xt7ffb4whs6c https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ffb4whs6c/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky 1985 Rupp Arena, Lexington (Ky.) athletic publications  English University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. University of Kentucky Basketball Programs (Men) UKAW programs University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1984-1985) coaches Hall, Joe B. Rupp, Adolph players rosters schedules statistics Rupp Arena NCAA Men's Final Four (March 30-April 1, 1985) 1985 NCAA Championship, March 30-April 1, 1985 text 1985 NCAA Championship, March 30-April 1, 1985 1985 2012 true xt7ffb4whs6c section xt7ffb4whs6c  Today, NBC SPORTS still
brings home all the
enthusiasm and excitement
of college basketball. J
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eold irden The long and the short of it.
Long before the NCAA booked its '85 Final Four Basketball extravaganza at our 23,500 seat Rupp Arena, meeting planners and vacationers began to realize that Lexington can-and does-handily fill some mighty tall, and fairly small orders for meetings, conventions, and great getaways year 'round.
Today Lexington extends a warm welcome to the thousands of fans attending the NCAA finals-and an invitation to come and enjoy our |^ championship city even after the "hoopla."
Here in the Kentucky sunshine where basketball and the sport of kings are highly prized traditions we proudly share with thousands of vacationers and meeting planners, you'll also discover 5000 first class rooms and 80,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space in a friendly, bustling city that's readily accessible. (We're within a day's drive of 64% of America's population and serviced by major air carriers.)
Lexington, Kentucky-from the fast break to the finish line, a championship city!
-GREATER -
LEXINGTON
-CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU -
Send me more information on Lexington, Ky., and your Bluegrass legends.
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Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau 430 W. Vine, Suite 363
Lexington, KY 40507        or call: 606-233-1221 Something special in the air.
No matter what your favorite sporting event, the best way to follow the bouncing ball is on American Airlines. American offers winning schedules, plus special services like pre-reserved seating and no-stop check-in01.
For reservations, call American or your Travel Agent. .American Airlines.
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CHAMPIONSHIP
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g NCAA Championship Coaches Captured That Magic Moment by Earl Cox
Only a select number of coaches have been able to capture the coveted NCAA national championship. We'll look at some of these winners and how the championship changed their lives.
12 Adolph Rupp:
The Baron's Dream Comes True by Dave Kindred
The Baron built his basketball dynasty right here in Lexington and his memory still lives today. This Final Four weekend is a tribute to his accomplishments.
J g Final Fours Have
Rich Kentucky History
by Peter King
The state of Kentucky has been blessed with several chances to host the Final Four. We take a look at those past tournaments and the memories they left behind.
Shown in the cover illustration by Ted Watts of Oswego. Kansas are NCAA Tournament Championship Coaches of the recent past: 1) John Thompson, Georgetown (1984): 2) Bob Knight, Indiana (1976. 81); 3) Denny Crum. Louisville (1980); 4) Dean Smith, North Carolina (1982); 5) Joe B. Hall. Kentucky (1978); 6) Jud Heathcote, Michigan State (1979); 7) Al McGuire, Marquette (1977); 8) John Wooden, UCLA (1964, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70. 71, 72. 73. 75); 9) Adolph Rupp. Kentucky (1948-49-51-58); 10) Jim Valvano. North Carolina State (1983).
And There's More . . .
The NCAA...................4
Division I Basketball Committee ... 7
NCAA-CBS TV Network........10
NCAA-CBS Radio Network......20
Georgetown's Run To The Title . . .29 Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio:
Hotbed of College Hoops.....36
The Final Four Stats Crew......42
NCAA Honor Roll.............45
The Final Four Teams..........49
Final Four Preview............54
NCAA Trivia Quiz............56
'85 Tournament Bracket........64
Rosters.................72, 76
Scorecards..................74
All-Tournament Teams.........86
'85 Women's Championship
Bracket ..................96
Vic Bubas: The Man Who Runs
The Party................100
Next Stop: Dallas In '86.......102
The Influence of Bluegrass
Basketball ...............106
Choosing The Final Four
Locale ..................114
NCAA Flashbacks...........118
Memorable Events...........122
Joe Forte: Life With A Whistle .127 Tournament Records.........132
The 47th Official NCAA Division I Basketball Championship program is published by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. P.O. Box 1906. Mission. Kansas 66201. This publication is a product of Host Communications, Inc.. 120 Kentucky Ave.. Lexington. Kentucky 40502. Publishers: David E. Cawood, NCAA Assistant Executive Director and W. James Host, President, Host Communications. Inc. Extra copies of this magazine may be ordered from Host Communications, Inc. Send $6.00 to: P.O. Box 1985A. Lexington. KY 40594. Advertising information may be obtained by contacting Dan Leal. Sales Manager. Host Communications. Inc.. Sports Division.
