Kentucky MBB adds another non-conference opponent to 2025-26 schedule

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Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Kentucky men’s basketball continues to fill out its 2025-26 non-conference schedule.

The latest addition, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, is the North Carolina Central Eagles. Kentucky will host NC Central at Rupp Arena later this year, but no date has been announced at this time.

This will mark the first-ever meeting between these two programs. NC Central, based out of Durham, NC, was a Division II team (winning the 1989 national championship) until 2011, when the Eagles transitioned to the Division I level. NC Central has since made four NCAA Tournament appearances (2014, 2017-19). In 2024-25, the Eagles finished 14-19 with a 6-8 record in the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference under 16-year head coach LeVelle Moton.

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Source: Kentucky will host NC Central as part of its 2025-26 non-conference schedule.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 16, 2025

Although these two programs have yet to face each other head-to-head, there is a slight connection between UK and NC Central.

Former Kentucky head coach John Calipari launched the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative (MLI) back in 2020. McLendon, who won three NAIA championships (1957-59) and went on to be a Hall of Famer, was the NC Central head coach from 1941-52. McLendon was the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white institution in any professional sport.