Kernel Vault: Richie Farmer, the basketball player

There once was a time when four-year seniors, not five-star freshmen, were the Cats’ cast. Remember them?

Of course you do. They were the Unforgettables.

Richie Farmer, Sean Woods, John Pelphrey and Deron Feldhaus were the leaders of that 1991-92 team that helped pull UK out of the depths of NCAA probration.

Of course, the former is now vying to become Lt. Gov. Farmer. I don’t want to delve into that — the Kernel’s news team knows and cares a much greater deal about politics than I do — but I would love to take a look back at Farmer’s playing days.*

*For some reason, UK’s past always interests me far more than it probably should. I love reading old Kernel stories about what the basketball team was doing when I was two years old and just learning how to pick boogers.

Because Farmer’s very last game in a UK uniform was The Game That Shall Not Be Named (alright, in case nobody knew, it was The Laettner Shot), we will look back at a happier time — Senior Night.

UK played Tennessee on March 7, 1992, to cap off the careers of one of the most beloved senior classes in UK history. UK won 99-88 behind non-senior Jamal Mashburn’s 30 points.

But it was Farmer who got UK off to a strong start. We’ll let Al Hill, a Kernel senior staff writer at the time, tell the story from 1992:

“Before Melissa Barber could get the last words to ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ our of her mouth, senior guard Richie Farmer had eight points, which gave the Cats an 11-4 lead. In the first minute and a half, he had two three-pointers and a driving layup.”

Sounds like quite the opening salvo from Mr. Farmer, who finished the night with 15 points. Back to Al Hill:

“Farmer’s exhibition looked like a Kyle Macy highlight film, filled with defensive steals, long jump shots and deep, penetrating layups over taller opponents. He drove the 24,332 fans in Rupp Arena crazy … He was doing everything for the Cats with the exception of jumping for the opening tip.”

I don’t know if anybody else thought the same thing I did, but I had the weirdest feeling reading that Kyle Macy line. Reading an article about an old-school player that references an even older-school player? Incredible.

So that was how Farmer’s Rupp Arena finale happened, according to Al Hill. And now he’s running to be a high-ranking Kentucky official.

In case you are having flashbacks to the era in which UK basketball was revived, and want more reading, I’ll leave you with Sports Illustrated’s 2007 article about the Unforgettables, by Gene Menez. I stumbled across it this summer, and it was a great read even for someone who has no conscious memory of that team. Whether the Unforgettables are within your memory or not, it’s worth a look.