Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee 100–102 13–12 9–7 February 24, 1990 Auburn Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 98–95 14–12 10–7 February 28, 1990 Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi 74–88 14–13 10–8 March 5, 1990 yes Notre Dame Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana 67–80 14–14 SE Southeast References Category:Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball seasons Kentucky Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Wildcat