Adolph Frederick Rupp
(September 2, 1901–December 10, 1977) was one of the most
successful coaches in the history of American
college basketball. Rupp ranks
third (behind
Bob Knight and
Dean Smith), in total victories by a men's
NCAA Division I
college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching. He set a
remarkable standard of excellence at Kentucky that exists to this
day. Rupp is also second among all coaches in all-time winning
percentage (.822), trailing only
Clair
Bee. Adolph F.
Rupp was enshrined in the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame
on April 13, 1969.
Early life
Rupp was
born outside Halstead
, Kansas
, to Mennonite German
immigrants, the fourth of six children. He grew up on a farm
which his father Heinrich homesteaded. After his father's death in
1910, Rupp's oldest brother Otto took over farming
responsibilities. As a youngster, Rupp worked on the farm and
attended a school in a one-room school house in the country. He
first became interested in the sport of basketball at the age of
six when Halstead won the first of two consecutive Kansas state
high school titles. According to interviews, he and his brothers
stuffed rags into a gunnysack which his mother sewed up to use as a
basketball on the family farm. Later, after growing to a sturdy
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. Rupp
also served as team captain and unofficial coach.
After high
school, Rupp attended the University of Kansas
from 1919–1923. He worked part-time at the
student Jayhawk Cafe to help pay his college expenses. He was a
reserve on the basketball team under legendary coach
Forrest "Phog" Allen from 1919 to 1923. Assisting
Allen during that time was his former coach and inventor of the
game of basketball,
James Naismith,
who Rupp also got to know well during his time in Lawrence.
In Rupp's junior and senior college seasons (1921–22 and 1922–23),
Kansas (KU) had outstanding basketball squads. Later, both of these
standout Kansas teams would be awarded the Helms National
Championship, recognizing the Jayhawks as the top team in the
nation during those seasons.
University of Kentucky
Rupp coached the
University of
Kentucky men's
basketball team from 1930 to 1972. At Kentucky, he earned the
titles "Baron of the Bluegrass" and "The Man in the Brown Suit"
(Rupp always wore a brown suit to games). Rupp was a master of
motivation and strategy, often using local talent to build his
teams. In fact, throughout his career, more than 80% of Rupp's
players came from the state of Kentucky. He promoted a sticky
man-to-man defense, a fluid set offense, perfect individual
fundamentals, and a relentless fast break that battered opponents
into defeat. Rupp demanded 100% effort from his players at all
times, pushing them to great levels of success.
His Wildcat teams won four
NCAA
championships (
1948,
1949,
1951,
1958), one
National Invitation
Tournament (
NIT) title in 1946 (when the
NIT was a tournament equal in prestige to the
NCAA
tournament), appeared in 20 NCAA tournaments, had six NCAA
Final Four appearances, won five Sugar
Bowl tournament championships, captured 27
Southeastern Conference regular
season titles, and won 13
Southeastern Conference tournaments.
Rupp's Kentucky teams also finished ranked #1 on six occasions in
the final
Associated Press college
basketball poll and four times in the
United Press International
(Coaches) poll. In addition, Rupp's legendary 1966 Kentucky squad
(nicknamed "Rupp's Runts") finished second in the
NCAA
tournament and Rupp's powerful 1947 Wildcats finished second in
the NIT. Further, his 1933 and 1954 Kentucky squads were awarded
the Helms National Championship.
Rupp was a controversial racial figure. Like other teams in the
Southeastern Conference, Kentucky squads did not have black players
during the 1940s, 50s and for much of the 1960s. He is alleged to
have been virulently racist,
[103277] despite the facts not supporting this
allegation. In 1969 however, he signed the first black player at
Kentucky. At that time only Vanderbilt and Auburn in the
Southeastern Conference had previously signed black players.
Rupp was forced into retirement in March 1972 after reaching the
age of 70, which at the time was the mandatory retirement age for
all University of Kentucky employees. He was a four-time National
Coach-of-the-Year award winner.
