List of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball honorees
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A number of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players have been honored with various Southeastern Conference and national awards.
Banner honorees
Forty-three former Kentucky men's basketball players, coaches, and contributors are honored in Rupp Arena with banners representing their numbers hung from the rafters. With the streamlining of jersey numbers by the NCAA, the jerseys are retired but the numbers remain active. To have a banner hung, the athlete must be elected to the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.[1]
| No. | Name | Years | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Cliff Barker | 1947–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| 12 | Ralph Beard | 1946–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| 22 | Jerry Bird | 1954–56 | |
| 50 | Bob Burrow | 1955–56 | 1956 Second Team All-America |
| 56 | Burgess Carey | 1925–26 | |
| 24 | Johnny Cox | 1957–59 | 1958 NCAA Champion, 1959 First Team All-America |
| 10 | Louie Dampier | 1965–67 | 1967 Second Team All-America |
| 7 | John DeMoisey | 1932–34 | |
| 00 | Tony Delk | 1993–96 | 1996 NCAA Champion, 1996 First Team All-America, 1996 SEC Player of the Year, 1996 NCAA Tournament M.O.P. |
| 42 | Bill Evans | 1952–55 | |
| 32 | Richie Farmer | 1989–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
| 12 | Deron Feldhaus | 1989–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
| 21 | Jack Givens | 1975–78 | 1978 NCAA Champion, 1978 Second Team All-America, 1978 SEC Player of the Year, 1978 NCAA Tournament M.O.P. |
| 44 | Phil Grawemeyer | 1954–56 | |
| 15 | Alex Groza | 1945–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| 35 | Kevin Grevey | 1973–75 | 1975 First Team All-America, 1973 and 1975 SEC Player of the Year |
| – | Joe B. Hall | 1973–85 | 1978 National Championship Head Coach |
| 6 | Cliff Hagan | 1951–54 | 1951 NCAA Champion, 1952 First Team All-America, 1954 First Team All-America |
| 52 | Vernon Hatton | 1956–58 | 1958 NCAA Champion |
| – | Basil Hayden | 1920–22 | |
| 44 | Dan Issel | 1968–70 | UK All-time leading scorer, 1970 First Team All-America |
| 27 | Wallace Jones | 1946–49 | 1948 NCAA Champion, 1949 NCAA Champion, One of the Fabulous Five |
| – | Bill Keightley | 1962–2008 | Mr. Wildcat, Equipment Manager |
| – | Cawood Ledford | 1953–92 | Voice of the Wildcats |
| 4 | Kyle Macy | 1978–80 | 1978 NCAA Champion, 1980 First Team All-America, 1980 SEC Player of the Year |
| 44 | Cotton Nash | 1962–64 | 1964 First Team All-America |
| 24 | Jamal Mashburn | 1991–93 | 1993 First Team All-America, 1993 SEC Player of the Year |
| 34 | John Pelphrey | 1989–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
| 22 | Mike Pratt | 1967–70 | 1970 Second Team All-America |
| – | Rick Pitino | 1990–97 | 1996 National Championship Head Coach |
| 30 | Frank Ramsey | 1951–54 | 1951 NCAA Champion, 1954 Second Team All-America |
| 26 | Kenny Rollins | 1943–48 | 1948 NCAA Champion |
| 42 | Pat Riley | 1965–67 | 1966 First Team All-America, 1966 SEC Player of the Year |
| 53 | Rick Robey | 1975–78 | 1978 NCAA Champion, 1978 Second Team All-America |
| 4 | Layton Rouse | 1938–40 | |
| – | Adolph Rupp | 1931–72 | 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958 National Championship Head Coach |
| – | Forest Sale | 1931–33 | Helms POY 1933, 2 time all American 1932 and 1933 |
| – | Carey Spicer | 1929–31 | |
| 77 | Bill Spivey | 1950–51 | 1951 NCAA Champion, 1951 First Team All-America |
| 20 | Gayle Rose | 1953–55 | |
| 16 | Lou Tsioropoulos | 1951–54 | 1951 NCAA Champion |
| 34 | Kenny Walker | 1983–86 | 1986 First Team All-America, 1985–86 SEC Player of the Year |
| 11 | Sean Woods | 1990–92 | One of the Unforgettables |
National Players of the Year
The UK players listed here received at least one NCAA-recognized national player of the year award.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award has been presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 2015 to the top Division I center.
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All-Americans
The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players that were named First or Second Team All-Americans:
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Wayman Tisdale Award
The Wayman Tisdale Award, known before the 2010–11 season as the USBWA National Freshman of the Year Award, has been presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association since 1989 to the top freshman in Division I men's basketball.
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NABC Freshman of the Year
The National Association of Basketball Coaches, the trade organization for college men's basketball coaches, has presented its own Freshman of the Year award since the 2016–17 season.
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SEC Player of the Year (AP, UPI, Coaches)
The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players who have been named SEC Player of the Year:
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SEC Freshmen of the Year (AP, Coaches)
The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players who have been named either SEC Freshman of the Year (awarded by the league's head coaches, and open only to freshmen) or SEC Newcomer of the Year (awarded by the AP and open to any player in his first year at an SEC school, including transfers).
All listed players won both awards except for the following:
- Patrick Patterson, a freshman who won the 2008 coaches' award while Nick Calathes of Florida, also a freshman, won the AP award.
- Nerlens Noel, a freshman who won the 2013 coaches' award while junior college transfer Marshall Henderson of Ole Miss won the AP award.
- Reed Sheppard, a freshman who won the 2024 coaches' award while graduate transfer Dalton Knecht of Tennessee won the AP award (as well as both the coaches' and AP versions of the Player of the Year award).
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Elite 90 Award
One of the NCAA's main student-athlete awards is the Elite 90 Award (previously the Elite 88 and Elite 89), presented at the site of each of the NCAA's 90 annual championship finals. In Division I men's basketball, eligible individuals are those on the playing squads of all Final Four participants who have played at least two seasons at their current school. The recipient is the eligible player with the highest grade point average, with completed credit hours as a tiebreaker if needed.
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NBA Draft Picks
McDonald's All-Americans
The following is a list of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players who have been named McDonald's All-Americans during their prep careers:
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- Lee transferred to California after the 2015–16 season.
- Geeen transferred to Washington after the 2017–18 season.
- Tshiebwe began his college career at West Virginia, transferring to Kentucky after the 2020 fall semester. He began play at UK in 2021–22.
- Bradshaw transferred to Ohio State after the 2023–24 season.
Naismith Hall of Fame Members
The following Kentucky players, coaches, and contributors have been enshrined as individuals in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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In addition to these, Adrian Smith was a member of the 1960 US Olympic team that was inducted as a unit in 2010, and Tayshaun Prince was a member of the 2008 US Olympic team that was inducted as a unit in 2025.
Olympians
The following Kentucky players and coaches have represented their country in basketball in the Summer Olympic Games:
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