Kentucky has finished as the NCAA runner-up four times, making it tied with UCLA and North Carolina for all-time title game appearances at 12.

Thirty-nine players have been honored with jersey retirements, as well as Rupp, Hall, Pitino, Smith, equipment manager Bill Keightly, and broadcaster Cawood Ledford.

Rupp, who was an early innovator of the fast break and set offense, gained a reputation as an intense competitor, a strict motivator, and strategist.

The Wildcats lost their first game by 11 to Saint John's at home, but they would pull it together for the Sugar Bowl Tournament, which they won, beating NCAA runner-up Bradley.

Englisis entered the gambling business when he left the football team in 1946, then approached three Kentucky basketball players Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, and Dale Barnstable with his associates in late 1948 about potentially point shaving (fixing the score of games) during the upcoming season in exchange for money.

[24][25] At the conclusion of this scandal, a subsequent NCAA investigation found that Kentucky had committed several rule violations, including giving illegal spending money to players on several occasions, and also allowing some ineligible athletes to compete.

This included his 53 points scored against Mississippi State in 1970, the most by a Kentucky player in a single game until Jodie Meeks made 54 against rival Tennessee on January 13, 2009.

[citation needed] The only others to achieve this feat are: After a year of playing in the freshman league and a disappointing sophomore season, Hall's Super Kittens returned with hopes of finally bringing Kentucky its fifth title.

Despite losing in the championship game, it would give freshman Jack Givens a taste for success that would help propel Kentucky to the title three years later.

With the help of senior Jack "Goose" Givens' 41 points, Kentucky defeated the Blue Devils 94–88, and finally won their fifth title and first in 20 years.

Two seasons later, Sutton and the 25–5 Wildcats captured their 37th SEC title and were ranked as the 6th college basketball team in the nation by the Associated Press and UPI[32][33] before losing to Villanova in the Tournament.

Additionally, sophomore standout Eric Manuel was suspected of cheating on his college entrance exam and voluntarily agreed to sit out until the investigation was finished.

[34] Unfortunately, Manuel was forced to sit out the entire season as the investigation dragged on, essentially leaving the Wildcats in the hands of inexperienced sophomore LeRon Ellis and true freshman Chris Mills.

[35] The scandal broke when Emery Worldwide employees claimed to have discovered $1,000 in cash in an envelope Kentucky assistant coach Dwane Casey sent to Mills' father.

[38] Kentucky was already on probation stemming from allegations of an extensive scheme of payments to recruits, and the NCAA seriously considered hitting the Wildcats with the "death penalty", which would have shut down the entire basketball program (as opposed to simply being banned from postseason play) for up to two years.

Kentucky would improve in 1991 with a beavy of home-grown upperclassmen such as Sean Woods, John Pelphrey, Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, and Reggie Hanson along with the talented freshman Jamal Mashburn.

The highlight of the season was the "Mardi Gras Miracle", a game where Kentucky trailed LSU 68–37 with 15:34 left, but outscored them 62–27 over the remainder of regulation to win 99–95.

The following year, Pitino's Kentucky team made it back to the national title game, losing to Arizona in overtime in the finals of the 1997 NCAA tournament.

[42] (Anderson tore his ACL in January against SEC foe Auburn; Kentucky lost the 1997 title game in overtime to the Arizona Wildcats.)

[43] In his first season at UK, he coached the Wildcats to their seventh NCAA championship, including a come-from-behind victory against Duke in the Elite Eight, and another comeback win against Stanford, then Utah in the Finals.

In 1998, the reserve guard J.P. Blevins scored 9 points, all on 3-pointers sparking the Wildcats to come back from a 15-point deficit in the first half to upset the number 5 seed, Michigan State 60–58.

[46] On April 6, 2007, Billy Gillispie was formally announced as the new head coach of the University of Kentucky by UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart.

[51] UK promptly dropped 3 in a row (to Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Mississippi State) before rebounding at home with a thrilling 68–65 win over Florida.

Barnhart stressed the firing was due to more than wins and losses, citing "philosophical differences" and "a clear gap in how the rules and responsibilities overseeing the program are viewed".

Kentucky's regular season record was 30–1, with its only loss being by one point coming from a 3-pointer buzzer-beater by the Indiana Hoosiers' Christian Watford at Assembly Hall on December 10, 2011.

The entering class included a record six McDonald's All-Americans[64] highlighted by Julius Randle and the Harrison Twins from Texas, Aaron and Andrew.

The comment fueled the team as they defeated West Virginia 78–39, tying the largest margin of victory in the Sweet 16 in NCAA Tournament history.

Following a first round upset as a 3 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, John Calipari resigned his position of Head Coach to accept the same role at the University of Arkansas.

Kentucky has 45 men's basketball players, coaches, and contributors honored in Rupp Arena with banners hung from the rafters featuring a jersey and their number.

[85] Ten days after losing in the 1992 East Regional Finals to Duke, Kentucky's four seniors, named the "Unforgettables", were honored with jersey retirement for their commitment to the program and helping lead it out of NCAA probation.