LEXINGTON, Ky. — Everybody loves a comeback story, one of those reversal-of-fortune narratives where a team is awful one season, great the next. You know, from worst to first. From flop to on top.
Not a ton of bounce-back examples exist in the glorious annals of Kentucky basketball. There have been a few, however, with last season qualifying and then some. If you’ve forgotten, or tried to, UK went 9-16 during the pandemic of 2020-21. Apologies for the reminder.
A turnaround is on the docket for 2021-22. With that in mind, I searched the record books and found five years in which the Cats went from very bad — by Big Blue standards — to very good. And I ranked them.
1. 1964-65 to 1965-66
After winning the SEC in 1963-64, Adolph Rupp’s Cats slipped to 15-10 overall and 10-6 in the conference in 1964-65. Combined with a mediocre 16-9 mark in 1962-63, critics claimed the game had passed the 64-year old Baron of Basketball by.
Along came Rupp’s Runts. The 1965-66 starting five of Larry Conley, Louie Dampier, Thad Jaracz, Tommy Kron and Pat Riley included no one taller than 6-foot-5. Yet one of the most beloved teams in UK history finished 27-2, losing only 69-62 at Tennessee on March 5 and 72-65 to Texas Western on March 19 in the now famous 1966 NCAA Tournament championship game.
2. 1973-74 to 1974-75
Joe B. Hall’s second season as Rupp’s successor turned disastrous with the Cats finishing 13-13. The 1971-72 “Super Kittens” of Jimmy Dan Conner, Mike Flynn, Kevin Grevey, Bob Guyette, Jerry Hale, Steve Lochmueller and G.J. Smith struggled as juniors while many wondered if Hall was the man for the job.
Enter freshmen Jack Givens, James Lee, Mike Phillips and Rick Robey to help Hall engineer a return to glory. After an early-season 98-74 thumping at Indiana in December, UK turned the tables on Indiana in March, beating the Hoosiers, 92-90, in an epic Mideast Region finals. Alas, a retiring John Wooden led UCLA to a 92-85 win over Kentucky in the national championship game as the Cats finished the memorable season 26-5. UK would win the title in 1978.
3. 2012-13 to 2013-14
The defending national champions saw their season derailed by Nerlens Noel’s torn ACL at Florida on Feb. 10, 2013. Without Noel, John Calipari’s Cats went 4-6. It failed to earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament and suffered an embarrassing 59-57 loss at Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT. Record: 21-12.
Despite the arrival of heralded freshmen Julius Randle, James Young and the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew), the 2013-14 campaign was showing only marginal improvement before Calipari made his now-famous “tweak” in preparation for the postseason. The Cats nearly upset No. 1-ranked Florida in the SEC tournament finals, then reached the NCAA Tournament championship game before losing 60-54 to Connecticut. Record: 29-11.
4. 1988-89 to 1989-90
An NCAA investigation haunted UK’s ‘88-89 season. By the end of the nightmarish five months, the Cats had finished 13-19 — the program’s first losing season since 1926-27 — and Eddie Sutton was out as coach. On May 19, 1989, the NCAA hammered UK with a two-year postseason ban.
Enter Rick Pitino. The former New York Knicks coach injected hope into the reeling program. Employing an exciting style of basketball and led by “The Unforgettables” of Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey and Sean Woods, the Cats finished a surprising 14-14, setting the stage for three Final Four appearances and ultimately a 1996 national championship under Pitino.
5. 2008-09 to 2009-10
Billy Gillispie’s two-year tenure as Kentucky basketball coach came to a sudden halt when Billy G was fired after the Cats went 22-14 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament in 2008-09.
Enter John Calipari, the former UMass and Memphis coach, who immediately returned Kentucky to the spotlight. Led by freshmen Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall, the Cats began the year 19-0 and finished 30-2 after losing to West Virginia, 73-66, in the NCAA Tournament East Region finals. Two years later, UK would win its eighth national championship.
