Will Kentucky basketball continue to wear its throwback denim uniforms?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The UK men’s basketball team could continue to wear its retro denim jerseys.
- The Wildcats beat Tennessee this past weekend while wearing the throwback uniforms.
- The denim jerseys were previously worn by Kentucky’s 1995-96 NCAA championship team.
This past weekend, Kentucky basketball brought back the denim.
The Wildcats scored an impressive comeback win over Tennessee on Saturday night in Rupp Arena while decked out in some signature throwback threads: UK’s retro denim uniforms were a nod to the 1995-96 NCAA championship team, which was honored this past weekend as part of the 30-year celebration of its title triumph.
Mark Pope’s second squad is taking a different approach to writing its own UK basketball story. And they might remain in denim while they do so.
During Pope’s weekly radio show Monday night, the Kentucky coach was asked by show host Tom Leach about the potential of wearing a road version of the denim uniforms this season.
“I actually don’t know the answer to that question,” Pope responded.
Kentucky’s next game is at Florida on Saturday afternoon. That will be a matchup of two Top-25 teams with first place in the SEC standings on the line.
The Herald-Leader has been told that UK currently only has a home version of the throwback denim uniform, which is what the Cats wore for Saturday’s spirited win over the Volunteers. This would seemingly limit Kentucky to only potentially wearing the denim jerseys for games in which it’s designated as the home team.
Three home contests at Rupp Arena remain in the regular season. Kentucky’s next contest in Lexington will be Feb. 17 against Georgia.
Following the win over Tennessee, Pope said that when members of the 1995-96 team first received their denim uniforms, nobody liked them.
“I don’t even think Converse liked them originally,” Pope quipped while surrounded by his teammates from that NCAA champion squad. “... We came to love them, not because they were denim, but because of what these guys did wearing them.”
Later in that press conference, Pope said he’d be in favor of keeping the jerseys around.
“Somebody was saying that we have to wear them every game now,” Pope said with a smile.
What did some of UK’s current players think of the denim-inspired uniforms?
Freshman center Malachi Moreno admitted that, despite being a commonwealth native, he didn’t know about the history of the denim uniforms until April 2024, when Pope brought out one of his old denim jerseys during his introductory press conference at Rupp.
“Before that, I never knew the story behind the denim uniforms,” Moreno said. “I literally thought people just cut jeans and put it on a jersey and that’s just what they wore.”
On Saturday night, Moreno went for 10 points, five rebounds and three assists while rocking denim against Tennessee.
“It was awesome. I mean, we get to represent a team that was unbelievable 30 years ago,” Moreno said. “I think it’s just a blessing that they even let us wear denims. Denim is sacred, so I think just being able to keep that tradition of winning, I think that’s the best.”
“I thought they were beautiful. I loved the blue, the whole vibe of it,” sophomore guard Collin Chandler said. “So yeah, look good, play good... I don’t think there was one complaint I heard.”
The return of denim in the UK basketball zeitgeist went beyond just the on-court uniforms and 1995-96 team celebration.
Last week, Ex-Cat and current NBA star Devin Booker unveiled the new Nike Book Chapter 2 “Must Be the Denim” shoes. UK fans snapped up the shoes and other denim-themed merch during a Saturday event at UK’s Downtown Studio near Rupp Arena.
Kentucky players received pairs of the new shoes from Booker’s line with Nike last week.
