Mark Story: In 2024-25, Kentucky basketball fans will see things they haven't witnessed before

As best as I can tell — and I have spent all week wading through records — 2024-25 will be the first time in history that four of Kentucky’s NCAA Division I schools will all break in new men’s head basketball coaches in the same season.

Meanwhile, among the things that will be happening for the first time in a long time in Kentucky college hoops in the coming season are:

— This coming season will be the first time that both Kentucky and Louisville debut new men’s basketball head coaches in the same season since 1925-26.

That year, Tom King launched a five-season stint as U of L coach in which he went 38-27, while Ray Eklund went 15-3 in his only season coaching the Kentucky Wildcats.

— Neither new UK coach Pope or first-year U of L head man Kelsey have won an NCAA Tournament game in their prior stops as Division I head coaches.

What that means is that, for the first time since Adolph Rupp coached UK to the Final Four of the fourth NCAA Tournament in history on March 21, 1942, neither Kentucky or Louisville — at least one of the two — will employ a coach without a past Final Four on their résumé.

For the curious, the leaders in men’s NCAA Tournament victories among current Kentucky Division I head coaches are Northern Kentucky’s Darrin Horn and Murray State’s Steve Prohm, each of whom have won two games in the Big Dance.

As Western Kentucky head man in 2008, Horn coached the Hilltoppers to the Sweet 16 with victories against Drake (101-99 in overtime) and San Diego (72-63). WKU fell to UCLA (88-78) in the regional semifinals.

In Prohm’s first stint as Murray State coach (2011-2015) he led the Racers to a 58-41 win against Colorado State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament round of 64. MSU fell to Marquette (62-53) in the round of 32.

While at Iowa State, Prohm directed the Cyclones to an 84-73 win against Nevada in the 2017 NCAA Tournament round of 64 before ISU lost to Purdue (80-76) in its second NCAA Tournament game.

Other than Horn and Prohm, no other current Kentucky Division I men’s basketball head man has won a Division I tournament game.

— The coming season will be the first time that Kentucky, Louisville or both will not have in their employ a coach who has won an NCAA championship since March 26, 1978, — the day before Joe B. Hall coached UK to its fifth national title by defeating Duke.

From that point, some combination of Hall, Louisville’s Denny Crum, Kentucky and Louisville’s Rick Pitino, UK’s Tubby Smith and Calipari have meant there has always been a national championship-winning coach working continuously in the commonwealth.

As of the tipoff of the 2024-25 season, that streak is over.