Richie Farmer

Although he was popular state-wide and publicly stated his desire to play collegiate basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, Coach Eddie Sutton was reluctant to offer Farmer a scholarship.

The team's seniors – Farmer, Woods, John Pelphrey, and Deron Feldhaus – were dubbed "The Unforgettables", and their jerseys were hung from the rafters of Rupp Arena following the 1991–92 season.

In 2011, Kentucky Senate President David L. Williams tapped Farmer – considered a rising star in the state Republican Party – as his running mate in the gubernatorial election.

Attorney General Jack Conway also charged Farmer with violating state campaign finance laws, and a federal grand jury followed with five indictments for abuses of power.

He served almost 20 months in a satellite camp of the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton near Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, before transitioning to a halfway house in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 18, 2015.

[2] He credited his father, a transportation manager at a local coal mine and a standout point guard at Clay County High School in 1963, with developing his basketball acumen.

[21] In the first half of Clay County's semi-final matchup with Madison Central High School, Farmer scored 18 and his younger brother, Russ, added 12 to account for 30 of their team's 39 first-half points.

[33] In the opening round of the January 1988 Louisville Invitational Tournament (LIT), Farmer scored 40 points on 15 of 30 shooting in an 86–82 win over Pleasure Ridge Park High School, pushing Clay County's record to 16–1 and setting up another meeting with Allan Houston's Ballard team.

[58] Signees Shawn Kemp and Sean Woods failed to qualify academically, and Chris Mills was under investigation by the NCAA for cash allegedly sent to his father by assistant coach Dwane Casey in violation of the Association's amateurism rules.

[60] The Lexington Herald-Leader's Jerry Tipton later reported that Farmer had to leave practice half an hour early two days a week to attend his American History class.

[72] The youngest person and first high school athlete ever to win the award, Farmer finished ahead of former Kentucky guard Pat Riley, who had just coached the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers to a second consecutive championship.

[94] The Wildcats closed out 1989 with a closer-than-expected 86–79 loss against eighth-ranked Louisville, but local sportswriter John McGill said Farmer had his best game to date with 10 points, 9 assists and 3 steals off the bench.

[95] In a January 20, 1990, contest against conference foe Tennessee, Pitino benched senior shooting guard Derrick Miller to start the second half, giving his spot to Farmer.

[96] After a mid-week loss to Auburn, Pitino announced that he would move Farmer into the starting lineup, replacing Sean Woods, for the Wildcats' January 27 contest against Ole Miss.

[101][102] On February 15, 1990, in front of a record 24,301 fans at Rupp Arena, Farmer hit six consecutive free throws to help Kentucky overcome a career-high 41 points by LSU's Chris Jackson and pull within a half-game of first place in the SEC with a 100–95 win.

[105] Asked about the difference in penalties for Cooper and Farmer, official Don Ferguson admitted he did not want to hurt Kentucky's shallow rotation any further by ejecting another regular contributor.

[109] Pitino later added that he thought the transfer of point guard Travis Ford from Missouri – bringing additional competition in the backcourt for the 1991–92 season – may have played into Farmer's brief departure.

[113] In the Wildcats' third game of the year – a win over Notre Dame in the Big Four Classic – Farmer led the team in scoring with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting; he added 4 assists and 2 steals against no turnovers in 23 minutes of play.

[114] Prior to Kentucky's December 15 matchup against Chattanooga, Pitino publicly contemplated starting Farmer in place of Sean Woods at point and either Carlos Toomer or Jody Thompson at shooting guard instead of Brassow.

[102] Although he tied with Pelphrey for a team-high 17 points, Farmer returned to the bench for the following game against Indiana because Pitino felt he didn't have the size to defend the Hoosiers' bigger guards.

[139] This performance notwithstanding, complaints from the fan base about Farmer's lack of playing time – he averaged 17.7 minutes per game through early February – grew louder and eventually became the subject of media interest.

[140][141] Kentucky beat writer Jerry Tipton addressed the topic at length in a Lexington Herald-Leader column on February 8, drawing a rebuke from Pitino, who called the issue a "non-story".

[151] The Wildcats held a narrow 62–59 lead with 8:25 to play in their first round matchup against Colonial Athletic Association champion Old Dominion when Farmer hit a layup that keyed a decisive four-and-a-half-minute, 15–2 run, helping Kentucky to an 88–69 victory.

[187] Farmer waited until three weeks before the primary election to begin seriously campaigning and focused on population centers such as Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green, and the Northern Kentucky area, where Republican voters were more concentrated.

[194] Baesler charged that Farmer was unqualified for the job of agriculture commissioner and that his high poll numbers and convincing primary victory were driven by his popularity as a basketball player, criticizing him for featuring his status as a member of "The Unforgettables" in his campaign literature.

[196] Later that week, the Lexington Herald-Leader also endorsed Baesler, and followed up the next day with an article noting that, as of October 3, nearly one-third of the $87,825.20 Farmer had spent during the campaign went to relatives – including his parents, brother, sister, and in-laws – for salaries and campaign-related reimbursements.

[226] Another involved the approval of merit raises for eleven agriculture department employees in 2010 when workers in all other state government agencies received no cost of living salary increases and were required to take six unpaid furlough days.

[226] Farmer's wife Rebecca filed for divorce on April 5, 2011, claiming in court documents that she had no access to the family's finances except the salary she earned as a teacher's aide.

[243] Five days after Farmer left office, Comer announced that he had requested a full audit of the department by newly elected Democratic State Auditor Adam Edelen.

[262] Originally scheduled to report to prison on March 18, Farmer was granted a one-week delay by Van Tatenhove to watch his son, Trey, play for Clay County High School in the KHSAA basketball tournament.