Reunion for 1984 Kentucky Men’s Basketball Team is Saturday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky Athletics Department will celebrate the 1983-1984 men’s basketball team, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four and swept the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles, this weekend with festivities surrounding Saturday’s game vs. Georgia inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.
The ceremony will take place during halftime of the game on Saturday, which tips off at 6 p.m. ET and will be televised on SEC Network.
The reunion will be for the members of the team, coaches and managers. A private reception will tip off the weekend on Friday night, with a public recognition at the game on Saturday.
Limited quantities of a poster commemorating the 1984 team will be distributed for free before the game on the concourse behind sections 42-44 while supplies last.
Head coach Joe B. Hall’s 1983-84 Wildcats went 29-5 overall (14-4 SEC), advanced to the Final Four, finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally, and won the Southeastern Conference regular season and SEC Tournament titles.
The season began on Nov. 26 with a 65-44 home win over No. 6-ranked Louisville, the first of 12 straight victories to begin the campaign. Another highlight came in January with a 74-67 home win over No. 4-ranked Houston. UK wrapped the regular season and clinched the league crown with a pair of home victories over Ole Miss and LSU.
The SEC Tournament, held at Vanderbilt, remains the most closely contested in league history as seven of the nine games were decided by six points or less. Fittingly, the championship game against Auburn went down to a final dramatic shot. Tied at 49, a jumper by Kenny “Sky” Walker hit the rim, bounced high, landed on the rim again, then crawled into the net as the buzzer sounded.
A No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky received a first-round bye, then defeated Brigham Young in a second-round game in Birmingham. Rupp Arena was the host site of the Mideast Regional, where UK defeated Louisville and Illinois to advance to the Final Four. Played in Seattle, the Wildcats fell to Georgetown in the semifinal as the Hoyas went on to win the national championship.
Sam Bowie, who became the second selection in the 1984 NBA Draft, was an All-American and an All-SEC selection, averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game. He was also named to the All-NCAA Regional team.
Melvin Turpin was a consensus All-American, AII-NCAA Regional Team, AlI-SEC First Team and All-SEC Tournament honoree. He led the Wildcats in scoring with 15.2 points per game.
Walker earned All-SEC recognition during his sophomore season while averaging 12.4 points per game. Senior Jim Master tallied 9.6 points per game. Dicky Beal was the NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and paced the team in assists with 4.4 contest.
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