Season |
Team |
Wins |
Losses |
Postseason |
1930-31 |
Kentucky |
15 |
3 |
- |
1931-32 |
Kentucky |
15 |
2 |
- |
1932-33 |
Kentucky |
21 |
3 |
Helms National Champion |
1933-34 |
Kentucky |
16 |
1 |
- |
1934-35 |
Kentucky |
19 |
2 |
- |
1935-36 |
Kentucky |
15 |
6 |
- |
1936-37 |
Kentucky |
17 |
5 |
- |
1937-38 |
Kentucky |
13 |
5 |
- |
1938-39 |
Kentucky |
16 |
4 |
- |
1939-40 |
Kentucky |
15 |
6 |
- |
1940-41 |
Kentucky |
17 |
8 |
- |
1941-42 |
Kentucky |
19 |
6 |
NCAA Final Four (3rd Place) |
1942-43 |
Kentucky |
17 |
6 |
- |
1943-44 |
Kentucky |
19 |
2 |
NIT 3rd Place |
1944-45 |
Kentucky |
22 |
4 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1945-46 |
Kentucky |
28 |
2 |
NIT Champion |
1946-47 |
Kentucky |
34 |
3 |
NIT Runner-Up |
1947-48 |
Kentucky |
36 |
3 |
NCAA Champion |
1948-49 |
Kentucky |
32 |
2 |
NCAA Champion |
1949-50 |
Kentucky |
25 |
5 |
NIT Quarterfinals |
1950-51 |
Kentucky |
32 |
2 |
NCAA Champion |
1951-52 |
Kentucky |
29 |
3 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
*1952-53 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1953-54 |
Kentucky |
25 |
0 |
Helms National Champion |
1954-55 |
Kentucky |
23 |
3 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
1955-56 |
Kentucky |
20 |
6 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1956-57 |
Kentucky |
23 |
5 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1957-58 |
Kentucky |
23 |
6 |
NCAA Champion |
1958-59 |
Kentucky |
24 |
3 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
1959-60 |
Kentucky |
18 |
7 |
- |
1960-61 |
Kentucky |
19 |
9 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1961-62 |
Kentucky |
23 |
3 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1962-63 |
Kentucky |
16 |
9 |
- |
1963-64 |
Kentucky |
21 |
6 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
1964-65 |
Kentucky |
15 |
10 |
- |
1965-66 |
Kentucky |
27 |
2 |
NCAA Runner-Up |
1966-67 |
Kentucky |
13 |
13 |
- |
1967-68 |
Kentucky |
22 |
5 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1968-69 |
Kentucky |
23 |
5 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
1969-70 |
Kentucky |
26 |
2 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
1970-71 |
Kentucky |
22 |
6 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
1971-72 |
Kentucky |
21 |
7 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
Total |
Kentucky |
876 |
190 |
(.822) |
- The team did not play in the 1952-53 season because of
involvement in a point shaving
scandal.
Career after Kentucky
In April,
1972 Rupp was named as Team President
of the
Memphis Pros, soon to become the
Memphis Tams, of the
American Basketball
Association.
In July,
1973 Rupp was hired as Vice President
of the Board of the
Kentucky
Colonels of the
American Basketball
Association.
Death
Rupp died
at age 76 in Lexington,
Kentucky
, on December 10, 1977, on a night that Kentucky
defeated his alma mater, Kansas, at Allen Fieldhouse
in Lawrence, Kansas
. Coincidentally, the game that night was
promoted as "Adolph Rupp Night", in honor of Rupp. He is buried in
Lexington Cemetery.
See also
References
- Memphis Tams Year by Year Notes,
RememberTheABA.com
- Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American
Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN
978-1-4165-4061-8, p.240-241, 272
- Kentucky Colonels Year by Year Notes,
RememberTheABA.com
- Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American
Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN
978-1-4165-4061-8, p.272
External links