NCAA

Editors
Alfred B. White, NCAA Assistant Director of Communications; Dwight Johnson, Director of Sports Services, Host Communications. Inc.. Lexington. KY Printing
Gateway Press, Louisville, Kentucky Art Credit
Ted Watts. Oswego, Kansas The National Collegiate Athletic AssociationThe Common Ground for College Athletics
by DAVID HOUSEL Auburn University NCAA Public Relations and Promotion Committee
Nearly 1.000 colleges and universities across the United States combine to form the NCAA.
Working together, these institutions of higher learning provide America's young athletes with an opportunity to "be as good as they can be." in the classroom and in the athletic arena.
The NCAA is perhaps best known for its series of national championships and its enforcement program, but these are only two of the areas that concern the membership of the "Voice of College Athletics."
Today's college athlete is a student first and an athlete second. Working together through their common association of NCAA membership, our nation's colleges and universities work to insure the academic integrity of all its programs.
As with any organization made up of member institutions, the requirements in any given area are continually changing in response to the membership and its concerns, but the goals are the same - a sound mind, a sound body, a spirit that is unafraid and clean competition that develop these qualities.
Just as integrity is a key in the academic program, it is a key in competition between member institutions. The NCAA, composed of member institutions, is charged with enforcing the rules and regulations the member institutions impose on themselves.
Member institutions seek to create an atmosphere in which all institutions have an equal chance to recruit America's outstanding student-athletes. It is then up to the member institutions to help the individual student-athletes "be as good as they can be," both in the classroom and in the arena of competition.
The NCAA administers 75 championships in three divisions in 21 sports
for its member institutions. More than 15.000 men and women student-athletes annually compete in these events for national titles.
The National Collegiate Championships series began with a tennis tournament in 1883 and has been conducted under NCAA auspices since 1921. when the National Collegiate Track and Field Championships were initiated. National College Division Championships were held from 1957 to 1973. with 10 sports included.
Reorganization of the NCAA membership structure in 1973 led to the establishment of division championships in each of the Association's three new membership classifications. A football championship for the Division 1-AA subdivision was added in 1978, and women's championships became a part of the NCAA program in 1981-82.
There currently are nine National Collegiate Championships for which all divisions are eligible  three for men, four for women and two men's and women's events. There are 24 National Collegiate Division I Championships (14 men, 10 women). 20 National Collegiate Division II Championships (11 men, nine women) and 22 National Collegiate Division III Championships (13 men, nine women). The most recent additions are men's indoor track and women's indoor track in Division II. plus men's ice hockey, men's indoor track and women's indoor track in Division III.
Championships for men are offered in one or more divisions in baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, football (except in Division I-A), golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track, outdoor track, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. Walter Byers Jack Davis Dr. Wilford Bailey
NCAA Executive Director Oregon State University Auburn University
NCAA President NCAA Secretary-Treasurer
Women's championships are sponsored in basketball, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, Softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track, outdoor track, and volleyball.
The NCAA sponsors combined men's and women's national championships in rifle and skiing.
Among the Association's myriad services is the Theodore Roosevelt Award and the College Athletics Top Ten which compose the NCAA's annual honors program. These honors recognize outstanding accomplishments by current and former student-athletes.
The "Teddy" is the highest honor the NCAA confers. It is presented each year to a distinguished citizen of national reputation and outstanding accomplishment who was a varsity letter-winner in college. The recipient, through personal example and by a continuing interest and concern for physical fitness, must have exemplified the ideals and purposes of college athletics and amateur sports.
The College Athletics Top Ten Awards consist of the Today's Top Five, honoring five outstanding senior student-athletes, and the Silver Anniversary Top Five, recognizing five distinguished former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of their graduation.
The Teddy Award and the College Athletics Top Ten Awards are presented annually at the honors luncheon during the annual Convention.
The "Common Goal"  the basis for which the NCAA is in existence, will continue to bind together the nation's finest institutions of higher education and whether it is on the field or in the classroom, the NCAA will forever be the "Voice of College Athletics. . . . Serving Higher Education." THE MAZDA EXPERIENCE
It begins when you compare Mazda cars and trucks to those of the competition.
