History Lesson: How Previous Kentucky Basketball Coaches Fared in Debut

The Mark Pope era officially tips off Monday night when Kentucky hosts Wright State at Rupp Arena for the opening game of the 2024-25 men’s basketball season.

Pope is only the eighth coach of the Wildcats since Adolph Rupp began his dynasty in Lexington back in 1930. This is a historic night for Kentucky basketball. It calls for a Kentucky basketball history lesson.

Adolph Rupp, Dec. 18, 1930

Score: Kentucky 67, Georgetown 19
Debut Season Result: 15-3, Lost to Maryland in Southern Conference Championship

The first game of the Rupp era set the tone for what was to come. Forest “Aggie” Sale was the leading scorer with 19 points at Alumni Gymnasium. The following year he became Rupp’s first First Team All-American. Louis McGinnis had 17 points on his way to earning All-SEC honors.

The most noteworthy name in the box score wasn’t on the Kentucky bench. Harry Lancaster scored 11 of Georgetown’s 19 points. For 22 seasons, Lancaster was Rupp’s righthand man. He also coached the baseball team for nearly 15 years and served as the athletic director during the transition from Rupp to Joe B. Hall.

Joe B. Hall, Dec. 2, 1972

Score: No. 13 Kentucky 75, Michigan State 66
Debut Season Result: 20-8 (14-4) SEC Champs, Elite Eight, No. 17 in the AP Poll

Kevin Grevey would go on to be the star for Joe B. Hall’s first squad. The sensational shooter was the SEC Player of the Year in his first year of varsity basketball, but he only had six points on the road trip to East Lansing. A double-double from Jim Andrews and 14 points from Jimmy Dan Conner got the Cats started on the right track.

It shouldn’t shock you to learn that it wasn’t smooth sailing right away for Rupp’s successor. Following the Michigan State win, the Cats lost three straight: the home-opener against Iowa, at Indiana, and a Top 25 game in Louisville against North Carolina. The Cats would not return to the AP Poll until the final week of the regular season as they were crowned SEC Champs.

Eddie Sutton, Nov. 22, 1958

Score: Kentucky 77, Northwestern State 58
Debut Season Result: 32-4 (17-1), SEC Champs, SECT Champs, Elite Eight, No. 3 Final Ranking

Joe B. Hall left the cupboard full for Eddie Sutton. Kenny “Sky” Walker, the second-leading scorer in Kentucky basketball history, was primed for an All-American season. He played alongside Winston Bennett inside, while Roger Harden steadied the backcourt.

They easily dismissed Northwestern State in the opener as they easily dismissed almost everybody during Sutton’s first season. They handled the eventual National Champs, Louisville, only losing to Danny Manning at Kansas, at NC State, and at Auburn in the regular season. They say it’s hard to beat the same team twice. What about four times? Kentucky won the first three games vs. LSU before losing by two points in the Southeast Regional Final. The Cats were National Championship good in Sutton’s first season, his best as the UK head coach.

Rick Pitino, Nov. 28, 1989

Score: Kentucky 76, Ohio 73
Debut Season Result: Probation team went 14-14 (10-8 in SEC play)

Just like his predecessor, Rick Pitino was the National Coach of the Year following his first season, even though that record looked a lot different. The former New York Knicks’ coach leaned on instate talent, the fullcourt press, and a ton of three-point shots to dig Kentucky out of probation.

Team captain Derrick Miller and Somerset native Reggie Hanson combined for 42 points in the first game for the group that would come to be known as Pitino’s Bombinos. It’s hard to accurately encapsulate the fervor from Pitino’s wildly successful first season in Lexington, so I’ll guide you to this article from The Washington Post in February of 1990.

Tubby Smith, Nov. 11, 1997

Score: Kentucky 88, Morehead 49
Debut Season Result: 35-4 (14-2), National Champs, SEC Champs, SECT Champs, No. 1

Wayne Turner and Allen Edwards helped Tubby Smith’s team take care of business in the only tune-up before they traveled to Maui. There they lost a rematch of the National Championship game to Arizona by 15 points. They hit the lowest of lows when they lost to a pathetic Louisville team at home. After that, the Comeback Cats only lost two games.

Turner was exceptional, and mature beyond his years while filling in for Derek Anderson the year prior. Scott Padgett and Jeff Sheppard brought almost just as much experience as role players from the previous teams that made it to the final game of the college basketball season. If you’re sensing a theme, a lot of first-year head basketball coaches at Kentucky have immediate success.

Billy Gillispie, Nov. 6, 2007

Final Score: Kentucky 67, Central Arkansas 40
Debut Season Result: 18-13 (12-4), No. 11 Seed NCAA Tournament

Joe Crawford scored 20 points in the first game of the Billy G era and Ramel Bradley had a smooth 10 points, but there was no time for a honeymoon. On the very next day the Wildcats lost to Gardner-Webb. I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.

Kentucky also had losses to San Diego, UAB, and Houston in the non-conference, but the Cats figured some stuff out in SEC play. That’s ultimately why Gillispie was named SEC Coach of the Year, despite limping into the NCAA Tournament with a loss to Sundiatte Gaines and Georgia in the first round of the SEC Tournament after a tornado moved the event to Georgia Tech’s campus. Safe to say that was a weird year.

John Calipari, Nov. 13, 2009

Final Score: Kentucky 75, Morehead 59
First Season Result: 35-3 (14-2) Elite Eight, SEC Champs, SECT Champs, No. 2 AP Poll

People forget that the first game of the John Calipari era wasn’t against Miami, Oh. John Wall‘s dramatic buzzer-beater was in his debut. He was suspended for the forgettable opener against Morehead that featured Kenneth Faried and future Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall on the opposing sideline. Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe, and Darnell Dodson combined for 59 of Kentucky’s 75 points.

There was a ton of skepticism surrounding John Calipari’s one-and-done style, but the talented freshmen just kept winning. Calipari won his first 19 games before South Carolina’s Devan Downey dropped 30 points in Columbia. They fell at Tennessee, then didn’t lose until a 4-32 three-point shooting night against West Virginia ended the season in Syracuse.

The Moral of this Kentucky Basketball Story

What does the history tell us about tonight and Mark Pope’s first season at Kentucky? First and foremost, they’re probably going to beat the snot out of Wright State. Sorry, Raiders.

More importantly, we need to remind ourselves that this is freaking Kentucky basketball. Almost every coach comes in and kicks ass right away and you shouldn’t expect anything different when Mark Pope gives this program a much-needed shot in the arm.