‘A dear friend to many.’ Kentucky radio analyst, former player Mike Pratt dies at 73.
Mike Pratt, the former Kentucky basketball player who later provided commentary on radio broadcasts of UK games for two decades, died late Thursday night. His death came after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.
During a basketball journey that included playing, coaching and working as a radio color commentator, Pratt made a positive impression.
Jimmy Dan Conner, who arrived at UK as a freshman two years after Pratt’s college career ended, credited him with having a life-changing impact.
“I met Mike 53 years ago as a 16-year-old,” Conner texted Tuesday. “I learned as much about basketball and how it should be played from Pratt, (Mike) Casey and (Dan) Issel, but particularly from Pratt.
“He also was a model for treating people on and off the court that I still try to follow to this day. I give credit for what I achieved in life to a great degree to my mentor, Mike Pratt.”
Pratt began working as a color commentator on radio broadcasts of Kentucky games in the 2001-02 season.
In 2022, he and play-by-play announcer Tom Leach collaborated on a book titled “Kentucky Basketball: Two decades behind the scenes.”
“I would say he’s kind of like a big brother,” Leach said Wednesday. “Mike knew everybody. Everybody just loved and gravitated to him. So, I got to be the younger brother just hanging around and listening to the stories and loving it.”
Pratt was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2019. Treatments caused him to miss Kentucky games at Georgia and Auburn in January of that year.
“As I look back now, he was going through a lot more pain than we appreciated,” Leach said. “He never missed a game (thereafter). He never missed being prepared. So, he was the consummate pro all the way through it.”
Maria Montgomery, an on-court radio host for UK home games, told Kentucky Today last month how much she admired the way Pratt handled the cancer.
“When Mike told me about his diagnosis, I was blown away by his positivity and drive,” she said. “His attitude is one to admire in a cancer battle.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that Pratt had developed a painful nerve condition called neuropathy and had decided to seek a more holistic approach to cancer treatment. He was scheduled to fly to Southern California on Thursday (June 16) to begin treatment at Hope4cancer, a facility that has treated patients at two facilities in Mexico since 2000.
The planned holistic treatments were not covered by insurance. UK Coach John Calipari helped promote an online fund-raising effort. He tweeted that he and wife Ellen would match the first $50,000 raised.
“If you know Mike Pratt, you know what a special man he is,” Calipari tweeted. “He’s a dear friend to many and a gentleman to all. And Mike needs our help.”
The fund-raiser was a success. “The UK fans really stepped up,” Issel said.
Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart saluted Pratt.
“Mike Pratt has been part of the fabric of UK Athletics for more than a half-century,” Barnhart said in a UK news release. “As an All-America and All-SEC player, Mike played a significant role in our basketball history. For the last two decades, he brought our games to life with his insightful commentary on our radio broadcasts. He will be missed by the Big Blue Nation.”
When UK looked to hire a new coach in 2009, Pratt was on the search committee and participated in the job interview with John Calipari.
“We lost a family member, a part of the Kentucky family and a friend. If you ever had the pleasure of meeting Mike Pratt, you knew what a special person he was,” Calipari said in the UK news release. “Mike was a dear friend to me and was an integral part in helping me become head coach here. Ellen and I will forever be grateful to him for his support and kindness. We should all be thankful that he was in our lives. Mike knew that the university and the Big Blue Nation loved him, and they never forgot what he did as a player and then later as a connection for the program. I’m going to miss him.”
Michael P. Pratt was born on Aug. 4, 1948. A native of Dayton, Ohio, he played for Kentucky in the 1967-68, 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons. In that span, UK had a record of 71-12 (48-6 in the SEC).
Pratt scored 1,359 points, which ranks 26th in program history. The Associated Press named him honorable mention all-league in 1967-68. He made the coaches’ All-SEC teams as a junior and senior. In his senior year, Pratt was named to two Second Team All-America squads.
In 2009, Pratt was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.
“Mike was a heck of a player . . . ,” Issel said this spring. “I think his number should be up in the (Rupp Arena) rafters. I know there are numbers up in the rafters that weren’t as good as Mike was.”
As a Kentucky player, Pratt had the unenviable task of guarding Pete Maravich. “Pistol Pete” averaged 52 points in six games against Kentucky. But he took 42 or more shots in at least five of those games to do it. And Kentucky beat LSU in all six games.
“The thing that Mike always talked about with Pete, that stood out, was his passing ability,” Leach said. “Mike would make a point of saying as big a scorer as Pete was, he was a much better passer than a scorer.”
Pratt scored a career-high 42 points in a 102-100 victory over Notre Dame in Freedom Hall on Dec. 27, 1969.
After finishing his college career, Pratt played two seasons in the American Basketball Association for the Kentucky Colonels. He averaged six points per game for the Colonels.
“We kind of went to the Colonels in a package deal,” Issel recalled. “The two of us negotiated our deals together and signed together.
“He was kind of an ‘in-betweener.’ He was not big enough there to play the forward position and not good enough to be (a guard) with the ball. . . . His size kind of kept him from being the same great player in the pros he was in college.”
As a member of the search committee, Pratt also played a role in Kentucky hiring Calipari as coach in 2009.
“Mike was kind of their expert guy because, again, he knew everybody,” Leach said. “A friend of Cal’s, who had coached with Cal, reached out to Mike to get the word to (UK president) Dr. (Lee) Todd and Mitch (Barnhart) that Cal really wanted the job.”
Pratt accompanied Todd and Barnhart on the trip to interview Calipari.
“Mike was their guy to lean on and get them their intel they could trust,” Leach said.
The family plans to have a Celebration of Life gathering at UK. Details are not yet set.
Survivors include wife Marcia Schmidt Pratt, brother Patrick Pratt and his wife Andrea Pratt, daughter Tamaryn Pratt and her husband Jonas Tanenbaum, son Christopher Pratt and his wife Amy Pratt, and stepchildren Christina Stone and her husband Tyler Stone, Andy Schutz and his wife Kaelin, Tim Schutz and his wife Sarah and 10 grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to be sent to Kentuckiana Friends of V. Pratt co-hosted the Facebook live event in 2020 during the pandemic.
This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 4:59 AM.
