![]() Honesty was Newton's trademark, and he wasn't about to mislead Pitino into believing the mountain was a mole-hill. Traveling to Pitino's Bedford, New York home, Newton resolved not to sugar-coat Kentucky's dilemma with it's-not-as-bad-as-it-looks nonsense there would be no dismissing the seriousness of the circumstances. Pitino, who was in the midst of reviving a moribund Knicks franchise, let it be known through his personal contacts that he might be interested in the Kentucky job. Carlesimo, Newton drew a bead on the young coach of the New York Knicks, Rick Pitino. Then, in his search for a new head coach, and after being turned down by Arizona's Lute Olsen and Seton Hall's P. Most UK fans figuratively dug in for the long haul, resigned to believe Wildcat glory was not in the near-term offing. ![]() ![]() Reaction ranged from five or six years, up to a decade. How long would it take to rebuild was the question bouncing around the hearts and minds of Kentucky fans and pundits alike. Basketball scholarships were also limited to three each in the '90 and '91 seasons. Just how serious the situation was became evident on the day the NCAA slapped Kentucky with three years of probation, banning the program from playing on live television in the 1990 season, and from post-season play in both the '90 and '91 seasons. Knowledge that UK was in big trouble, and that the task of bringing the program back from its near-death experience would be a monumental, time consuming slog which could take years to accomplish. He also brought with him the burden of knowledge. Newton, who had been a successful coach at Transylvania, Alabama, and Vanderbilt, brought with him tremendous integrity and the respect of the college basketball community. The Wildcats' 13-19 record was a reflection of the chaos surrounding the program, as well as the lack of talent within it due to player defections and suspensions, and signaled the end of Eddie Sutton's four-year reign as coach of the 'Cats (under immense pressure, Sutton resigned in March of '89).Īmidst the agony Wildcat fans felt during this time, the administrators at UK, wanting to hire an AD with a flawless record of abiding by NCAA by-laws, made the decision to bring former Wildcat player C.M. Kentucky's 1988-89 basketball season was the first losing slate the program had posted since the 1926-27 season. The groundwork for a return to glory by a motley crew of Kentuckians, a lone Hoosier, and led by a young, fiery Italian head coach, had unknowingly been laid. ![]() A seemingly never-ending string of Big Blue malfeasance permeated the air, creating an unholy stench, while threatening to end the hoop dreams of Kentucky basketball fans around the world, and shatter the Commonwealth's hard-court Camelot into a millions pieces.įor Kentucky basketball fans, the summer of '88 became not only a summer of extreme discontent, but also the beginning of a storyline worthy of the most decorated Hollywood script writer. In all, the NCAA leveled against Kentucky 18 charges of impropriety by UK's coaching staff and boosters. There were allegations of cheating on a college entrance exam perpetrated by associates of Wildcat basketball, allegations of an Ohio-based UK booster giving away clothing to Kentucky recruits, and the father of high school star Sean Higgins claimed UK offered his son inducements to attend Kentucky. What was to follow not only paralyzed the entire Big Blue Nation with fear, and trepidation, but also brought down a coaching staff, along with Athletic Director Cliff Hagan (who resigned in November of '88) and the program they were entrusted to lead. The Emery Worldwide Express package, according to the NCAA (and later confirmed by UK), contained not only a game tape of Mills, but also $1,000 in cash. That's the day a package sent by the University of Kentucky basketball coaching staff came open while being shipped to the father of Wildcat recruit Chris Mills. The genesis of the Unforgettables can be traced back to March 31, 1988. pdf version for $0.99! - which pays tribute to the awesome accomplishments of three Kentuckians and one Hoosier: Unforgettable in Every Way. In honor of the 20-year anniversary of the end of the Unforgettables' time wearing the Blue and White, A Sea of is re-publishing a story I wrote last summer for the 2011-2012 Wildcat Tip-Off Annual - one can order the Kindle version for only $2.99!, or the. Twenty-years ago today, on March 28, 1992, in Philadelphia, PA, Kentucky and Duke squared in off in an Elite Eight match-up often referred to as "the greatest game ever played." Perhaps the most iconic game in Kentucky history, it was the final farewell for the group of players who brought Wildcat basketball out of the mire and into daylight, the Unforgettables.
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