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.
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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.
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Antoine Walker was one of the leading scorers and a first-team All-SEC player for the 96 Wildcats.
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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.
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Walter McCarty was the Wildcats third-leading scorer as a Senior that season.
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.
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Derek Anderson was the fourth-leading scorer in his first season playing for the Wildcats, having transferred from Ohio State University.
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Anderson spent a few seasons in the NBA after leaving Kentucky. He currently runs his own non-profit.
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Ron Mercer was a key contributor as a freshman on this talented Wildcats team.
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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.
Mark Pope was a redshirt senior on the 96 Wildcats, having transferred from Washington a few years prior.
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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 mens basketball at Utah Valley.
Anthony Epps was a Kentucky native and a key contributor on the 96 Wildcats as a Junior.
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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.
Jeff Shepard was a guard for the 96 Wildcats.
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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 womens basketball player, and owns an apparel company, 15inc.
Wayne Turner was a freshman guard for the 96 Wildcats.
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.
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Nazr Mohammed was a freshman big man for the 96 Wildcats.
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.
Allen Edwards as a sophomore for the 96 Wildcats.
Another player who went on to be a part of the 98 Wildcats, Edwards is currently the head coach of mens basketball at the University of Wyoming.
Rick Pitino had already led Providence and Kentucky to Final Fours by the time he finally won the big one with the 96 Wildcats.
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Pitino left Kentucky to coach the NBAs Boston Celtics, before returning to college basketball to become the head coach at Kentuckys 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.
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