With Kentucky's win over UConn on Wednesday, John Calipari became the first coach to win his first nine games as Kentucky head basketball coach since Adolph Rupp did the same in 1930-31. On Saturday, Coach Calipari can join Rupp with the all-time record for consecutinve wins to start their UK coaching career.
Adolph Rupp became the head coach of the Kentucky basketball program for the 1930-31 season. It didn't take the new coach long to give fans of Kentucky basketball a hint at what the future would hold under his guidance. The Wildcats won the first ten games of the season. That Kentucky team featured players like UK athletics Hall of Fame members Forest Sale and Carey Spicer. The Baron would go on to lead the Kentucky program for 41 seasons finishing with 876 wins and four National Championships. The standard that the Baron set for first year coaches would go unchallenged for quite some time.
After Rupp's retirement, the coaching job at Kentucky was put in the hands of Joe B. Hall. Hall was a former player and assistant coach under Rupp and knew the Kentucky tradition very well. Coach Hall took over for the 1972-73 season and won his first two games as the new coach at Kentucky. Hall would lead the Wildcats to a record of 20-8 that season, but only put together a two game streak to start his Kentucky coaching career. Hall would eventually lead the Wildcats to the 1978 NCAA Championship. Hall retired as Kentucky head coach after the 1984-85 season with 297 career wins.
The 1985-86 season brought on the debut of new coach Eddie Sutton. Sutton arrived at Kentucky with hig expectations and senior Kenny Walker on his team to lead the way. The 1985-86 Wildcats would win their first six games under their new head coach. The team would go on to complete that season with an outstanding 32-4 season. Despite Sutton's fast start, he left the Kentucky program after just four seasons in 1989.
Picking up the pieces of the Kentucky basketball program for the 1989-90 season was new head coach Rick Pitino. Pitino joined the Wildcats as head coach with NBA and Final Four experience during one of the most trying times in the program's history. With a gutted roster to compete with and NCAA sanctions hanging over his head, Pitino's first season was no indication of what was to come, though the team showed lots of heart and Kentucky pride despite their circumstances. The team won its first game but lost to Indiana in its second game. That Wildcat team would go on to post a respectable 14-14 record in spite of the challenging circumstances. Members of the 1990-91 team included future Kentucky legends Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey, Sean Woods and Richie Farmer. Pitino would go on to lead a renaissance of Kentucky basketball in the 1990's taking the team to three Final Fours and one National Championship.
Kentucky's program was placed in the care of Orlando "Tubby" Smith for the 1997-98 season. Tubby took a talented team and shot out of the gates with a very fast start. Tubby would win his first four games in a row as head coach and twelve of his first thirteen. Tubby's 1997-98 Wildcats posted a spectacular 35-4 record, winning the National Championship in his first season as Kentucky coach. Tubby would go on to have ten great seasons at the helm and began his UK coaching career with one of the best starts ever in college basketball coaching history.
After Tubby Smith left to coach the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the head coaching job at Kentucky was placed in the care of Billy Gillispie. Gillispie joined the Kentucky basketball program with high hopes, but his short stint as Kentucky head coach did not live up to expectations. Gillispie started the 2007-2008 season winning his first three games as head coach. The team would go on to a final record of 18-13, barely making the NCAA tournament. In Gillispie's second and final season, the Wildcats failed to make the NCAA Tournament and Gillispie was removed as coach at the end of the season.
The 2009-10 season signals the beginning of the John Calipari era at Kentucky. Calipari's arrival in Lexington has supercharged fans and has made them have dreams of a return to their righful place atop the NCAA. Calipari's 9-0 record as a freshman head coach is second only to Coach Rupp's debut in 1930-31. If Calipari and the Wildcats can take down the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, Calipari will tie Coach Rupp with ten straight wins to start his first season as head coach. Whether Calipari can tie this record or not, it is very clear that he is well on his way to elevating the Kentucky program back to national prominence and should have the team in contention to make a return to the Final Four very soon. The next great chapter in UK basketball is being written right before our eyes!
