https://digitalcollections.eku.edu/files/original/e7130ed65b111ea119bb5d88a4664177.pdf 791965af4bbbb6875d2da8463755221f PDF Text Text I 4 'K~1194 . de ,,,.,.,__ 1(/o,dd �9 F • • I �Kings of the Court, that's the title which might be applied to the .Kentucky Olympians, who won just Q.bout every basketball title known to· man during their collegiate • careers with the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Their hardwood history reads like a fairy tale and perhaps will never be e,qualled by another i,. college team . . .Over a four-year span, while the Olympians were playing with Kentucky, the Wildcats won the _Southeastern Conference championship -four times, the National Invita ... tional once, the National .,•Collegiate Athletic Association championship, the collegiate division of the Olympic Trials, were members of the U.S. Olympic squad in 1948, and were runners-up .in the NIT once. ,, f. . ._. Wallace (Wah-Wah) · Jones and Ralph Beard played all four of.these years. Alex Gr,oza, Kenn~ ·Rollins, Cliff Bf\rker and Joe -Holland- played three. All, with the exception . of Holland, were members of the Olympic. team-.and he was an alternate. In addition ~o the team honors which they won, these 1r boys copped enough individual honors. to .fill a book-and enough trophies to fill a 10-room house. i· The names of these players are legend throughout the United States and abroad . .Every magazine of general circulation in the nation-if . it deals with sports-has had at least one arti.cle about them and .hundreds of thousands of words have been w-r itten about them in daily newspapers.· from coast t_o coast. It is doubtful whether there is a 10-year-old boy in the United States, if he. has access to a radio or daily news( Continued on Page 2) Page :,1 �paper, who cannot recite a brief history of at least twoand perhaps all-of the Olympians. During their collegiate careers, they played before hundreds of thousands of fans in the major cities of the country, and throughout the South, and everywhere were acclaimed as the greatest college team ever assembled. Not only have they struck the fancy of fans, but they have also captured the hearts of the people of Kentucky and other points where they have played for there was never a finer group of boys than these lads of the Blue Grass. It is no wonder that they have reached the heights in basketball for they are champions through and through in their everyday life. No two are alike when it comes to personalities, but when they get on the basketball floor they are as one. For example, Beard is the youngster of the group-impulsive, energetic and always ready to move; Barker, the veteran, is the .s edate type-quiet and unassuming, but a hard worker on and off the court. Despite the fact that these boys have won so many honors, have toured the length and breadth of the United States and a great part of Europe, they are still as unaffected as any high school youngster who might come down from the mountains of Kentucky to enter the University. Because these boys have always been on the top, nationally, they have played under terrific pressure-and on a few occasions. they have cracked unde·r the strain. But the fact still remains that in four years of competition they lost but 10 games even though every team they played had pointed for their engagements with the champions. Every thoroughbred-even Mano' War and Citation, Continued on Page 12) Page 2 �ALEX GROZA Big Alex, a six foot, seven inch center, began hitting the headlines as a sensational basketball player in his junior year at the University of Kentucky. He was leading scorer on the 1948 championship U.S. Olympic team with a total of 488 points. A three-times All-American, Groza is a great rebound man and a real specialist in the pivot position and like Beard, has won just about every honor offered in basketball. While in the Army in 1945, he was named the outstanding service player. By a strange turn of fate, he missed making the All-Southeastern Conference team in 1947 and 1948, but made All-American both years. Not only has he won honors from the press and radio, but he was also voted as the most valuable player by his teammates at the end of the 1948 season and captained the 1949 Kentucky team. In his final season as a college player, he broke the individual one-game scoring record for the Southeastern Conference, the individual season scoring record, the individual tournament onegame mark, the individual tournament-total record, and a few others. A native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, Alex is a brother of Lou Groza, famed Cleveland Browns place-kicker and tackle. AII-American-1947, 1948 and 1949. All-Southeastern Conference-1949; second team, 1947 and 1948. U. S. Olympic team player-1948. Most valuable player in NCAA Tournament-1948. Most outstanding service player--1946. Most outstanding player in Chicago Stadium-1949. Sport Magazine Player of Year-1948. Page 3 �Beard poses for push shot as Jones (27) and Groza (15) look on. Pag 4. �RALPH BEARD The Little Man, as he is affectionately known t o h is close friends, is pe rhaps the most colorful player in basketball today. Picked as an All-American his sophomore year, he continued to hold the honor for three consecutive seasons. Helms Athletic Foundation selected Beard on their first team in both 1947 and 