(WHAS11)-Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino was able to get the best of his protege John Pelphrey Tuesday night as the Cards were able to beat Pelphrey's Arkansas Razorbacks.
In this week’s Spotlight on Sports, Kyle Draper takes a look at the former UK basketball star who is now making a name for himself as a head coach.
20 years ago, Paintsville, KY native John Pelphrey wasn't thinking about becoming a coach. He was too busy burying jumpers for the Kentucky Wildcats.
After his freshman season at UK, however, there was concern he may leave the program which had just been rocked by an NCAA scandal and placed on probation.
Instead he stayed at UK to play under a young coach named Rick Pitino.
“I never had any thoughts about leaving. As bad as things were at the time...there's a silver lining for some of the guys who stayed because it provided us an opportunity to play which we hadn't done,” said Pelphrey.
Pelphrey's time at UK is legendary. He teamed with Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, and others to form the “Unforgettables,” a team that reached the Elite 8 in 1992 just a season after coming off NCAA probation.
But even after his time at UK was over coaching wasn't immediately on pelphrey's radar.
“I actually thought he'd make the Sixers. If it wasn’t for guaranteed contracts he would have made the Sixers. He was the last guy cut. He was a good enough basketball player to stick. I thought he'd be a pro and stay a while because he was such a smart basketball player,” says Pitino.
When that didn't pan out he became an assistant coach and nearly 20 years, after he played his first game under Rick Pitino, the two have come pretty much full circle. But instead of being on the same team they're squaring off against each other.
Pelphrey as coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks and Pitino now at Louisville.
Pelphrey says, “I have very special feelings towards coach. I owe him where i am today. He gave me a college career and I'm not the only guy he's impacted like that.”
“I'm proud of John Pelphrey. He's everything I'd want for an ex-player to be as a coach,” says Pitino.
Pitino and Pelphrey have coached against each other twice with Pitino winning both contests, the first in 2002 when Pelphrey was coach at South Alabama, and again Tuesday night when Louisville defeated the Razorbacks 96-66.
