The Fabulous Five was the nickname applied to the 1947-1948 University of Kentucky men's basketball team that won 36 of 39 games and were national collegiate champions. In the summer of 1948, all five starters along with their coach, Adolph Rupp

Adolph Rupp

Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...

, were part of the gold medal winning United states team at the Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport as an official medal event. A total number of 23 nations entered the competition....

.

Those five players were Ralph Beard

Ralph Beard

Ralph Milton Beard Jr. was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Beard was a member of Adolph Rupp's "Fabulous Five" University of Kentucky basketball team...

, Alex Groza

Alex Groza

Alex John Groza was an American professional basketball player from Martins Ferry, Ohio who was banned from the NBA for life in 1951 for point shaving...

, Wallace 'Wah Wah' Jones, Cliff Barker

Cliff Barker

Clifford "Cliff" Eugene Barker was a basketball player from the United States, who won the gold medal with the USA national basketball team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom.-References:...

 and Kenny Rollins

Kenny Rollins

Kenneth Herman "Kenny" Rollins was an American basketball player who competed at the 1948 London Olympics and was also a member of the University of Kentucky's "Fab Five" who won the 1948 NCAA Tournament....

.