Kentucky Greats: #23, John Pelphrey

John Pelphrey might be the most cherished Kentucky player of all-time, he stayed at UK through the roughest times in the history of the program in the early ’90’s when UK was put on probation after recruiting violations were found. Pelphrey and the other members of the team that stayed are still known today as “The Unforgettables”. Pelphrey was not a bad player either, ranking in the top 30 in UK history in many categories including scoring, steals, assists, free-throw attempts, free-throws made, three-pointers attempted & three-pointers made. He is the only player in school history with those statistics. Pelphrey also improved every year he played at UK, he improved in minutes played, field-goals made, assists & total points each season he played for the ‘Cats, something that many players at any school can say. Pelphrey also has his jersey retired because of his achievments and how beloved he was in his playing career. When the Wildcats hosted Arkansas, Pelphrey is the head coach of the Razorbacks, yesterday Pelphrey got a great standing ovation from the Big Blue faithful even though he coaches Kentucky’s rival. Some of Pelphrey’s accomplishments include:

•  Pelphrey ranks 30th in UK history with 1,257 points
•  He is 7th all-time with 173 career steals
•  He ranks 11th on the all-time assists list at UK with 327
•  Made the All-SEC 1st team as a sophmore
•  Made the All-SEC Tournament team as a junior
•  Had his #34 jersey retired

For any player these stats and accomplishments would make you a fan and crowd favorite but it means more to the Big Blue Faithful that it is John Pelphrey that did this. Pelphrey never gave up on a play and always played smart and to his full ability, not many players at any program can say they got absolute most out of their potential like Pelphrey did. For all of his accomplishments John Pelphrey was inducted into the Kentucky Wildcats Hall of Fame in 2005, a very big honor for UK athletes that contains many of the all-time greats that wore the Blue and White.