We think you'll discover that when it comes to performance, quality and value for the money no one beats Mazda.
But while comparisons are enlightening, it is only after a thorough test-drive that the Mazda experience can be fully appreciated.
Experience the Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE. With a 6-port, fuel-injected 135 hp race-bred rotary engine, Pirelli P6 radi-als, and ventilated 4-wheel disc brakes, it's the fastest, most sophisticated RX-7 of them all.
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Experience the Mazda GLC. A front-wheel-drive economy car that doesn't economize on performance.
Experience the Mazda B2000 SE-5. When you learn all of its standard features, you'll be amazed that our all-new sporty truck is priced close to Toyota's and Nissan's base trucks.
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Ma/da B2000 St NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee
Future Championship Dates and Sites
The National Collegiate Men's Basketball Championship is administered and supervised by the nine-person NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. This committee is nominated by the NCAA Committee on Committees and elected by the NCAA membership at the Association's annual Convention.
Current Chair of the committee is Vic Bubas, Commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference. Bubas became a member of the committee in 1979 and is in his first year as chair of the committee.
The newest member of the committee is Fred Schaus, director of athletics, West Virginia University.
Other members are Arnie Ferrin. director
of athletics at the University of Utah: Frank Windegger. director of athletics at Texas Christian University: Cedric W. Dempsey, director of athletics at the University of Arizona: Dave Hart, director of athletics at the University of Missouri, Columbia; Dick Schultz, director of athletics at the University of Virginia; Gene Corrigan, director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame and Dick Shrider. director of athletics at the University of Miami (Ohio). Each committee member is elected for a three-year term and may be re-elected for a second term.
Administrative assistance is provided by Tom Jernstedt, NCAA assistant executive director. Media arrangements are coordinated by Dave Cawood. NCAA assistant executive director.
First and Second Rounds March 13-16, 1986
Greensboro Coliseum East.......Greensboro. North Carolina
Carrier Dome Syracuse. New York
LSU Assembly Center Southeast . . . Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte. North Carolina
Dayton Arena Midwest . . . .Dayton, Ohio
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dee Events Center West ......Ogden. Utah
McKale Center Tucson. Arizona
Fred Schaus West Virginia
Vic Bubas Sun Belt Conf.
Cedric Dempsey Arizona
Gene Corrigan Notre Dame
Arnie Ferrin Utah
Dick Schultz Virginia
Dave Hart Missouri
Richard Shrider Miami (Ohio)
Frank Windegger      Tom Jernstedt Texas Christian NCAA
Dave Cawood NCAA
East
Southeast
Midwest
Regionals March 20-23, 1986
Meadowlands Arena . East Rutherford, New Jersey
The Omni . Atlanta. Georgia
West
Kemper Arena .Kansas City. Missouri
The Summit . Houston. Texas
Finals
Reunion Arena
1986 ......Dallas, Texas
(March 29 & 31)
Louisiana Superdome
1987 ......New Orleans. Louisiana
(March 28 & 30)
Kemper Arena
1988 ......Kansas City. Missouri
(April 2 & 4)
The Kingdome
1989 ......Seattle. Washington
(April 1 & 3)
McNichols Arena
1990 ......Denver, Colorado
(March 31 & April 2)
7 Jim Valvano (below) and John Thomp son (below  right)  have expert enced the "Ultimate"  an NCAA Championship.
Few moments in sports are more exhilarating for the winning coach and team  and at the same time disheartening for the losers  than that magic moment in the national championship game when it is apparent as the clock ticks down that the outcome is decided.
And it has been interesting to watch in recent years how victorious coaches have reacted when they realized that their team would wear the most coveted crown in intercollegiate basketball.
Sometimes it happens laser fast: Who, except Houston fans, could not share the happiness of North Carolina State's Jim Valvano at Albuquerque in 1983? Valvano set the standard for uncontrolled elation with his delightful dashes to here-there-everywhere after Lorenzo Charles' rebound shot gave the Wolfpack a pulsating 54-52 upset victory over Guy Lewis' Cougars.
How many Valvano watchers remember his game stances? When his team has the ball, he takes a four-point, frog-like stance. He changes for defense to a two-point squat.
The late Adolph Rupp held the pre-Valvano record when he uncharacteristically danced a jig with all-America center Alex Groza when he won one of four national championships at Kentucky.
