54 Larry Lentz

Larry Lentz was born August 22, 1944, and came to Kentucky from Lakeview, Ohio, after a standout career at Indian Lake High School. The 6-foot-8 center averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds per game as a senior, shot 61 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free-throw line, earned honorable mention All-State recognition and helped lead Indian Lake into tournament play. He was also president of his senior class and signed a grant-in-aid with Kentucky at age 17, becoming part of Adolph Rupp’s 1962 recruiting class.

With freshmen still barred from varsity competition, Lentz became a regular starter for Kentucky’s 1962–63 freshman team. He started 13 of 17 games, scored 111 points and grabbed 124 rebounds, third-best on the team, with a season-high 16 points against Tennessee’s freshmen. Contemporary Kentucky accounts described him as one of the team’s fastest-improving young players and hoped his size could help solve the Wildcats’ need for a dependable big man. His varsity role ultimately proved more limited, but he saw his most productive stretch as a junior in 1964–65, appearing in nine games and scoring 26 points.

Lentz’s best varsity performance came on February 6, 1965, when he scored a career-high seven points off the bench as Kentucky overwhelmed Mississippi, 102–65, at Memorial Coliseum. Although his contribution was modest in the box score, a 1966 senior tribute in the Lexington Herald emphasized his value in practice, where his strength and competitiveness helped challenge and develop younger centers such as Thad Jaracz and Cliff Berger. As one of only three seniors on the famed 1965–66 Wildcats, Lentz earned a varsity letter and shared in an SEC championship, a No. 1 national ranking and Kentucky’s run to the NCAA championship game.

After graduating from Kentucky, Lentz remained in central Kentucky and became a pharmacist, later living in Nicholasville. His competitive interests eventually extended to cooking, where he found success at both the state and national levels. He won second place and $3,000 at the National Beef Cook-Off in Portland, Oregon, for a poached-and-peppered tenderloin of beef, and also won the adult division of the Kentucky Egg Recipe Contest with a tropical pound cake pudding.