The 1965–66 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 in NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 competition

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 in the 1965–66 season. Coached by Adolph Rupp

Adolph Rupp

Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...

, the team had no player taller than 6'5"/1.96 m—unusually small even for that era—and became known as "Rupp's Runts". The Wildcats, then as now, were a member of the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

, and played their home games at Memorial Coliseum, which would remain their home until Rupp Arena

Rupp Arena

Rupp Arena is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Lexington Center, a convention and shopping facility owned by an arm of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and serves as home court to the University of...

 opened in 1976.

Led on the floor by future Hall of Fame

Basketball Hall of Fame

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...

 coach Pat Riley

Pat Riley

Patrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...

 and Louie Dampier

Louie Dampier

Louis "Louie" Dampier is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association , all with the Kentucky Colonels...

, the Cats reached the top ranking in all major polls entering that season's NCAA tournament

1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1966, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland...

; their only regular-season loss was at Tennessee

Tennessee Volunteers basketball

The Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA men's basketball competition. The Volunteers currently compete in the Southeastern Conference...

. They ultimately lost in the final of the tournament to a Texas Western

UTEP Miners men's basketball

The UTEP Miners basketball team is an NCAA Division I men's college basketball team competing in the Conference USA. Home games are played at Don Haskins Center, located on University of Texas at El Paso's campus in El Paso.-Don Haskins Center:...

 (now UTEP) team

1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team

The 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western University, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso and was coached by Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins. The team made history by winning the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1966, becoming the...

 that would later be inducted in its entirety to the Hall of Fame. The game is mostly remembered today for its sociological subtext—the Miners were the first major-college team to start five black

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 players (having done so for virtually all of the 1965–66 season), while the Wildcats were all-white

White American

White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...

 (and would remain so until 1970).

NCAA basketball tournament

• Mideast
  • Kentucky 86, Dayton 79
  • Kentucky 84, Michigan 77
• Final Four
  • Kentucky 83, Duke 79
  • Texas Western 72, Kentucky 65

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
3	24	Tommy Kron Tommy Kron Thomas M. "Tommy" Kron was an American former professional basketball player. A 6-5 guard, Kron, nicknamed "Tommy," played his rookie season with the St...	St. Louis Hawks