 Kentucky's Adolph Rupp danced a 'jig' with Alex Groza and Dale Barnstable when he won his second straight NCAA title In 1949.
Rupp, of course, is the man who gave his name to Rupp Arena, the 23,000-seat site of this year's Final Four. He coached 41 years at the University of Kentucky, host for the Final Four. One of his greatest players. Cliff Hagan. is director of athletics at Kentucky and is tournament manager. Another of Rupp's players, Scotty Baesler. is mayor of the merged government of Fayette County and Lexington, the host city.
Fittingly. Rupp was one of the founders of the national championship tournament. He and several other members of the Coaches Association started the national championship in 1939 at Northwestern in Evanston,
Rupp enjoyed telling how the sponsorship of the national tournament passed from the coaches to the NCAA.
"I'll tell you how smart we coaches were." he used to say, "we gave the damned thing away to the NCAA  just gave it away for nothing."
Rupp was the spokesman for the Lexington delegation that bid for the 1982 tournament that was awarded to New Orleans. He died before "his" arena landed this year's Final Four, but it isn't hard to imagine him holding court in his family's front-row seats midway between the visitors and home benches at Rupp Arena.
Before John Wooden smashed Rupp's
record to smithereens, the Kentucky coach was the first to win four national championships. Rupp won two in a row in 1948 and 1949 and then won again in 1951 and 1958. UCLA's Wooden captured an astonishing seven in a row from 1967-1973. His 1964 and 1965 teams also won and he retired after winning his 10th title in 1975.
No other coaches except Wooden and Rupp have won more than twice, and the only others to win two consecutive championships were Oklahoma State's Henry "Hank" Iba, San Francisco's Phil Woolpert and Cincinnati's Ed Jucker. Two Indiana coaches. Branch McCracken in 1940 and 1953 and Bob Knight in 1976 and 1981. are the only other multiple winners.
There are other memories in recent championship games:
One remembers Al McGuire crying unashamedly on the bench in Atlanta while the game was still going on as his Marquette Warriors put the finishing touches on their 67-59 national championship victory over North Carolina in 1977. That culminated McGuire's long playing and coaching career that started on the playgrounds of New York City and catapulted him into his present television career.
Dean Smith of North Carolina knows how both sides feel. After his North Carolina team lost to Marquette, the Tar Heels battled to the championship game again in 1981 only to lose to Knight and Indiana 63-50 at Philadelphia's Spectrum. But Smith and the Tar Heels hit the jackpot the next season, edging John Thompson and Georgetown 63-62 in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
Last year, of course, was Thompson's turn. Who can ever forget the big man with the white towel draped across a massive shoulder hugging each of the Hoyas as they came off the floor following their 84-75 victory over Houston? The massive Thompson even picked up Patrick Ewing in jubilation  and Patrick Ewing is a load in any man's league.
And the winning coach with the biggest smile had to be Michigan State's Jud Heath-cote, but his smile didn't compare with that of his star, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, after he and the rest of the Spartans had outdueled Larry Bird's Indiana State team 75-64 at Salt Lake City in 1979.
(continued on page 125)
9 CBS Sports
The Network of the NCAA Basketball Championship
By SUSAN KERR   CBS Sports
When CBS Sports was first awarded the right to broadcast the NCAA Basketball Championship in March 1981, a unique and ambitious television production plan was prepared to be put into action the following March. The plan included three key elements. First was the creation of the now familiar Selection Show, a live, pre-touma-ment presentation of the seedings and pairings of all invited teams. In addition, a special studio setting and permanent host were designated to give importance to the comprehensive coverage of all games, highlights, score updates and breaking sports news. Lastly, increased coverage of early round action was introduced to encourage viewer involvement not just in the "Final Four," but for complete tournament coverage  from even before opening night until the final buzzer sounded at the Championship game.
The plan was designed to further augment the tremendous growth of this event into one of America's greatest sporting attractions. According to Kevin O'Malley, Executive Producer of College Sports for CBS. "The NCAA Basketball Championship has been a major sporting event for many years. What we have tried to accomplish with our broad-based coverage is to parallel the explosion of national interest and enthusiasm that this sport and this Championship have experienced. Our coverage, like the stature of the event with millions of fans around the country, has grown each year."
