32 Richie Farmer

Richie Farmer was born Richard Dwight Farmer on August 25, 1969, in Corbin, Kentucky, and grew up in Manchester. There, on a dirt court behind the family home, he and his younger brother Russ learned the game from their father. Richie developed into one of the Commonwealth’s most celebrated schoolboy players, leading Clay County to the 1987 state championship and scoring 27 points in an overtime victory over Ballard.

As a senior, Farmer produced one of the defining performances in Sweet Sixteen history, scoring a championship-game-record 51 points against Ballard in 1988. He completed his Clay County career with 2,793 points and state-tournament career records of 317 points and 127 field goals. The only player to appear in five KHSAA state tournaments, he was named Kentucky Mr. Basketball and the Associated Press Kentucky Male High School Athlete of the Year.

Farmer’s recruitment became a statewide story. Although Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton initially hesitated to offer him a scholarship, Farmer’s play and enormous popularity proved impossible to overlook. More than 1,600 people gathered in the Clay County gymnasium to watch the eastern Kentucky star sign with the Wildcats in April 1988.

Farmer remained at Kentucky through the difficult transition from Sutton to Rick Pitino and helped restore the program to national prominence. He contributed to the fast-paced “Pitino’s Bombinos,” scored a career-high 28 points against Notre Dame as a senior and helped Kentucky capture the 1992 SEC Tournament championship. A fearless shooter and enduring crowd favorite, he is best remembered as a member of “The Unforgettables” alongside Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey and Sean Woods—the four seniors whose loyalty and leadership carried Kentucky back to the NCAA Tournament.

During that 1992 tournament run, Farmer made four consecutive late free throws in a 106–98 victory over Iowa State, prompting Pitino to say, “If not for Richie Farmer, we don’t win the game.” His Kentucky career ended in the historic 104–103 overtime loss to Duke in the East Regional final. The four Unforgettables were later honored by having their jerseys hung in the Rupp Arena rafters. Farmer did not pursue professional basketball, instead graduating from Kentucky with degrees in agribusiness management and agricultural economics; in 2012, he was inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.