Kentucky Basketball: Rick Pitino Calls 1996 Team Best Ever
Does Kentucky basketball have the best point guard in college basketball history? Rick Pitino believes the 1996 squad takes the cake.
Kentucky basketball has a long and glorious history. From legendary coaches to iconic college and NBA players, the program has housed and produced a laundry list of gifted individuals.
One of those all-time greats is former Kentucky Wildcats head coach and current Louisville Cardinals leader Rick Pitino.
Pitino left the New York Knicks in 1989 for an opportunity to coach at Kentucky. He led the Wildcats from 1989 to 1997, carving out a legacy as one of the game’s all-time great coaches.
During a recent interview with 840 WHAS, Pitino made it clear that his prized 1996 team was the greatest of all-time.
AUDIO: Rick Pitino on '96 UK nat'l champs, fan appreciation, bringing #BBN back from the brink https://t.co/a440hh0QgA
— Terry Meiners ™️ (@terrymeiners) August 22, 2016
There’s certainly reason to believe that Pitino’s claim is accurate.
The 1996 Wildcats finished the season at 34-2, including an undefeated record of 16-0 against the SEC. Kentucky ultimately won the NCAA championship, defeating Syracuse 76-67 in the National Championship game.
In the previous round, Pitino led Kentucky to a redemption win over John Calipari—yes, that John Calipari—and the Massachusetts Minutemen.
That 1996 team was led by all-time Kentucky great Tony Delk, who averaged a team-high 17.8 points per game. The team also featured the likes of Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Ron Mercer, Mark Pope, Anthony Epps, and Wayne Turner.
The team was so deep that Nazr Mohammed, who has enjoyed an 18-year NBA career, could barely find the court.
Kentucky applied overwhelming defensive pressure in 1996, which makes its offensive exploits all the more impressive. It averaged 91.4 points per game and allowed just 69.4 points per game.
If nothing else can convince you of how brilliant the Wildcats were, then simply point to the average margin of victory: 22.0 points per game.
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There aren’t many ways to subjectively prove which team is the greatest in history, but the 1996 Kentucky basketball team has a powerful stake to that claim.