There will be another Kentucky basketball celebration in Rupp Arena this weekend

A month featuring halftime celebrations of Kentucky basketball’s past continues this weekend.

Two weeks ago, it was the late Mike Pratt who was honored — his No. 22 jersey raised to the rafters of Rupp Arena during halftime of the UK-Florida game.

On Saturday afternoon, a larger contingent of UK basketball greats will be feted by the home crowd.

The Wildcats’ teams from the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons are set to be honored at halftime of the Kentucky-Tennessee game, a celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of UK dominance. The 1996 and 1998 squads — coached by Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith, respectively — won the NCAA championship, and the 1997 team made it to the national title game in Pitino’s final season in charge of the Kentucky program.

On Friday night, there will be a reunion for players, coaches and managers from that era. Those former Wildcats will be recognized at halftime the following day, and it’s a good bet the greatness of ’96-98 Kentucky basketball will be highlighted throughout the afternoon.

The UK-Tennessee game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off on CBS.

The 1996-98 Wildcats

In total, only 23 players logged playing time for Kentucky during that epic stretch of three consecutive appearances in the national championship game from 1996 to 1998.

Of those players, only Tony Delk has a retired jersey in the Rupp Arena rafters.

Delk was named most outstanding player of the 1996 Final Four after leading the Wildcats to their first national title in 18 years with 24 points (and seven three-pointers) in a 76-67 victory over Syracuse in the championship game. Delk remains fifth on UK’s all-time scoring list, with 1,890 career points — the most by any Wildcat during the 1996-98 era.

Jeff Sheppard was the leading scorer for the balanced 1997-98 team and most outstanding player in the 1998 Final Four, going for 16 points in a 78-69 victory over Utah in the title game. (Scott Padgett had a game-high 17 points in that one).

While only 23 players actually played for Kentucky during this stretch, it’s somewhat amazing that these three teams featured 12 different starters over their three NCAA title games, with 18 different Wildcats making an appearance in at least one national championship game.

Starters for the 1996 title game: Delk, Derek Anderson, Anthony Epps, Walter McCarty and Antoine Walker. (Allen Edwards, Ron Mercer, Mark Pope and Sheppard all played off the bench).

Starters for the 1997 title game: Epps, Mercer, Jamaal Magloire, Padgett and Wayne Turner. (Edwards, Cameron Mills, Nazr Mohammed and Jared Prickett all played off the bench).

Starters for the 1998 title game: Edwards, Mohammed, Padgett, Sheppard and Turner (with Michael Bradley, Heshimu Evans, Magloire, Mills and Saul Smith playing off the bench).

The other five players to log minutes for at least one of those teams were Myron Anthony, Ryan Hogan, Jason Lathrem, Steve Masiello and Oliver Simmons.

Tony Delk had his jersey retired to the Rupp Arena rafters on Feb. 21, 2015.

Around for all three

Only four Kentucky players — Allen Edwards, Cameron Mills, Nazr Mohammed and Wayne Turner — played for all three of these UK teams.

Of those four players, Turner was the biggest constant across the three seasons. The former Kentucky point guard averaged 13.1 minutes and played in 35 of UK’s 36 games as a freshman during that dominant 1995-96 season. He averaged 22.7 minutes per game and was second on the team in assists for the 1996-97 season. Turner started all 39 games at point guard as a junior in the 1997-98 campaign, averaging 9.3 points, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

He finished his career as UK’s all-time leader with 151 games played, a record that was later broken by Darius Miller, who played 152 games. Turner is fourth on UK’s all-time assists list and remains the Wildcats’ record holder with 238 career steals.

Edwards never finished among the top four in scoring in any of his four seasons at Kentucky, but he was a contributor for his entire time on UK’s campus, ending his career with 819 points, 293 rebounds and 285 assists. He’s the only player in UK basketball history to play in three national title games.

Mohammed was the only NBA Draft pick from Kentucky’s national championship team in 1998, going with the No. 29 overall selection as an early-entry junior near the end of the first round. He didn’t play much as a freshman for the 1996 team — just five minutes total in that year’s NCAA Tournament — but led the Cats in rebounding in 1996-97 and 1997-98, and he was second in scoring on the 1998 title squad.

