1991–92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1991–92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in NCAA competition in the 1991–92 season. The team was coached by Rick Pitino. Due to major recruiting violations committed by Pitino's predecessor Eddie Sutton, 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, a 6'0"/1.83 m shooting guard from Manchester, a small town in the commonwealth's eastern coal fields. Deron Feldhaus, a 6'7"/2.01 m forward from Maysville, a small Ohio River town in the Bluegrass region, about an hour's drive upriver from Cincinnati. John Pelphrey, a 6'8"/2.03 m forward from another eastern coal town, Paintsville. Sean Woods, the only non-Kentuckian "Unforgettable," a 6'2"/1.88 m point guard from Indianapolis. The sophomore Jamal Mashburn would go on to become a consensus first-team All-American the following season and have a 12-year NBA career; he is now a college basketball analyst for TNT Sports. The Wildcats' run in the NCAA tournament would end in a regional final against Duke that is often cited as the greatest college game ever played. The heavily favored Blue Devils survived an overtime thriller on Christian Laettner'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," was released. == Roster == == Schedule and results == === NCAA basketball tournament === East Kentucky (2) 88, Old Dominion (15) 69 Kentucky 106, Iowa State (10) 98 Kentucky 87, Massachusetts (3) 77 Duke (1) 104, Kentucky 103 (OT) == Rankings == == Team players drafted into the NBA == Jamal Mashburn of the Wildcats was claimed in the 1993 NBA draft. == References ==