| # | Name | Pos | Class | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown (School) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #18 | Bob Brannum (L) | C | Fr. | 6-5 | 205 | Winfield, KS (High) | All-American [Consensus (1st), Sporting News (1st), Converse (2nd), Pic Magazine (2nd), Helms]; All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #19 | Jack Tingle (L) | F | Fr. | 6-3 | 185 | Bedford, KY (Trimble High) | All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #3 | Jack Parkinson (L) | G | Fr. | 6-0 | 175 | Yorktown, IN (High) | All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #16 | Wilbur Schu (L) | F | So. | 6-4 | 180 | Versailles, KY (High) | All-SEC [Second Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #14 | Walter Johnson (L) | G | Fr. | 6-0 | 165 | Mount Sterling, KY (High) | (Called up midseason to the Navy. [MIA in Pacific]); |
| #4 | Tom Moseley (L) | G | So. | 6-3 | 180 | Lexington, KY (Lafayette) | - |
| #5 | Bill Cravens | F | Fr. | 6-4 | 165 | Huntington, WV (High) | - |
| #11 | Don Whitehead (L) | F | Fr. | 6-0 | 155 | Evansville, IN (Bosse) | (Called up midseason to the Navy); |
| #7 | Truett DeMoisey (L) | F | Fr. | 6-5 | 200 | Walton, KY (High) | - |
| #13 | Rudy Yessin (L) | G | Fr. | 5-11 | 170 | Harlan, KY (High) | - |
| #12 | Nathaniel Buis (L) | F | Jr. | 6-1 | 180 | Liberty, KY (High) | - |
| #15 | George Vulich (L) | C | Fr. | 6-8 | 200 | Gary, IN (Froebel) | - |
| #13 | J. Ed Parker | F-G | Fr. | 6-0 | 150 | Lexington, KY (Henry Clay) | (Joined team late in season after discharge from Navy); |
| #8 | Harry Gorham | G | Fr. | 5-11 | 172 | Lexington, KY (University High) | (Called up near end of season to the Marines); |
| #9 | Glen Parker | G | Fr. | 5-10 | 170 | Chrisney, IN (High) | (Called into the Armed Services early in the season); |
| - | Maurice Bell | G | So. | 5-9 | 145 | Montgomery, AL (Sidney Lanier) | (Transferred midseason from Alabama); |
| Schedule | Player Statistics | Game Statistics |
 |
1943-44 Squad |
Front Row (l to r): Ed Allin, Rudy Yessin, Glen Parker, Charles Fox, Bob Stamper, John Brown |
Season Review - Basketball by Vincent Spagnuolo (Kentuckian)
When 15 freshmen and two sophomores reported for basketball practice earlier in the season, the University of Kentucky was just expecting to floor a team, but four months later finds the same squad the Southeastern Conference champions of 1944, and a contender for the National Invitational Tournament title in Madison Square Garden.
But this isn't all there is to the story. These freshmen who had just received their high school goatskins came to the University and stepped in and carried the Blue and White colors just as capably and as honorably as any previous Kentucky team. They have won 17 out of 18 contests, avenging their only loss by defeating the University of Illinois 51-40 in a return match February 7. So the "mediocre team" that Kentucky fans were expecting has turned out to be one of the top teams of the nation under the tutorship of Coach A. F. Rupp. He has unveiled a bunch of "beardless wonders." They are one of the most determined teams that the Baron has ever assembled. They hustle and scrap every minute and the word "quit" is unknown to them. They operate as a unit, all working together rather than for themselves.
This year's accomplishments began when the Freshmen defeated Indiana University 66-41, which was the first Wildcat team ever to defeat the Hoosiers. A few weeks later Ohio State, Big 10 champs, fell before the Kentucky avalanche 40-28. This was the first time a Wildcat team has ever won at Columbus.
Later in the same month, the Freshmen completed the most successful eastern trip ever taken by a University team. January 28, Kentucky set a defensive record in the Auditorium at Buffalo by holding Carnegie Tech to 14 points, while chalking up 61 markers. Two nights later, the first Kentucky team to win in Madison Square Garden defeated St. John's, last year's National Invitational champs, 44-38.
After the turn of the new year, the Freshmen defeated Notre Dame 55-54, the third time in the Irish-Wildcat series that a Kentucky team has emerged victorious.
A month later the Freshmen whipped Illinois 5140 to square accounts with the Illini, who in December won in the last 40 seconds of the game 41-43.
Then in March in the SEC tourney in Jefferson County Armory, the Freshmen whipped three teams to claim the championship. This marked the seventh time that Coach Rupp and his Kentucky teams have marched off with the title since its beginning in 1933.
Previous years that Wildcat teams took away top honors were in 1933, the year the SEC was formed, then in 1937, 1939, 1940, and 1942. In 1935 there was no tournament played, but the Kentucky team finished on top of the conference in the percentage system with 10 wins against no losses.
In the SEC tourney the "Wildkittens" completely outclassed all their opponents. The first team did not play an entire game in the tournament. In the initial tussle, the Freshmen whipped the Georgia Bulldogs 57-29. The second string played all the last half and almost half of the first period.
Against L.S.U., which was regarded as a "dark horse" by many sports writers, the "kids" racked up 55 points to the Bayou Tigers' 28. Again the second team played about three-fourths of the game. In the finals, Kentucky met Tulane, who the night before had upset Georgia Tech, the second seeded team, 61-55. The Green Wave was stopped by a 62-46 margin; and in this game the first team did play almost a complete half. After the second half started, it was a matter of Jack Parkinson of Yorktown, Indiana trying to break a tournament scoring record set by Pinky Lipscomb in 1937. Parkinson did get 27 points, just one point under the record.
Kentucky was well represented on the all-SEC first team by placing three freshmen, and also got one man on the second team. Bob Brannum of Winfield, Kansas, was placed in the pivot-slot, Parkinson at guard and Jack Tingle from Bedford at guard. Wilbur Schu, Versailles sophomore, was placed at forward on the second five. Rudy Yessin of Harlan and Tom Moseley of Lexington were given honorable mention.
As this goes to press, Brannum has been picked on Sporting News' All-America team and is being considered on Pic's All-America five.
Going into his fourteenth season with six championships already to his credit, Coach Adolph Rupp faced the task of building a combine that resembled somewhat his quintets of the past. This he did without the aid of Army or Navy personnel.
In the Collegiate Basketball Record published by the Helms Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles during the spring, the Baron, as he is so often referred to, was honored by being named as one of the greatest net mentors of all time. His 1933 team was named as national collegiate champion.
He also had six of his former players listed as All-Americans. Carey Spicer was the first, that being in 1931. The others were Paul McBrayer, 1930; Aggie Sale, 1932 and 1933; John DeMoisey, 1934; LeRoy Edwards, 1935; and Lee Huber, 1941. Previous to Rupp's reign, Basil Hayden was the first Wildcat chosen, that being in 1921; followed by Burgess Carey, 1925; and Carey Spicer, 1929.
Two of the Baron's men, Sale, former coach at wards, were depicted as "players of the year." Sale, lanky center, was named for the 1933 season; while Edwards, also a high scoring pivot-man, gained the same honor in 1935.
Coming to the University from Freeport, Illinois where his high school teams won 72 and lost 11, "the Man in the Brown Suit" has continued his winning ways by having credited 211 games to the win column and 55 tussles in the lost section. Since the Southeastern Conference was formed ten years ago, his vaunted quintets have marched away six times as the leader of the twelve team loop. His team won the title the first year that the loop was formed, 1983, then repeated in 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, and 1942.
