1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1989-90 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1990 SEC Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
1989–90 record	14-14 (10-8 SEC)
Head coach	Rick Pitino (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Herb Sendek; Billy Donovan; Tubby Smith; Ralph Willard;
Home arena	Rupp Arena

The 1989–90 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1989-90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Rick Pitino[2] and the team finished the season with an overall record of 14-14.[3] The team utilized a fast-paced offense predicated on taking many three-point shots; after the team hit 18 of 41 three-point attempts in a game against Tennessee Tech, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist John McGill dubbed them "Pitino's Bombinos", a nickname which stuck.[4]

Coming off the controversy of the Eddie Sutton scandal,[5] the NCAA banned the Kentucky Wildcats from television for one season. Pitino knew this and still took the challenge of making this team successful despite the many deficient parts of the program. Coming off an iffy season in the NBA with the Knicks, Pitino missed the college experience and felt that Kentucky would be the most interesting choice.[6] The 14-14 record is a direct reflection of this but Pitino would definitely bounce back from this come in the next few years. Coming into the new season, not all the players were completely committed to playing considering the circumstances of their program was in shambles. Some players were reported to skip class or not put 100% effort into his practices. Ironically, the students that didn't compete were focusing more grades so they can graduate.[7] Despite Rick Pitino's intense effort of coaching, the season included many iffy moments for the Wildcats including a 150-95 loss to Kansas( Which is consider the biggest blowout by a Kansas team ever).[8] Combining all these blunders the Wildcats finished with an abysmal 14-14 record for the season.

Pitino was named SEC Coach of the Year (for the first of three times) for guiding Kentucky to a 10-8 conference record.

References

sports-reference.com 1989-90 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
"1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
"1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
Gregory, Eric (May 9, 1997). "Bravo, Pitino". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. C3.
https://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/3/28/2889948/kentucky-wildcat-basketball-the-unforgettables-20-years-ago-today
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/12/08/pitinos-honeymoon-begins-at-kentucky/9664671d-1a22-4e90-9392-d54aa9ecdcab/
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-09-03/sports/8901100284_1_kentucky-fans-rick-pitino-derrick-miller
https://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-10/sports/sp-402_1_rick-pitino

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[1] sports-reference.com 1989-90 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[2] "1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved 27 October 2013.

[3] "1989-1990 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved 27 October 2013.

[4] Gregory, Eric (May 9, 1997). "Bravo, Pitino". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. C3.

[5] ttps://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/3/28/2889948/kentucky-wildcat-basketball-the-unforgettables-20-years-ago-today

[6] ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/12/08/pitinos-honeymoon-begins-at-kentucky/9664671d-1a22-4e90-9392-d54aa9ecdcab/

[7] ttp://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-09-03/sports/8901100284_1_kentucky-fans-rick-pitino-derrick-miller

[8] ttps://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-10/sports/sp-402_1_rick-pitino

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 College (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	Basketbowl Champions Classic Fabulous Five "The Shot" The Unforgettables History under Adolph Rupp The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Recruiting history 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
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

1989-90 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Georgia	13	–	5	.722	20	–	9	.690
No. 23 Alabama †	12	–	6	.667	26	–	9	.743
No. 19 LSU	12	–	6	.667	23	–	9	.719
Tennessee	10	–	8	.556	16	–	14	.533
Kentucky	10	–	8	.556	14	–	14	.500
Ole Miss	8	–	10	.444	13	–	17	.433
Auburn	8	–	10	.444	13	–	18	.419
Mississippi State	7	–	11	.389	16	–	14	.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	21	–	14	.600
Florida	3	–	15	.167	7	–	21	.250

† 1990 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]