1948. True Magazine's poll of the National Association of Basketball Coaches r esulted in his being selected as player of the year for the second straight season and named him to their 1948 All-American tean1. Named by editors and sports writers as the No. 1 man on the first All-American collegiate basketball quintet ever selected by the Associated P ress in 1948, he was again named to the honor five in 1949 and in addition picked up a spot on the United Press All-American tea1n. New York Sports writers named Beard as the most valuable player to appear in Madison Squa:re Garden in 1947. A ball-hawking specialist, Beard makes life miserable for opponents and drives in under the basket with the speed of a champion thoroughb:red to drop in cr ip shots. He is also uncanny with distance shots from out on the court. Known as the fastest man in modern basketball, the gum-chewing little guard stands five feet, 10½ inches and weighs 175 pounds. AII-American- 1947, 1948 and 1949. All-Southea stern C o n ference-1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. U . S. Oly m pic t ea m p layer-1 948. Sport M a gazine P layer of Year-1947. True M a gaz in e P layer of Year- 1947. Outsta nd in g Pl aye r in M a dison Sq u are Garden- 1947. u rage ur· �WALLACE (WAH-WAH) JONES Known as "the people's choice," handsome Wallace (Wah-Wah) Jones, an All-American in both basketball and football, has perhaps the finest competitive spirit of any athlete in the nation today. Always a hard player, Jones really gets rugged when the chips are down. He was a three-letter man at the University of Kentucky, starring in basketball, football and baseball-but the cage game is his first love. As a member of the championship Wildcat teams, he alternated at forward and center, taking the pivot position when Groza needed rest. A heady player who refuses to be upset even in the toughest situation, Jones is a terror under the boards and is a consistent scorer. His specialty is an overhead shot from the side of the court-a shot that more than once pulled a game out of the fire for the Wildcats during his four years of collegiate competition. WahWah was also a member of the 1948 U . . Olympic team, made AllSoutheastern Conference in basketball in 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949 and in football in 1946; was All-American ·n basketball in 1947, 1948 and 1949 and was picked on the Central Press All-American football team in 1947. As a high school player at Harlan, Ky., he established a new national scoring record in four years of scholastic competition by tallying 2,398 points. Jones is married and has a young son. AII-American-1947, 1948 and 1949. Central Press football AII-American-1947. All-Southeastern Conference-1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. All-Southeastern football-1946. U.S. Olympic team player--1948. Page 6 �CLIFF BAlll(ER Perhaps the most under-rated basketball player in An1 rica today is the veteran Cliff Barke1, a gieat ball-handler, play-maker and floor general who had much to do with making the University of Kentucky's champion Wildcats . tay at the top of the hoop heap in recent years. Although Cliff made All-American honorable 1nentjon in 1948 and 1949, he was never able to nail down a fi rst-team spot largely because Kentucky already dominated the mythical quintet with three men- Groza, Beard and ,Jones-and to give a berth to a fourth man from the same school would be just too much in the eyes of the experts. Despite hjs failure to make the honor team, however, Barker played like an All-Amel'ican during his college career and was one of the main cogs in the Kentucky cage machine. In his senior year, he established a new all-ti1ne record fo r the Southeastern Conference- and for the South-by pitching in a 65-foot field goal in the Wildcats' final home game of the season. A native of Yorkto,vn, Ind., Barker played one year at Kentucky before entering the Army Air Corps. He was shot down over Germany and spent 16 months in a prison camp, where he reputedly learned his ball-handling technique by practicing with a volley ball. He is six feet, one and a half inches in height and weighs 185 pounds. Like Jones, Cliff is married, but has no children. U.S. Olympic team player-1948. All-American honorable mention-1948 and 1949. All-Southeastern Conference second team-1948 and 1949. Page 7 �Jones goes up for a crip shot Pag 8 . ID game against Georgia Tech. �KEN Y ROLLI NS One of he most polished guards jn th h:i.sketball business is Kenny Rollins, anoth r important cog in the U.S. Olympic team machinery in 1948. A smooth ball-handler and nlay-maker, he has plenty of court savvy and wa largely responsjble fo ~ guiding the Wildcats on the playing floor during his stay at th niversity of Kentucky. His last two y ars in school-1947 and 1 48-he serven as captain of the team. A native of Wickliffe, Ky., Kenny played one year at . K. before going- into th Navy to pla for on season with the famed Great Lakes Training tation outfit. Aft r the wa 1· he returned to Kentucky to complete his collegiate competition. tanning an ven six feet, and weighing- 175 pounds, Rollins is particularly dangerous with a one-hand jump shot from about the f ul line and on some occasions 'gets hot" from out on the court. H is a fine team player and often gave up easy shots in order that on of his teammates might score. During 1948-1. 