Richie Farmer

He credited his father, a transportation manager at a local coal mine and a standout point guard at Clay County High School in 1963, with developing his basketball acumen.

As an eighth grader, Farmer played basketball for his grade school basketball team, as well as the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams at Clay County High School.

Richard Dwight Farmer (born August 25, 1969) is an American former collegiate basketball player and Republican Party politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky.

Richard Dwight ("Richie") Farmer, Jr. was born on August 25, 1969, in Corbin, Kentucky, but grew up in the eastern Kentucky town of Manchester.

He was the second of three children born to Richard and Virginia Farmer.

Because of his physical maturity – he reportedly began shaving at age 12 and had begun wearing his trademark mustache by his junior year in high school – Farmer was frequently questioned about his age.

The 5ft 11in left-hander's vertical leap measured 40 in in high school.

He played sparingly during the varsity team's regular season but received 68 seconds of playing time – scoring 2 points – during the Tigers' victory over Owensboro High School in the 1984 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) State Basketball Championship.

He also played football on a team that won the county championship that year.

He eventually stopped playing football, but continued to play baseball – as a pitcher and first baseman – in addition to basketball until his senior year of high school.

As a freshman, Farmer led his team in scoring during the regular season, averaging 16.4 points per game from the shooting guard position.

In the opening round of the 1985 KHSAA state tournament, Farmer scored 14 points on 6 of 16 shooting in a win over Boone County High School.

Then, in back-to-back victories against Metcalfe County High School and Doss High School, he led his team with 21 and 20 points, respectively, to help Clay County reach the tournament finals.

Farmer scored 10 points in Clay County's 65–64 loss to Hopkinsville High School in the championship game.

He was the tournament's second-highest scorer with 69 points, one behind Hopkinsville's Lamont Ware, and finished second in the voting for the tournament's Most Valuable Player, which went to Hopkinsville's Wendell Quarles.

Only Apollo High School's Rex Chapman received more votes for the all-tournament team.

Clay County ranked only behind Owensboro and Scott County High School in the Lexington Herald-Leader's 1985–86 preseason coaches poll.

During Clay County's 22–6 regular season, Farmer, who moved to the point guard position, averaged 18.6 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds per game.

A point guard, Farmer led Clay County High School to the 1987 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) State Basketball Championship and, in 1988, was named Kentucky Mr. Basketball and Kentucky Associated Press Male High School Athlete of the Year after setting a championship game record with 51 points in a losing effort.

Although he was popular state-wide and publicly stated his desire to play collegiate basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, Coach Eddie Sutton was reluctant to offer Farmer a scholarship.

After Farmer announced that he would visit other colleges and issued a deadline past which he would no longer consider Kentucky without a scholarship offer, Sutton relented and Farmer joined the University of Kentucky.

Kentucky struggled during Farmer's first year, finishing with a 13–19 record, and by mid-season, fans were accusing Sutton of unfairly favoring his son, Sean, over Farmer at the point guard position.

Sutton resigned in the offseason due to a pay-for-play scandal for which the NCAA banned Kentucky from postseason play for two years.

Sutton's replacement, Rick Pitino, instituted a rigorous conditioning program and fast-paced style of play that improved Farmer's performance.

After spending his junior season as a backup to Sean Woods, Farmer transitioned to shooting guard and became a starter in the middle of his senior year.

The team's seniors – Farmer, Woods, John Pelphrey, and Deron Feldhaus – were dubbed "The Unforgettables", and their jerseys were hung from the rafters of Rupp Arena following the 1991–92 season.

Again eligible for postseason competition, the Wildcats won the Southeastern Conference tournament and reached the Regional Finals of the 1992 NCAA Tournament, losing in overtime on a last-second shot by Duke's Christian Laettner in a game regarded by many as the greatest college basketball game ever played.

He served as the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture from 2004 to 2012 and was the running mate of David L. Williams in the 2011 gubernatorial election.

After leaving office, Farmer was investigated for violating state campaign finance laws and misappropriating state resources and was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison along with a concurrent 12 months in state prison.

Farmer parlayed his status as a basketball icon into two terms as Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner from 2004 to 2012, winning both elections by large margins.

In 2011, Kentucky Senate President David L. Williams tapped Farmer – considered a rising star in the state Republican Party – as his running mate in the gubernatorial election.

They were defeated by Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and his running mate Jerry Abramson.

During the campaign, media reports alleged that Farmer had misused state funds and property as agriculture commissioner and Farmer's successor collaborated with the state auditor to investigate the allegations.

As a result, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission charged Farmer with 42 ethics violations – the most against an individual in state history.

Attorney General Jack Conway also charged Farmer with violating state campaign finance laws, and a federal grand jury followed with five indictments for abuses of power.

Farmer initially contested the charges, but later agreed to a plea bargain.

He also led the Tigers in scoring in each of their three games en route to the 13th Region Kentucky High School Athletic Association basketball championship.

On January 14, 2014, Farmer was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $120,500 in restitution and $65,000 in fines.

He served almost 20 months in a satellite camp of the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton near Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, before transitioning to a halfway house in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 18, 2015.

He was released from the halfway house on January 21, 2016 and is currently residing in Clay County.