• Derek Abney- NFL Baltimore Ravens wide receiver
• George Blanda - member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Tim Couch-former NFL quarterback,first pick in the 1999 NFL Draft
• Dermontti Dawson - former NFL offensive lineman (Pittsburgh Steelers)
• Ashley Judd - actress
• William Lipscomb- 1976 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Ken Lucas - U.S. representative from Kentucky's fourth congressional district
• Mitch McConnell - U.S. Senator from Kentucky
• Thomas Hunt Morgan - natural scientist and winner of the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Story Musgrave - astronaut
• Artose Pinner-National Football Leaguerunningback
• John T. Scopes - defendant in the Scopes Monkey Trial
• Tom Jefferson Terral - governor of Arkansas

Men's basketball alumni

• Sam Bowie
• Tony Delk
• Dan Issel
• Jamaal Magloire
• Jamal Mashburn
• Ron Mercer
• Tayshaun Prince
• Pat Riley
• Jeff Sheppard
• Antoine Walker
• Kenny Walker
• Jack "Goose" Givens
• Cliff Hawkins
• Derek Anderson
• Keith Bogans
• Erik Daniels
• Louie Dampier
• Rick Robey