By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Larry Conley hasn’t forgotten his last collegiate basketball game.
“It seems like yesterday,” he said.
Although nearly 50 years have passed since the Wildcats lost to Texas Western (UTEP) in the 1966 national championship game, Conley still remembers the pain he felt following the 72-65 setback.
“It’s one of those things you measure in life,” he said. “There are things you are happy about, things you would like to change and maybe the one things my life I wish I could change is that game.”
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Not only because of the historical significance of the finale, the 1965-66 squad, nicknamed “Rupp’s Runts,” remains one of the most celebrated runner-up teams in Kentucky history.
“I’ve also told people that our team was probably more noticed for having lost a game than if we had won it,” Conley said. “That attention has endured through the years. Seems like with the big anniversaries, it becomes even larger. Had we won that national championship, absolutely we would have been revered.
“I think a lot of people would have looked back and said we were one of the championship teams, but having lost that game, particularly with what was surrounding the game, probably has placed us in the archives of notoriety, not on the good side, but it certainly out us up there.”
Prior to the seven-point loss in the finale, the Wildcats won their first 23 games that season before the streak came to a halt with a 69-62 setback to Tennessee in Knoxville. Kentucky went on to finish 27-2 that year.
Although small in stature with no player taller than 6-foot-5, Kentucky used quickness and teamwork to outwit the opposition.
“Nearly everybody we played was taller than we were,” Conley said. “The one advantage that we had, and it was a superior advantage, was the quickness and the ball handling ability of that team. It’s pretty hard to guard a bunch of guys who can get up and down the floor pretty quickly if you don’t have quick people to guard them, we just went by them. We were very, very quick and a good team that really understood the game and how to play the game, the finesse and the skills needed to play at the height and size that we were. That had a great deal to do with our success.”
That season also marked Joe B. Hall’s first as an assistant coach under Adolph Rupp. Hall, who implemented a conditioning program during preseason workouts, said the team’s unselfish nature carried them a long way.
“The team was dedicated, hard-working and it was an unselfish team,” Hall said. “They developed into one of the most unified forces that shared the ball unselfishly and devoted themselves to winning the game. They were extremely athletic, although they lacked in height. They made up for it with ball handling, their teamwork and team play.”
Conley said Hall made an immediate impact once he arrived on campus and helped set the tone for the successful season.
“I’ve always credited Joe Hall as one of the main reasons we had the success that we had,” Conley said. “His introduction to a running program and his attention to detail, along with coach (Harry) Lancaster and coach (Adolph) Rupp, had a big deal to do with the success of the team that year. I credited him for a lot for what happened that season.”
Hall, who succeeded Rupp, coached the Wildcats for 13 seasons, leading Kentucky to a national championship in 1978. Hall said the 1965-66 team led to the success he enjoyed as a head coach.
“It was a great all-around experience for me that set a standard and benchmark for my own coaching experience, setting the same kind of dedication to excellence,” Hall said.
It’s the same kind of excellence that has endured for more than five decades.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com