This season was the first of John Calipari's tenure as head coach; he accepted the position on March 31, 2009.

They became the first men's college basketball program to reach 2,000 wins by defeating the Drexel Dragons on December 21.

The team was briefly ranked #1 in both the ESPN/Coaches poll and AP poll, and posted the best record in the NCAA (35–3)[2] Off the court, Coach Calipari spearheaded an effort to raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, yielding $1.5 million and a congratulatory call from President Barack Obama.

Cousins, Patterson, and Wall were chosen to the first-team All-SEC by coaches and the media.

Cousins was the SEC Freshman of the Year, and he, Bledsoe, and Wall were All-Freshman team selections by the coaches and media.

Five players declared themselves eligible for the draft: Bledsoe, Cousins, Orton, Patterson, and Wall.