49 he played with the hicago tags and was considered as one of th outstanding Iookies in professional ball. H married during hi senior year in college, but has no children. U.S. Olympic team player-1948. All-Southeastern Conference-1947 and 1948. Member of Great Lakes Team. Pag 9 �Record~breaking crowd of 14,000 sees Kentucky Olympians play Phillips Oilers in pre-Olympic game on Kentucky's Stoll Field in June, 1948. �JOE HOLLA D A tough rebounder and a top competitor i big Joe Holland, another nativ Kentuckian who hails from the little town of Benton in the Western part of th state. After graduating from high school, Joe entered the Navy and played with the Berea College Navy Unit team and later with the Iowa eahawks, which he captained during the 1944-194 season. It was during his stay at Berea that Coach Adolph Rupp saw the si foot, four-inch, 190-pounder in action and decided that the University of l entucky would b a good place for him to go after he was released from the service. He began with the Wildcats as a forward, but in his final season- 1947-1948- he alternated at forward and cente ~ and was effective in both spots. After leaving the University, Jo entered th automobile business in West Virginia, but his fir t lov was the basketball court and he decided to return to the game. He is a good shot, both from close in and from out on the court, scoring better than 200 points a season while he was in college. Although he was not a mernber of the U.S. Olympic team, he was an alternate and made the trip to England as a spectator after the pr -Olympic series betw en Kentucky and the Phillips Oilers had been completed. All-Southeastern Conference-1947. U.S. Olympic team alternate-1948. Iowa Seahawk -1945. lag, 11 �has his off days and so it was with these Kentucky players. But when they are in form the chips fly right and left. Losing their first engagement in the 1949 National Invitation tournament in New York to an under-rated Loyola of Chicago quintet, was perhaps the greatest upset any of these boys ever suffered while playing with Kentucky. But the fact cannot be denied that before this engagement in Madison Square Garden they had had a remarkable season in winning 29 tilts in 30 starts, including four games and the championship in the Southeastern Conference tourney. And when it is taken into consideration that the other three seeded teams in the Invitation-St. Louis, Western Kentucky and Utah-also bowed in their first games, the loss by the Kentuckians loses much of its impact. Basketball had long been outstanding at the University of Kentucky, but it was not until these Olympians came along that it really hit the "big time." It was their great play which emblazoned the name of the Wildcats on the sports pages of the nations. The names of Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Cliff Barker and Kenny Rollins will go down in sports history among the all-time greats of basketball and, although the University of Kentucky undoubtedly will have other great teams, they will al ways be remembered as the boys who actually put the Blue Grass state on the cage map. Just when many of the experts were bemoaning the fact that basketball had been given over to the goon-type player-the extremely tall boy-Beard came along to prove that a good little man could hold his place among the big fellows if he had the ability and the heart to do it. Beard, Barker and Rollins, all little men when it comes to present-day basketball, were just as outstanding and contributed just as much to the success of their team as did their taller brothers. By their play, they showed that Davids can be just as important as Goliaths in the hardwood sport. Page 12 �THE THOROUGHBRED PRESS Lexington , Ky. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dorris Museum Collection Description An account of the resource This collection consists of manuscript materials that were collected by the Dorris Museum. This collection has a worldwide scope and includes materials such as stereocards, photographs, scrapbooks, maps, publications, records of local organizations and more. Topics covered include both World Wars, music, coal mining, Kentucky history and more. Dr. Dorris collected any materials that he found to be interesting without regard to subject.<br /><br />Only a portion of this collection has been digitized. See the <a href="http://ekufindingaids.libraryhost.com/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&amp;id=540">Finding Aid</a> for a description of the entire collection. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource stereocard, photographs, tintypes, cabinet cards publications, scrapbooks, correspondence Language A language of the resource eng fre Type The nature or genre of the resource image text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 0010-065 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Kentucky Olympians Description An account of the resource Booklet about the University of Kentucky players who were on 1948 gold medalist Olympic basketball team. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Dorris Museum Collection Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1950 ca Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pamphlet Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 0010-065-b8-f25 Olympics