Kentucky Basketball

The Kentucky Wildcats are the winningest program ever in the history of college basketball, and The University of Kentucky Basketball Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive book ever assembled on the history of the team. Written in a unique, easy-to-read style that brings to life the exploits of Wildcat teams and players, the book includes details about The Fabulous Five, The Fiddlin? Five, Rupp?s Runts, The Unforgettables, Jamal Mashburn, Rex Chapman, Melvin Turpin, Kenny Walker, John Wall, and more. Coaching greats Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, and John Calipari are also featured, as are each of their seven NCAA championships. This is a must read for all Kentucky basketball fans.

With the most all-time wins in men's college basketball, the University of Kentucky Wildcats have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with, since they started playing the game in 1903. This volume shares 110 years of Kentucky basketball history, discussing some of the most awe-inspiring moments, coaches, and players. It includes some amazing action shots from the court, as well as a few classic historical images.

"The University of Kentucky basketball program stands alone with the most wins in the history of the game and with fans more devoted and knowledgeable than any others. Echoes of Kentucky Basketball brings that history to life through the accounts of sportswriters over the past decades as they documented the most memorable games, profiled the coaching and playing legends, and tried to explain the University of Kentucky basketball phenomenon"--Amazon.

Known as the "Man in the Brown Suit" and "The Baron of the Bluegrass," Adolph Rupp (1901--1977) is a towering figure in the history of college athletics. In Adolph Rupp and the Rise of Kentucky Basketball, historian James Duane Bolin goes beyond the wins and losses to present a full-length biography of Rupp based on more than one-hundred interviews with Rupp, his assistant coaches, former players, University of Kentucky presidents and faculty members, and his admirers and critics, as well as court transcripts, newspaper accounts, and other archival materials, this biography presents the fullest account of Rupp's life to date. His teams won four NCAA championships (1948, 1949, 1951, and 1958), one National Invitation Tournament title in 1946, and twenty-seven Southeastern Conference regular season titles. Rupp's influence on the game of college basketball and on his adopted home of Kentucky are both much broader than his impressive record on the court. Bolin covers Rupp's early years -- from his rural upbringing in a German Mennonite family in Halstead, Kansas, through his undergraduate years at the University of Kansas playing on teams coached by Phog Allen and taking classes with James Naismith, the inventor of basketball -- to his success at Kentucky. This revealing portrait of a pivotal figure in American sports also exposes how college basketball changed, for better or worse, in the twentieth century.

The Kentucky Wildcats are the winningest program in the history of college basketball, and this newly revised edition of the University of Kentucky Basketball Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive book ever assembled on the history of this extraordinary team. Written in a unique, easy-to-read style that brings to life the exploits of Wildcats teams and players, this definitive source includes details about “The Fabulous Five,” “Rupp’s Runts,” “The Unforgettables,” Jamal Mashburn, Rex Chapman, Melvin Turpin, Kenny Walker, John wall, and so many more. Coaching greats Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, and John Calipari are also featured, as are each of their eight NCAA championships. Without a doubt this is a must-have for any Kentucky fan! Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Forget what people might say at Duke or North Carolina, UCLA or Kansas. Nobody loves their college basketball program like Kentucky fans -- nobody. Where else but Kentucky would a charity auction see a book signed by former President Jimmy Carter go for $70 ... and a basketball signed by Joe B. Hall go for $300? That happened in 2003, a good twenty years after both men had done their best work. You'll find Hall in this book, by the way. Kentucky fans sell out Rupp Arena for home games and invade opposing gyms for road games, earning the nickname The Blue Mist. Kentucky fans loved their basketball players, and that love doesn't fade over time. Years and even decades after their playing careers are finished, Kentucky basketball players routinely win whatever political office they seek in their home state. The 2003 election for state agriculture commissioner came down to one former Kentucky guard (Richie Farmer) against the wife of another former Kentucky guard (Scotty) Baesler). You'll find Farmer and Baesler in this book, by the way. This book is for you, Wildcat Nation. Catch up with more than 50 of your former heroes, guys who went on to become politicians and pastors, artists and dentists, convicts and coaches. Catch up with two former victims of Duke villain Christian Laettner -- Aminu Timberlake (The Stomp) and Deron Feldhaus (The Shot). Learn the heart-warming tale of Dirk Minniefield, who overcame his drug addiction to become a drug cunselor for the NBA. Learn the heartbreak of Tom Payne, who broke Kentucky's color barrier in 1970 in his only season with the Wildcats but has spent most of his adult life in prison. Whatever happened to perhaps the greatest Wildcat of all time, Bill Spivey? It's in this book. How about Tubby Smith's son and point guard, Saul Smith? He's in here, too. Mike Casey? Gimel Martinez? Lou Tsioropoulos? In here, in here, in here. You don't have to be Bob Wiggins, who once saw 615 consecutive UK game and remains the most intense Kentucky fan alive, to enjoy this book. Whatever happened to Wiggins? We checked--he's still attending games. This book is for Wiggins and the rest of the Blue Mist, and for anyone else who has ever wondered, Where have you gone, Linville Puckett?

Kentucky Wildcats is a beginner's history of the University of Kentucky men's basketball team. Beginning with program's early years, readers will experience the team's highest and lowest moments and meet the key players and legendary coaches who made it happen. Short biographies, fun facts, informative sidebars, and revealing quotes and anecdotes combine with action-packed photographs to enhance the Wildcats' story, allowing your readers Inside College Basketball! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Throughout book are pockets containing facsimilies of newspaper clippings, tickets, postcards, photographs, and other Univ. of KY basketball memorabilia.