More than a Broadcaster, Relive Mike Pratt's Best Performances as a Wildcat

Most Kentucky basketball fans reading this remember the sound of Mike Pratt’s voice accompanying our favorite wins alongside Tom Leach. A part of UK radio broadcasts for more than two decades, he has an even further-reaching legacy. Without Pratt on the search committee, John Calipari may have never become the Wildcats’ head coach.

Mike Pratt served as a connecting force that brought together the new generation with the old guard. He was able to do it because he was one of Adolph Rupp’s brightest stars. Before his No. 22 is hung in the rafters of Rupp Arena at halftime of Saturday’s game against Florida, let’s not forget why he got there by revisiting his best performances in a Kentucky uniform.

Sophomore Season (1967-68)

Throughout his career he was never the featured star for the Wildcats. The 6-foor-4 forward played second-fiddle to Dan Issel in the paint and the sensational shooting guard Mike Casey on the perimeter. Even when there was pressure, it never bothered him.

In one of his first games as a varsity basketball player for Adolph Rupp (freshmen could not participate), the Wildcats hosted Dayton in the UKIT. The Flyers were Pratt’s hometown team and the runner-up in his recruitment. They also were the reigning National Runners-Up when they traveled to Memorial Coliseum just a few days before Christmas in 1967. The highest-scoring high school basketball player in the city of Dayton’s history lit up the Flyers in Lexington. The 6-foot-4 forward had 15 points and 15 rebounds in an 88-85 win for the Wildcats.

Two weeks later Rupp’s fifth-ranked squad traveled to Nashville for a top five matchup with No. 4 Vanderbilt. Once again, he shined in the spotlight, scoring 20 points and grabbings 10 boards in a 94-78 Kentucky win.

The Wildcats hit a few bumps in the road in SEC play, most notably an 87-59 loss to Ray Mears’ Volunteers in Knoxville. When Tennessee made the return trip to Lexington, Kentucky returned the favor in a top ten matchup. No. 8 Kentucky held on for a 60-59 win over #5 Tennessee. Mike Pratt had 14 points, 8 rebounds and never lost to Tennessee again, finishing his career with a 5-1 record against the Vols.

Junior Season (1968-69)

While we’re talking about wins over Tennessee, it’s worth mentioning one more. Pratt had 17 points and 5 rebounds in a 69-66 win in Knoxville. With the win Kentucky became the first college basketball program to win 1,000 games. The game of college basketball looked a little different 1,000 wins later.

Rupp’s squads frequently faced Hall of Famers throughout Mike Pratt’s time at Kentucky. Rudy Tomjanovich and Michigan were regulars, especially in the UKIT. While Issel stole the show with big numbers, Pratt also got in on the action. He had 20 points and 10 boards in a win over the Wolverines.

Later on that year the Wildcats traveled to Baton Rouge to silence Pistol Pete Maravich. That mission was not accomplished, Maravich had 52 points, but Pratt did tally 21 and 10 in Kentucky’s 108-96 win. He posted a similar stat line, 19 and 10, when the Tigers made the return trip to Lexington. As was common during his college basketball tenure, Pistol Pete always scored on Kentucky, but never beat the Wildcats.

Senior Season (1969-70)

After back-to-back SEC Championship resulted in zero Final Four berths, Kentucky was poised to make a run at the title with Rupp’s dominant triumvirate. Those plans were put on ice when Mike Casey broke his leg in an auto accident ahead of the 1969-70 season. Sidelined for the entire year, the pressure fell on the shoulders of Issel and Pratt.

The terrific tandem was tested early in the year with a road trip to Charlotte in the third game of the season. Kentucky had lost to Dean Smith’s North Carolina Tar Heels in back-to-back years, including a matchup of No. 2 vs. No. 3. Out for revenge in a top ten matchup, Issel had 41 points while Pratt tallied 27 points and 10 rebounds in the 94-87 win.

The victory over North Carolina was sandwiched in-between a 17-point win over Indiana (21 points for Pratt) and a 30-point victory over Kansas (18 & 14). Pratt also collected 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 22-point win over Duke in the UKIT final.

The run over blue bloods propelled Kentucky to a No. 1 ranking entering the annual meeting with Notre Dame at Louisville’s Freedom Hall. The Fighting Irish featured another one of college basketball’s most prolific scorers of the time, Austin Carr. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Washington D.C. averaged 34.5 points in his career and became just the second player to ever score 1,000 points in a season. Carr still holds the record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game, with 61 vs. Ohio.

Carr did not reach that peak against the Cats at Freedom Hall, but he came awfully close. The Notre Dame guard had 43 points in a scoring duel with the Wildcats, but this time it wasn’t against Issel. Mike Pratt made 16-of-26 shots to tally 42 points in a 102-100 win for No. 1 Kentucky over the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish.

The two teams would meet again, this time in the Sweet 16 in Columbus. Carr upped the ante, scoring 52 points for the Fighting Irish in a 10-point loss to the Cats. Beaten only once the entire 1969-70 campaign, the Wildcats were rolling, destined to duel with John Wooden’s UCLA in the National Championship. Artis Gilmore got in the way. The 7-foot-2 center had 24 points and 20 rebounds to shock Kentucky 106-100 and end the Wildcats’ season in the Mideast Regional Final.

Mike Pratt Career Accolades

• Three-year starter as a varsity letterman (freshman could not play varsity basketball)
• 71-12 overall record
• 28-6 in SEC play
• Three-time SEC Champion
• Two-time First Team All-SEC
• Converse Second Team All-American
• UK Athletics Hall of Fame (2009)

Mike Pratt finished his career ranked in the Top 10 in points (1,359, 16.7 per game), rebounds (718, 8.9 per game) and assists (281, 3.5 per game). Fifty years later he’s still in the top 30 in each of those statistical categories.

On any given night the undersized forward could go for 20 points and 10 rebounds, yet he rarely received the limelight or the headlines for his production because he was sharing the floor with a guy who regularly put 30 or 40 points on the stat sheet. This weekend Mike Pratt is finally receiving the recognition he deserves as one of the greatest to ever wear a Kentucky basketball uniform.