Published in Newsweek, March 7, 1966, pg. 82.

Rupp: 'I didn't think we'd be this successful'

For a time, it seemed like the Baron was stepping down. Last year, the imperious Adolph Rupp, college basketball's most successful coach, got rid of his thriving insurance business and the third of his five farms. His 1965 University of Kentucky teamÑthough it won fifteen and lost tenÑhad the worst record of the 35 he coached at Lexington. And Rupp, an aggressive recruiter over the years, had no bright young prospects.

At last Kentucky seemed cut down to size - "the smallest major-college team in the nation," moaned Rupp. Not one starter stood over 6 feet 5 inches and the new center, Thad Jaracz, was just a second-string pivot man on the 1965 freshman team. Both the Associated Press and United Press International board of experts, who make an annual ritual of listing Kentucky in their pre-season top-ten ratings, placed the Wildcats among the also-rans.

But the 64-year-old Rupp made it clear that he had no plans for retirement. "I knew we had speed," said Rupp, "and the thing to do was capitalize on it." The Baron urged his players to run- "that's our game."

Riding High: By the opening game last December, the Wildcats were ready. Going into last Saturday's game against arch-rival Tennessee, the team had won 22 straight games, was ranked No. 1 by the AP and UPI and was headed for a record fifteenth visit to the NCAA tournament.

Even the gruff, gray-haired coach, who has a "We're No. 1" sign taped to his office door, is impressed. "I didn't think we'd be this successful," he said. "You just dream of these things." But Rupp hedges his dreams: he superstitiously searches rugs, pavements and couches for bobby pins which he collects by the pocketful.

When its towering opponents - some teams average more than 6 feet 5 inches - look down at Kentucky, they get some surprises. Forward Pat Riley, who jumps center at the tip-off, is just 6 feet 3 inches tall. But an intensive isometrics program helped increase his leaping ability by 4 inches and he has won 85 per cent of the taps against centers who sometimes tower over him by a half foot or more. Hometown-boy Jaracz, at 6 feet 5 inches, has played his best basketball against 6-foot 9-inch Vanderbilt All-America Clyde Lee and Illinois' 6-foot 8-inch Rich Jones. Junior guard Louie Dampier is a mere 6-footer, but Rupp calls him "the most fantastic shot I've ever seen." Relying on his soft set and jump shots, Dampier scored 70 points in two key games against No. 3 ranked Vanderbilt. (Tommy Kron, who missed several games last season with an ankle injury, and senior forward Larry Conley are the other starters.)

Hot Shots: None of Rupp's starting five was named to the professional coach's All-America first or second team last week. But there's probably no coach in the country with a more cohesive unit. The starters obsessively talk about their unselfishness. "Nobody cares who shoots," says Riley. "Any night one guy is off, somebody else is hot." Riley and Dampier lead the scorers with 21-point averages. The other starters each average more than 10. But their teamwork almost backfired in a game with Mississippi State two weeks ago. "We had too much confidence in each other," said Jaracz. "Everybody kept thinking somebody else would get hot and shoot." After trailing 15 to 8, the Wildcats got together and won, 73-69.

One native Kentuckian wrote the coach from Vietnam saying he would be home just in time for Saturday's sold-out Tennessee game and needed a ticket. Rupp wrote back: I'll get you in if I have to sit on the floor myself." But the brown-suited Rupp was on the bench as usual. Kentucky won, 78-64, as Dampier scored 29 and Riley 28. The Wildcats now must win just two more games - against Tennessee again this week and Tulane - for an unbeaten season.

"This team has caught fire with the public," says Rupp. "Everybody's talking about 'our' Wildcats. I guess if they start losing, they'll be 'Rupp's team' again."

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