1948–49 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1948–49 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1949 SEC Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

1948–49 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1948–49 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA Tournament National Champions ; SEC regular season and tournament champions
Conference	Southeast Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 1
1948–49 record	32–2 (13-0 SEC)
Head coach	Adolph Rupp;
Assistant coach	Harry Lancaster
Home arena	Alumni Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1947–48 1949–50 →

The 1948–49 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky. The head coach was Adolph Rupp. The team was a member of the Southeast Conference and played their home games at Alumni Gymnasium.

Roster[]

1948–49 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Ralph Beard	—	—	Sr
	15	Alex Groza	—	—	Sr
	18	Dale Barnstable	—	—
F	19	Walter Hirsch	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Dayton, Ohio
	23	Cliff Barker	—	—	Sr
F	25	Jim Line	—	—	Jr	Akron, Ohio
F	27	Wallace Jones	—	—	Sr
	31	Joe Hall	—	—

Head coach

Adolph Rupp (Kansas)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

NCAA tournament[]

East
- Kentucky 85, Villanova 72
Final Four
- Kentucky 76, Illinois 47
Finals
- Kentucky 46, Oklahoma A&M 36

^[2]

Rankings[]

Awards and honors[]

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Round	Player	NBA Club
1	Alex Groza	New York Knicks
1	Wallace Jones	Washington Capitols
2	Ralph Beard	Chicago Bulls
5	Cliff Barker	Washington Capitols

^[3]

References[]

^ sports-reference.com 1948-49 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
^ "1949 NBA Draft on". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-04-30.

[1] sports-reference.com 1948-49 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[2] "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".

[3] "1949 NBA Draft on". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-04-30.

[1]

[2]

[3]

1948–49 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Kentucky	13	–	0	1.000	32	–	2	.941
No. 9 Tulane	12	–	3	.800	24	–	4	.857
Tennessee	8	–	3	.727	19	–	7	.731
Vanderbilt	9	–	5	.643	14	–	8	.636
LSU	7	–	6	.538	15	–	10	.600
Alabama	9	–	9	.500	13	–	12	.520
Georgia Tech	7	–	9	.438	11	–	13	.458
Georgia	6	–	9	.400	17	–	13	.567
Florida	4	–	8	.333	11	–	16	.407
Auburn	5	–	11	.313	9	–	15	.375
Ole Miss	4	–	12	.250	8	–	13	.381
Mississippi State	3	–	12	.200	4	–	13	.235

† 1949 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

v t Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre College (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Basketbowl Champions Classic Fabulous Five "The Shot" The Unforgettables 2011 Indiana game The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Recruiting history Statistical leaders
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1913–14 1920–21 1932–33 1933–34 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1957–58 1960–61 1965–66 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

1948–49 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball

NCAA Tournament National Champions SEC regular season and tournament champions
Conference	Southeast Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 1
1948–49 record	32–2 (13-0 SEC)
Head coach	Adolph Rupp
Assistant coach	Harry Lancaster
Home arena	Alumni Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1947–48 1949–50 →