1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Rick Pitino^[2] and the team finished the season with an overall record of 14–14.^[3] Coming off the controversy of the Eddie Sutton scandal,^[4] the NCAA banned the Kentucky Wildcats from television for one season. The NCAA sanctions placed on the program would also ban any postseason competition for two years and a three-year probational period.^[5] Pitino knew this and still took the challenge of making this team successful despite the many deficient parts of the program.

1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	14–14 (10–8 SEC)
Head coach	Rick Pitino (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Herb Sendek Billy Donovan Tubby Smith Ralph Willard
Home arena	Rupp Arena
Seasons ← 1988–89 1990–91 →

1989–90 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Georgia	13	–	5		.722			20	–	9		.690
No. 23 Alabama †	12	–	6		.667			26	–	9		.743
No. 19 LSU	12	–	6		.667			23	–	9		.719
Tennessee	10	–	8		.556			16	–	14		.533
Kentucky	10	–	8		.556			14	–	14		.500
Ole Miss	8	–	10		.444			13	–	17		.433
Auburn	8	–	10		.444			13	–	18		.419
Mississippi State	7	–	11		.389			16	–	14		.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11		.389			21	–	14		.600
Florida	3	–	15		.167			7	–	21		.250
† 1990 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll[1]

Coming off a decent season in the NBA with the Knicks, Pitino missed the college experience and felt that Kentucky would be the most interesting choice.^[6] Pitino was reportedly offered six million dollars for a seven-year contract with Kentucky.^[7] Coming into the new season, not all of Kentucky's players were completely committed to playing due to the program being in shambles. Some players were reported to have skipped class or not put forth 100% effort into practices. Ironically, the students that did not compete were focusing more on their grades so they could graduate.^[8] Despite Rick Pitino's intense coaching effort, the season included many difficult moments for the Wildcats, including a 150–95 loss to Kansas (which is the largest margin of defeat in Kentucky history).^[9] Despite all these obstacles, the Wildcats finished with a respectable .500 record, and Pitino was named SEC Coach of the Year (for the first of three times) for guiding Kentucky to a 10–8 record in conference and was named the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year in 1990.^[10]

1989-90 Roster

• #4 Derrick Miller
• #35 Reggie Hanson
• #12 Deron Feldhaus
• #34 John Pelphrey
• #11 Sean Woods
• #14 Jeff Brassow
• #32 Richie Farmer
• #23 Nehemiah Braddy
• #33 Johnathon Davis
• #20 Tony Cooper
• #25 Skip McGaw
• #42 Michael Parks
• #21 Henry Thomas^[11]

Personnel

In the wake of the previous season's alleged scandal, Pitino brought in new assistant coaches. One of which was a close friend of his, Ralph Willard. He would leave the New York Knicks to follow Pitino to Kentucky.^[12] Tubby Smith left his position as assistant coach at the University of South Carolina to pursue his new career at the University of Kentucky.^[13] Herb Sendek was also brought in as an assistant coach. Sendek had previously served as a graduate assistant to Pitino at Providence College.^[14] Pitino brought in Billy Donovan as the graduate assistant coach. This would be after a short career on Wall Street and a stint playing in the Continental Basketball Association.^[15]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1989-90 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
2. "1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved October 27, 2013.
3. "1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved October 27, 2013.
4. "Kentucky Wildcat Basketball: The Unforgettables 20-years ago today". March 28, 2012.
5. Associated Press. “Kentucky Put on 3 Years’ Probation: NCAA Bans Postseason Play 2 Years, Orders Limited Wildcat Scholarships.” Los Angeles Times. 9 May 1989. Kentucky Put on 3 Years' Probation : NCAA Bans Postseason Play 2 Years, Orders Limited Wildcat Scholarships - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com). Accessed 3 December 2021
6. "PITINO'S HONEYMOON BEGINS AT KENTUCKY - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
7. Kerber, Fred. “Report has Pitino going to Kentucky.” Sun-Sentinel. 30 May 1989. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1989-05-30-8901280284-story.html. Accessed 24 October 2021.
8. "Pitino, Kentucky Surprise Each Other - tribunedigital-chicagotribune". Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
9. "Archives". Los Angeles Times. December 10, 1989.
10. "Rick Pitino (2005) - UK Athletics Hall of Fame". University of Kentucky Athletics. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
11. Big Blue History. “Roster for 1989–90.” Big Blue History. http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/roster1989-90.html. Accessed 24 October 2021.
12. Jent, Brian. “Friendship, tradition attracts assistant coach to Lexington.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021.
13. Hau, David A. “Assistant Smith brings knowledge of Southern high schoolers to staff.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021.
14. Hall, Gregory A. “New assistant Sendek gave up sweet life for sweat life.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021.
15. Bowmar, Kip. “Prototype Pitino point guard begins coaching career.” Kentucky Kernel, 27 November 1989. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt76m9022798. Accessed 23 September 2021.