- Rick Pitino’s 1996 Kentucky Wildcats were one of the best college basketball teams ever assembled.
- Today, many members of the championship team are still involved with basketball as coaches, whether in college or in Pitino’s case, abroad.
The 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcats basketball team was one of the most dominant in history.
Deemed “The Untouchables,” the team only lost two games all season en route to winning the national title, the first for coach Rick Pitino.
Fittingly, the majority of players on that team went on to enjoy success in basketball after Kentucky as well. Nine players from the team went on to play in the NBA, and a few broke into the coaching ranks. Below, we take a look at what happened to “The Untouchables.”
Brandon Wiggins contributed to this report.
Tony Delk was one of the leaders as a senior of the '96 Wildcats. He was the SEC Player of the Year, a consensus first-team All American, and the Final Four Most Outstanding Player that year.
Foto: sourceJonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Delk was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets that summer, and spent several seasons as a journeyman in the NBA. He then had brief coaching stints with his alma mater and New Mexico State before becoming an analyst for SEC Network.
Foto: sourceNicholas Hunt/Getty Images
Antoine Walker was one of the leading scorers and a first-team All-SEC player for the '96 Wildcats.
Foto: sourceDoug Pensinger/Getty Images
Walker played in the NBA for over 10 seasons, and was a three-time all-star. He had to declare bankruptcy after his playing days ended, and now counsels young athletes in order to help them avoid making his financial mistakes, in addition to working as an analyst for SEC Network.
Foto: sourceGustavo Caballero/Getty Images
Source: USA Today
Walter McCarty was the Wildcats' third-leading scorer as a Senior that season.
Foto: sourceAl Bello/Getty Images
McCarty went on get drafted by the Knicks in 1996. He spent 10 seasons in the league as a player, then worked for several years as an NBA assistant coach before taking the head coaching job at the University of Evansville in 2018.
Foto: sourceEthan Miller/Getty Images
Derek Anderson was the fourth-leading scorer in his first season playing for the Wildcats, having transferred from Ohio State University.
Foto: sourceDoug Pensinger/Getty Images
Anderson spent a few seasons in the NBA after leaving Kentucky. He currently runs his own non-profit.
Foto: sourceStephen Cohen/Getty Images
Ron Mercer was a key contributor as a freshman on this talented Wildcats team.
Foto: sourceDoug Pensinger/Getty Images
Mercer was an All-American and the SEC Player of the Year for Kentucky the following year. He then left college to play in the NBA for a time. These days he hosts basketball camps and remains close to his Kentucky teammates.
Foto: sourceJim McIsaac/Getty Images
Source: Twitter
Mark Pope was a redshirt senior on the '96 Wildcats, having transferred from Washington a few years prior.
Foto: sourceMatthew Stockman/Getty Images
Pope played for a few years in the NBA, and was also enrolled in medical school at Columbia University before starting his coaching career. He is currently the head coach of men's basketball at Utah Valley.
Foto: sourceAndy Lyons/Getty Images
Source: Utah Valley Athletics
Anthony Epps was a Kentucky native and a key contributor on the '96 Wildcats as a Junior.
Foto: sourceDoug Pensinger/Getty Images
Now, Epps is a proud dad whose daughter, Makayla, was a standout basketball player for Kentucky, and was selected by the Chicago Sky in the 2017 WNBA draft.
Foto: sourceESPN
Source: ESPN
Jeff Shepard was a guard for the '96 Wildcats.
Foto: sourceTodd Warshaw/Getty Images
Sheppard went on to lead Kentucky to a national title in 1998. After a brief professional playing career, Sheppard settled down in Kentucky with his wife, a former Kentucky women's basketball player, and owns an apparel company, 15inc.
Foto: sourceKentucky Farm Bureau
Source: University of Kentucky Alumni Association.
Wayne Turner was a freshman guard for the '96 Wildcats.
Foto: sourceAndy Lyons/Getty Images
Turner was a starter on the title-winning '98 Wildcats team. Later he played briefly in the NBA and with the Harlem Globetrotters. He was also the Director of Player Development for the Louisville Cardinals under former coach Rick Pitino.
Foto: sourceMichael Loccisano/Getty Images
Source: Louisville Athletics
Nazr Mohammed was a freshman big man for the '96 Wildcats.
Foto: sourceBrian Bahr/Getty Images
Mohammed also went on to win another title with the Wildcats in 1998. He also played in the NBA for over 10 years, and was a member of the title-winning Spurs team in 2005. He joined the front office of the OKC Thunder in 2017.
Foto:
http://instagr.am/p/BcN1jBmBAjp
Source: NBA.com, The Player's Tribune
Allen Edwards as a sophomore for the '96 Wildcats.
Foto: sourceAl Bello/Getty Images
Another player who went on to be a part of the '98 Wildcats, Edwards is currently the head coach of men's basketball at the University of Wyoming.
Foto:
http://instagr.am/p/BR6kBQ0AfdQ
Source: Wyoming Athletics
Rick Pitino had already led Providence and Kentucky to Final Fours by the time he finally won the big one with the '96 Wildcats.
Foto: sourceDoug Pensinger/Getty Images
Pitino left Kentucky to coach the NBA's Boston Celtics, before returning to college basketball to become the head coach at Kentucky's arch-rival Louisville. While he led the Cardinals to the national title in 2013, his tenure would end in ignominy as he was fired due to a recruiting scandal. He now coaches in Greece.
Foto: sourceBob Leverone/AP
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Foto: sourceAP Photo/Carlos Osorio
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