page_title: Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
section_title: Fred Enke era
hierarchical_section_title: Arizona Wildcats men's basketball / History / Fred Enke era
caption_attribution_description: English: University of Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball coach from the 1960 “Desert” yearbook.
context_page_description: The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. They compete in the Pac-12 Conference of NCAA Division I and are currently coached by Sean Miller.
  Arizona has a long and rich basketball history. The program came to national prominence under the tutelage of former head coach Lute Olson, who established the program as among America's elite in college basketball. One writer referred to UA as "Point Guard U" because the school has produced successful guards like Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Khalid Reeves, Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Gardner, Jerryd Bayless, and T. J. McConnell, among others.
  From 1985 to 2009, the Arizona basketball team reached the NCAA Division I Tournament for 25 consecutive years, two years shy of North Carolina's record with 27. Despite having their 1999 and 2008 appearances later vacated by the NCAA, the media still cites Arizona's streak, and simply notes the changes. The Wildcats have reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament on four occasions. They have also made two appearances in the National Championship.
context_section_description: From 1925 to 1961, the program was under the stewardship of Fred Enke, UA's longest tenured coach.  Coach Fred A. Enke was responsible for the early successes of Wildcat basketball. Enke amassed 509 wins in his tenure on the UA sidelines and still ranks as the second-winningest coach in school history, winning more than 60 percent of his games. Enke also led the Cats to the first four postseason appearances (3 N.I.T./1 NCAA) in school history and in 1950–51 competed in both the N.I.T. and NCAA postseason tournaments. Finally, he was the first coach to lead Arizona to a national ranking. Two of his teams (1950, 1951) finished the season ranked in the top 15.
  Under Enke, UA competed in the now defunct Border Conference. Under Enke's direction, Arizona won 12 conference championships, including a span in which the Cats won or shared seven consecutive Border
  Conference titles (1942–51). No Border Conference team won as many league games (231) or overall contests (398) during its membership. In 1962, Arizona joined the Western Athletic Conference as a founding member after the Border Conference disbanded.
caption: Fred Enke in 1960.
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