Brent Musburger and Billy Packer
Peter Lund Kevin O'Malley
The 1984 contract renewal for broadcast of the NCAA Championship is the first year in a new. multi-year contract that will take CBS Sports down the exclusive "Road to the Final Four." Again CBS will continue the tradition of satisfying as many college basketball fans as possible, as often as possible. The "Road to Lexington" includes 19 game exposures, more than ever before seen on any network. For the first time. CBS Sports broadcast two, live semi-final regional games giving viewers the opportunity to watch more complete competition on each day of the tournament. Consistent with our first three years of coverage, the story began with live coverage of the Selection Show. Once again this year, the drama unfolded in Kansas City where the 64 teams invited to compete were revealed. CBS Sports detailed the full picture of the record number of teams  a real challenge for the broadcast team producing the show.
For the past three years, CBS Sports' Brent Musburger has been the oracle of the sport, serving as studio host and providing fans with all the latest information during the NCAA Championship. "I have never seen anything like the growth this tournament has undergone in the last three years. Probably no sports event has attracted such enormous national following in such a short time. I am happy to say that our coverage has been involved with that expansion. There is a special ritual that spells every basketball fan come tournament time  as if we know winter is over and spring has arrived as soon as the Championship begins in March."
This year, CBS Sports is proud to have Brent Musburger even more intimately involved in NCAA Basketball. He will team up with CBS Sports expert analyst Billy Packer
10
to do play-by-play throughout the Championships, in what many consider as impressive a duo that has ever been paired in the television booth.
The novel notion held when CBS Sports was establishing a game plan paid off in an Emmy Award  basketball's first  and the huge reward of several top-rated broadcasts. Those include two in the past two years, the most watched NCAA Basketball Championship game when North Carolina State defeated Houston on April 4, 1983 and a record 18,580,000 homes tuned in  as well as the highest rated NCAA Championship semifinal game which received a 17.8 rating when Houston played Louisville just two days before. The milestones reached after continuous and increased coverage of the tournament enable all those involved in the planning stages to be proud of having conceived of and implemented an ambitious plan that really worked. And we'll do it again, bringing innovative and exciting coverage of the NCAA Championships to all the many millions of fans of the best in college sports.
Rick Sharp
The National Collegiate Division I Men's Basketball Committee and the NCAA were deeply saddened by the recent death of Rick Sharp, who was the lead college basketball producer for CBS Sports from 1982 to 1985.
Mr. Sharp's professional talents were best recognized when he was awarded the prestigious Emmy Award for his production of the 1982 championship game In New Orleans. He personally was considered a special friend to all who knew him. Alliance L
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Buy or lease. From American Motors j Safety Bells Save Lives. JLJt^Jj  v/JEll JCi JL\f Wj*^JL^^X*%# Adolph Rupp
The Baron's Dream Comes True
Adolph Hupp is honored this weekend with the NCAA Final Four corning to Lexington and Rupp Arena.
12
By DAVE KINDRED Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The man who made basketball a big deal in Kentucky was Adolph Frederick Rupp. His teams at the University of Kentucky won a zillion games. He took the job in 1930 on the advice of a gas station attendant and stayed on until 1972, when at age 70 he was required to retire although he said he'd as soon die on the bench, stomping his diabetic's aching foot in protest of a referee's incompetence. At 69 he said, "Retire? Why. what would 1 do? Time would hang heavy on my hands. It's the competitiveness I like  taking a bunch of boys and seeing what I can do with them. These young squirts come in as coaches at other places, and they say they're going to put an end to Rupp and Kentucky. Well, we'll see about that."
Of all the grand charms and fascinating quirks that marked Rupp unforgettable, few stood above his love of the battle. One that stood eye to eye, however, was his pioneer's pride. Once when a man asked him to speak at a luncheon in Tuscaloosa, Rupp first declined.
"But. Coach, they're going to give you a trophy as 'The Father of Southeastern Conference Basketball,' " the man said. Rupp said, "What time did you say lunch was?"
Young squirts popped up everywhere. New basketball arenas rose next to ancient football stadiums. Once upon a time, Kentucky stood alone in the South. But after Rupp, after he showed everyone how to win, the South became a legitimate force in college basketball. "What Adolph did," said CM. Newton, the Vanderbilt coach who once coached at Transylvania College down the street from Rupp's Kentucky, "is force people to get better or get gone."
Notre Dame's new young squirt of the 1960s, a feisty fellow named Johnny Dee, once belittled Rupp's zillion victories because the old curmudgeon who had won a lot in the Southeastern Conference, "would be like me taking six Canadians and starting a hockey league in Texas," Dee said. Rupp took the testimony under advisement for a second's thought before saying, "You tell that feller he can talk like that when he starts beating me at this game. Not before."
