NCAA Basketball: Mount Rushmores for the top 25 programs of all-time

Kentucky Basketball Mount Rushmore: Dan Issel, Adolph Rupp, John Calipari, Anthony Davis

Dan Issel

Dan Issel only played three seasons with the Kentucky Wildcats, but remains the school’s career leader in scoring and rebounding. His 25.8 points per game average is also a Kentucky record and is over three points higher than anyone else on the list.

Issel led the Wildcats to a 71-12 combined record in his three seasons, but failed to make a Final Four, losing in the Elite Eight twice. He then went on to have an illustrious professional career in both the ABA and NBA, recording a combined total of over 27,000 points.

Adolph Rupp

Adolph Rupp turned Kentucky into a national power during his 41 seasons in charge from 1930 to 1972, winning 28 conference regular season titles and four national championships. He was a groundbreaking coach on several levels, from him being the first coach to really use the fast break to making the 1-3-1 trapping zone defense popular.

Now the namesake of Kentucky’s home arena – Rupp Arena – he remains the school’s all-time winningest head coach with 876 career wins, a mark that currently ranks sixth in college basketball history.

John Calipari

John Calipari may end up passing Rupp in terms of career wins in five or six years, as he has 750 wins of his own, but only 305 of those have come during his time with the Wildcats. Still, Calipari’s 10 seasons in Lexington have been remarkably impressive.

Kentucky has won five SEC regular season titles during his tenure and have made the Elite Eight in seven of his 10 years, including four Final Fours and one NCAA title. Having just signed a lifetime contract with the Wildcats, Coach Cal’s Kentucky resume is only going to improve.

Anthony Davis

The marquee player of the one-and-done era that has come to exemplify Calipari’s time at Kentucky, Anthony Davis had one of the most dominant seasons in school history while leading the Wildcats to the 2012 National Championship.

Davis averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game, becoming the second freshman ever to be the consensus National Player of the Year (Kevin Durant, 2006). His 186 blocks are the most in the single season in school history and ranks fourth in college basketball history.