The 1923-24 Kentucky Wildcats season was the final one for coach George Buccheit, and he went out on a high note. They went 13-3, tying the most wins of his five seasons in Lexington before he moved on to the Duke Blue Devils.
Buccheit was the longest tenured coach in Kentucky’s brief history, and with him gone, they had to try to start over. To that end, they hired Clarence Applegran, a former All-American football player at the University of Illinois.
Applegran wouldn’t have a hugely successful career as a college basketball coach, but in one season with the Wildcats, he did ok. However, he would be the first in a series of one-off coaches that Kentucky would have over the next three years.
In the next in a series of articles looking at the history of Kentucky Wildcats basketball, it’s the 1924-25 season. They didn’t know it at the time, but it was the beginning of a bridge period from Buccheit to a guy who would become a legend, but that’s for another day.
A new head coach
With Buccheit off to coach Duke, Kentucky reached out to another University of Illinois alumnus in Clarence Applegran. Like Buccheit, he also was more known for his football playing career. Unlike Buccheit, he would only stick around for one season in Lexington, but he would have a solid year.
A veteran team
Applegan inherited a team loaded with veteran players, which aided the transition from Buccheit. Kentucky’s three leading scorers were Juniors, and overall, the team had six Juniors and five Seniors on the roster. They didn’t have any dominant players, but they had experience, and it proved to be valuable as the season went along.
The roster and stats
- James McFarland (Jun): 7.2 ppg
- Will Milward (Jun): 6.3 ppg
- Lovell Underwood (Jun): 6.1 ppg
- C. Foster Helm (Soph): 3.1 ppg
- Charles Albert (Jun): 1.7 ppg
- Burgess Carey (Jun): 1.0 ppg
- Charles Hughes (Sen): 0.7 ppg
- Len Tracy (Jun): 0.6 ppg
- William King (Sen): 0.5 ppg
- Karl Rohs (Sen): 0.4 ppg
- A.T. Rice (Sen): 0.3 ppg
- Hubert White (Sen): 0.3 ppg
- Henry Besuden (Soph): 0 ppg
The results
Kentucky opened the season with a win over Cincinnati. Underwood, Milward, and McFarland combined for 26 of their 28 points.
The Wildcats played their first ever game against Indiana in their next outing, and fell 20-18. The offense struggled, and that would carry on to their next game, which was a 21-11 loss to Michigan in their first even matchup.
Cincinnati got revenge for their season-opening loss with a 24-20 win to make it three straight losses for the Cats, as Kentucky’s offense continued to try and find its groove.
Up next was another new opponent for Kentucky in Applegran’s alma mater, Illinois. It was another loss, though the offense played better. The fifth of five losses was the worse. The Wildcats were held to just 10 points in a 57-10 drubbing by Wabash College.
Sitting at 1-5, Kentucky finally broke the losing streak with a 26-23 win over Mississippi. The Lexington Herald credited Burgess Carey for leading the Wildcats to the win, despite only one point from him.
A 25-17 victory of Georgetown College followed that. Then came a 33-26 win over Centre College and a 28-22 win over Washington & Lee.
The winning streak would reach five games with a 29-19 defeat of West Virginia. C. Foster Helm had his best scoring performance with eight points in that one.
Alabama ended the Kentucky winning streak at five, but they rebounded with a two-point win over Georgia Tech in a game they were behind in at the half.
Georgia beat the Cats 28-24 to even Kentucky’s record at 7-7, but a new winning streak was about to begin.
Kentucky exploded for 35 points, led by ten points from Milward, against Tennesse. Tulane was next, followed by Georgetown again.
The Volunteers came to Lexington looking for revenge, but Milward poured in 12 points and Kentucky won 26-21. They then closed the regular season with a dominant 39-10 victory over Centre College.
In the Southern Conference Tournament, the Wildcats defeated Mississippi A&M in round one.
Just a few years prior, Kentucky beat Georgia to win the tournament in what was a classic. The met in round two this season, and it was another great game. The Atlanta Journal said “Men and women screamed, choked, gasped and were stricken dumb in turn.” After trailing at the half, Kentucky took a late lead, but Georgia hit a game-winner as the clock expired to end the Wildcats season.
The Wildcats final record for the 1924-25 season: 13-8
Those who left Kentucky after the season
Will Milward played his last game this season, despite being a Junior. Upon graduation, he went into his family’s funeral service business. He would also become the President of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, and was active in the community. He passed away in 1972.
Charles Hughes was a multi-sport star at Kentucky, adding football, baseball, and track to his basketball career. He is one of just two men to win letters in four different sports at UK. After school, he would go on to coach multiple sports at Eastern Kentucky University as well. He lived to be 83 years old.
Len Tracy also stayed in the sports world after he left Kentucky. He would cover sports for both the Lexington Herald and the Lexington Leader. He died of a heart attack in 1967.
William King was an early star for the Wildcats. After graduation, he worked for Southern Railway until his retirement. He died in 1980, but will forever be known for his game-winning points against Georgia in the SIAA Conference Championship game in 1921.
Karl Rohs served in the military after he left the Wildcats, and was served with honors. He passed away after a sudden illness in 1942.
A.T. Rice became a coach and teacher after his college basketball ended. He would later pass after a long sickness in 1962.
Hubert White became a prominent attorney after college. He practiced law in Harlan, Kentucky, then became the City Attorney for Middlesboro, Kentucky. He would eventually become the mayor there. He died at the age of 88.