Dee once argued with referees that he wouldn't play Kentucky unless they changed to a different basketball. "I'm not playing with any ball that says, Adolph Rupp Autographed Basketball.' "
Rupp blinked. "In Kentucky," the great man said, "they all say that."
Most every basketball bouncing in the South of the 1980's is there because Adolph Rupp made the game important a long time ago. Rupp was 29, a high school coach in Freeport. Illinois, when he made a train ride to Lexington in 1930 to be interviewed for the vacant Kentucky job. He was asked why he should be hired, and he said. "Because I'm the best damned basketball coach in the nation."
Rupp's teams from the beginning were models of simplicity and fire. They took hold of the ball and ran. That's not much of an analysis of a system whose artful practitioners gained national fame, but basketball is a simple game. Because Rupp won, he attracted good players; because he had good players, he won. It was years before any school in the South even tried to compete with Kentucky  and then it was largely futile. Rupp's teams won 83 percent of their Southeastern Conference games over 38 seasons.
As late as 1970, when the old man was sick and tired at age 69, his team took a 26-1 record into the Mideast Regional championship game. It had been a difficult season, full of injuries, player suspensions, even Rupp's serious illness with the infected foot. Someone asked how the team had done so well in adversity.
"I think what held this team together was a superhuman effort on my part," Rupp said. "Despite my illness, which looked like it might end my career if not end my health, I was able to pull the boys together. That did it  that, and the boys' extreme loyalty to me."
As vain as that sounded, it was correct. Even at 69, the old man could win games. The best damned basketball coach in the nation. In 1975. his aching foot propped up on a footstool, Rupp remembered the beginning.
He remembered the Kentucky he first saw in 1930 when he came down from Freeport, Illinois, as one of 70 applicants for the Kentucky job.
"Bear in mind that where Memorial Coliseum now stands, there were 55 little Negro one- and two-room shacks. Bear in mind that I got a cab from the Southern Depot to Alumni Gym, and we went through an awful part of town.
"They took me to eat at the university cafeteria and out the third-floor window I could see all those little Negro shacks. I wasn't used to anything like that.
"Then I had four hours to kill. I took a cab to the YMCA. In Freeport I lived at the YMCA, and I had a fine, nice room in a modern, brand-new YMCA. Well. I had a room at the Lexington YMCA that wasn't fit for a cat.
"I said. 'Good gawd almighty, what kind of place is this Kentucky?"
Back home in Freeport, Rupp decided to take the Kentucky job against the advice of his high school principal who correctly pointed out that Freeport High's gymnasium was better than Kentucky's and that Rupp's high school salary of $2,800 matched Kentucky's offer. Rupp made up his mind, he said, during a walk in downtown Freeport.
"I came to the Conoco gas station. Red Greb, the owner,
was up on a ladder adjusting a sign. He was a basketball fan. and he asked what I was doing downtown. I told him I couldn't decide what to do about Kentucky. He said, 'Adolph, you'll be a damn fool if you don't go. You can always go to a better job from Kentucky. It's rare for a high school coach to get a university job.' So I did it."
And forevermore the South was changed. The Kentucky job was open in the first place because football was preeminent. Johnny Mauer, a coach once called "the Moses of Southern basketball" because he made Kentucky the first champions of the South, had quit in a huff when the school gave a mediocre football coach a raise bigger than his. Before Rupp was done nearly 40 years later, they would build a basketball palace with 23.000 seats and name it Rupp Arena.
Gone would be the basketball barns of Auburn and Georgia. Gone would be Florida's bandbox. LSU would raise up a pleasure dome stately, and Rupp would look at Alabama's new playhouse and say, "This is the best basketball gym in the world." Where for three decades Kentucky would be the Southeastern Conference champion almost by acclamation rather than deed, the league became six- and seven-deep with wonderful teams created in the image first made real by Adolph Frederick Rupp.
That day in 1975, Rupp said he had had one misgiving on his arrival in Lexington. "The thing that bothered me was how much smarter these other college coaches would be than me just coming out of high school."
Were they smarter?
"Not smarter. But they had this experience. 1 just wondered if the style of play I brought  the fast break  could cope with theirs." Rupp smiled then. "It worked out nicely."
Like Mauer, Rupp also was an assistant football coach at Kentucky  handling the ends and freshmen. "After four or five years. I quit fooling around with football." he said. "And that's when we started dominating basketball in t