Top 50 Kentucky Wildcats Prior to John Calipari Era

Apr 7, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Kentucky Wildcats mascot dances as he leads the team to the court for the championship game of the Final Four in the 2014 NCAA Mens Division I Championship tournament against the Connecticut Huskies at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

8. Frank Ramsey

Another Kentucky-produced basketball player from Madisonville, Kentucky.

Ramsey had a nine-year (1954-64) NBA career, where he played solely with the Boston Celtics and played a vital part in them winning seven championships, building their program into what it is today.

In addition to his successful career with the Boston Celtics,  Ramsey was also a head coach for the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA during the 1970–1971 season.

Ramsey played under Adolph Rupp during his time as a Wildcat.

"As a sophomore in 1951, helped the Wildcats win the NCAA Championship with a 68-58 victory over Kansas State. Ramsey and three other Kentucky Wildcats were drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 1953 NBA Draft.—Ramsey in the first round, Hagan in the third, and Tsioropoulos in the seventh. All three returned to Kentucky for one more season despite graduating. After finishing the regular season (one in which Ramsey averaged 19.6 points per game) with a perfect 25-0 record and a #1 ranking in the Associated Press, Kentucky had been offered a bid into the NCAA Tournament. However, then-existing NCAA rules prohibited graduate students from participating in post-season play; the Wildcats declined the bid because their participation would have forced them to play without Ramsey, Hagan and Tsioropoulos, thus jeopardizing their perfect season. Upon completion of his college career, Ramsey scored 1344 points, which at the time ranked him fourth in the school’s history, and grabbed 1038 rebounds, a school record later surpassed by one of his future Kentucky Colonel players, Dan Issel."

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