Mills, a standout at Paul Laurence Dunbar in Lexington, started his UK career as a walk-on before becoming a key contributor for the Cats over his final two seasons. He remains second on the program’s all-time three-point percentage list. Mills finished his career at 47.4 percent from long range, a rate that was just barely bested by Doron Lamb’s 47.5 percent.

Final Four MVP Jeff Sheppard was around for all three seasons, but he sat out the 1996-97 campaign as a redshirt. Scott Padgett was on the 1994-95 team but was not on the Wildcats’ roster for the 1996 title run before returning to the program for the 1996-97 season.

Unlikely to attend?

Of the 23 former Wildcats who played on these three teams, expect about half to be in Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The troublesome aspect of planning such a reunion during basketball season is that many of the UK players from this era are still actively involved in the game. Mark Pope is the head coach at BYU, while Allen Edwards (UMass), Scott Padgett (Mississippi State) and Steve Masiello (Iona) are also on college basketball coaching staffs. Nazr Mohammed is the general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League team, Jamaal Magloire is on staff with the Toronto Raptors, and Tony Delk has been doing scouting work with the Dallas Mavericks. Other UK players from 1996-98 are also involved in other basketball-related occupations across the country.

Among the former players expected to be in Rupp Arena on Saturday are Derek Anderson, Anthony Epps, Cameron Mills, Jeff Sheppard and Wayne Turner.

Rick Pitino and the Kentucky Wildcats celebrate after winning the 1996 national championship.

Kentucky’s coaches

Rick Pitino was the architect of the Kentucky basketball rebuild out of probation following the scandal of the late 1980s, swooping into Lexington in 1989 and lifting a crumbling program back to national prominence in short order. Pitino took UK to the Final Four in 1993, the national title in 1996 and the NCAA championship game in 1997 before leaving for the Boston Celtics.

Pitino later coached rival Louisville for 16 seasons and is now in his third season as head coach at Iona, which sits atop the MAAC standings.

Iona plays games on Friday and Sunday, but the Herald-Leader was told Pitino will not be in Rupp Arena for Saturday’s celebration.

Tubby Smith, who won the NCAA title for Kentucky in his first season as head coach, is expected to be in attendance. Smith had a banner with his name raised into the Rupp rafters last season and will be back in town with some of his former players for Saturday’s event.

Winston Bennett, Delray Brooks and Jim O’Brien were the assistant coaches for Kentucky’s 1996 and 1997 teams. George Felton, Shawn Finney and Mike Sutton were the assistant coaches for the 1998 title squad.

Other ‘three-peats’

Just how rare is it for one school to advance to the NCAA title game three years in a row?

Since Kentucky did it in the late 1990s, no other team has accomplished the same feat.

In fact, only three teams have advanced to two consecutive national title games in the 25 years since UK made three: North Carolina in 2016-17, Butler in 2010-11 and Florida in 2006-07. (The Gators won both, UNC won one, and Butler was defeated in back-to-back title games).

Kentucky is one of just five programs to make the championship game three years in a row.

The others …

Duke (1990-92): The Blue Devils got steamrolled in 1990 by UNLV, 103-73, before winning the national title in 1991 and 1992.

UCLA (1967-73): John Wooden’s Bruins won seven consecutive NCAA titles during these years, beating seven different teams. (UCLA also won the title in 1964 and 1965.)

Cincinnati (1961-63): The Bearcats defeated Ohio State in ’61 and ’62 before losing to Loyola in the ’63 title game.

Ohio State (1960-62): Before the Buckeyes lost back-to-back championship games to Cincy, they beat California for the 1960 title.

Why now?

What makes Saturday the right time for Kentucky to honor these three teams?

The original idea was to celebrate the 1996 championship team during the latter half of the 2020-21 season, but the COVID-19 pandemic scrambled those plans. In addition to the safety and travel concerns at the time, Rupp Arena’s attendance was capped at 3,075 for those games. That wouldn’t have made for much of a celebration.

With the capability of full-capacity crowds back this season to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the 1998 title squad, the decision was made to honor all three teams together Saturday.