A Look Back: Tony Delk

--Derrick Johnson

Today marks the 34th birthday of one of the great players at Kentucky, #00, Tony Delk. TD was a highly sought after guard coming out of Brownsville, Tennessee's Haywood High School. Delk was a Parade All-American, a McDonald's All-American, and was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee's Class AAA in 1992.

Delk committed to play for Kentucky and head coach Rick Pitino and showed up on campus in the fall of 1992. As a freshman, he averaged 4.5 points a game but played in 30 games during the season. During his sophomore season, TD began to show signs of things to come. He played in all 34 games including wins in the Maui Invitational and the SEC Tournament games. Delk was named to the All-SEC Tournament team, averaging 19 points in the three games, and to the 2nd Team All-SEC. The Cats earned a #3 seed that season but lost to Marquette in the 2nd round.

Throughout his junior year, Delk led the Cats in scoring average, scoring 16.7 points a game. He shot 48% from the field on the season and 39% from 3-point range. The Cats again won the SEC Tournament and made the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed. Delk was named to the 1st Team All SEC and the All-Southeast Region team in the tournament despite the Cats Elite Eight loss to North Carolina.

Tony Delk's final season at Kentucky was a very special year. That team is considered by many as one of the greatest teams in NCAA history. They lost two games on the year and went undefeated in SEC regular season play. Delk was the #1 scorer on the team, which featured future NBA players Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Ron Mercer, and Mark Pope. Delk averaged 17.75 points a game on his way to being named SEC Player of the Year. As a #1 seed, the Cats rolled into the Final Four where they met up with Massachusetts, one of the two teams who had defeated the Cats that year. The Cats beat the Minutemen 81-74 behind Delk's 20 points. In the NCAA Championship game, Delk scored 24 points including a game changing 4-point play in the 2nd half. He made a total of 7 3-pointers in the game and was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

He ended his career at Kentucky with 1890 points, putting him 5th all-time on the UK scoring list. He also holds the record for most 3-pointers in a career, making 283 in his career and is 2nd in steals, swiping 201 in his career. He left Kentucky averaging 14.2 points per game, shooting 47% from the field for his career, including 40% from 3-point range. His career high points was 31 against Arkansas in 1995. He holds the UK record for most 3-point field goals in a game, making 9 on 1-20-96 against TCU (I saw him do it, my first UK game at Rupp, I'll never forget it).

TD was drafted 16th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He played a total of 13 seasons in the league, playing for eight different teams. He scored a career high 53 points in 2001 for the Suns against the Kings. He finished his career with averages of 9.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, and 1.9 apg. He announced his retirement from professional basketball in November 2007.