LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Pelphrey is returning to his alma mater to join Mark Pope's staff for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team. Pelphrey will serve as the Director of Player Development.
Pelphrey is not filling the assistant coach vacancy that was posted earlier this week. That spot still remains open and when asked about it at media day, Pope said, "I like our staff so much right now. There's a real synergy with what we're doing. Um, there's a potential, certainly we have the potential to kind of grow the staff, shrink the staff, change the staff right now. And, and that could happen, but right now, this is the best I've felt. It's actually by far the best I've felt with how our staff is functioning together."
Pelphrey played at Kentucky from 1988-'92 where he was a part of the group known as the Unforgettables. They stayed and helped then-head coach, Rick Pitino, rebuild the Kentucky program after it landed on probation. Those Wildcats won the SEC Championship and were a last-second shot away from making the Final Four in his Senior season.
After his playing career, Pelphrey was an assistant basketball coach and led three other programs as head coach. He most recently was the head coach at Tennessee Tech for seven seasons but was let go in March. Before that, he brought his Golden Eagles into Rupp Arena to play the Wildcats falling 104-54 while some of his former teammates Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus and Sean Woods showed up in support.
