1988–89 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1988–89 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1988–89 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	13–19 (8–10 SEC)
Head coach	Eddie Sutton (4th season);
Home arena	Rupp Arena

The 1988–89 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home game in Lexington, Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Eddie Sutton.

1988–89 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Florida	13	–	5	.722	21	–	13	.618
No. 20 Alabama †	12	–	6	.667	23	–	8	.742
Vanderbilt	12	–	6	.667	19	–	14	.576
LSU	11	–	7	.611	20	–	12	.625
Tennessee	11	–	7	.611	19	–	11	.633
Kentucky	8	–	10	.444	13	–	19	.406
Ole Miss	8	–	10	.444	15	–	15	.500
Mississippi State	7	–	11	.389	13	–	15	.464
Georgia	6	–	12	.333	15	–	16	.484
Auburn	2	–	16	.111	9	–	19	.321

† 1989 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll[1]

Scandal and Resignation

After the season, Head Coach Eddie Sutton’s tenure at Kentucky ended after a scandal and a losing record tarnished the school's basketball program.

Kentucky entered the season lacking significant talents in their lineup. Sophomore standout Eric Manuel was suspected of cheating on his college entrance exam and agreed to sit out until the investigation was finished. Potential star recruit Shawn Kemp transferred out of Kentucky after signing with the school earlier that year.

Another scandal broke when it was alleged that some employees from Emery Worldwide discovered $1,000 cash in an envelope sent by Kentucky Assistant head coach Dwane Casey to Chris Mills father. It was later shown that Casey was uninvolved in the incident.

Losing Season

The Wildcats were placed in the hands of inexperienced sophomore LeRon Ellis and freshman Chris Mills. The two underclassmen struggled to fill in the talent on the court, resulting in the Wildcats’ first full season losing record (13-19) since 1927.

References

sports-reference.com 1988-89 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

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[1] sports-reference.com 1988-89 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

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 (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Fabulous Five Fiddlin' Five Rupp's Runts The Season Without Celebration "The Shot" Unforgettables Untouchables Comeback Cats John Wall Dance Tweakables Pursuit of Perfection 2011 Indiana game Basketbowl Champions Classic CBS Sports Classic The Rivalry: Red v. Blue The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Big Blue Nation Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Statistical leaders
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 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 2022–23 2023–24
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics