Adolph Frederick Rupp was born on September 2, 1901 in Halstead Kansas. Little did he know that someday, he would be the coach of the greatest teams in college basketball, the Kentucky Wildcats. He first became interested in the sport of basketball when he was six, when Halstead High School won two Kansas state high school titles. Later, after growing to 6-foot-2, Rupp was a star on his Halstead High School team, averaging over 19 points a game in both his junior and senior years. He went to school at Kansas and actually played on the Jayhawk’s team as a reserve from 1919-1923.
Later, he became the coach of the Kentucky Wildcats from 1930 to 1972. He actually recruited more than 80% of his players from the state of Kentucky. He amassed 876 wins (3rd best of all-time) and 190 losses, and a 82.2% winning percentage (2nd of all-time). He won four NCAA titles at UK (1948, ’49, ’51, ’58), one NIT Title, appeared in 20 NCAA tournaments, six Final Four appearances, and won 27 SEC regular season titles.
Rupp was later forced into retirement in March 1972 after reaching the age of 70, which at the time was the age of retirement for all UK employees.
He later died in Lexington Ky, on December 10, 1977 (age 76).
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