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We in Kentucky
have the horses . . .
. . .
but, as much as we love our thoroughbreds, it's really another interest ties us all together, whether we’re from the hills and
hollows of the Cumberland Plateau, the rolling meadows of the Bluegrass, or
the flood plains and wetlands of Kentucky’s western tip: It’s our enduring
love of one very special sport. We dabble in all manner of organized
contest, of course, but the abiding fidelity that both unit es
and divides Kentuckians across the board is basketball.
In our Bluegrass State,
we quickly develop lifelong loyalties to our high school and college teams,
and we have a rich and fabled heritage to support our teams, our dreams and
our aspirations. This year Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers and
the Murray State University Racers earned their way into March Madness, and both the University of Louisville
Cardinals and the
University of Kentucky Wildcats fought all the way to the NCAA's Final Four,
with the
UK Wildcats going on to become national champions! Basketball is like, well,
a basketball to us.
It begins early
as barefoot farm kids and city street urchins alike engage in pickup games
on outdoor courts or face the goal alone as they dream of one day hitting the winning
shot as the game clock ticks down. While the best of the crop hit the courts
in organized contests, coached to hit the open man on the give-and-go, the
majority of us become ardent and vocal spectators, fans for life. By early
adulthood, fierce team allegiances have been formed that have no equal in
politics or other partisan pursuits. Our love of the sport transcends those
lines that otherwise divide us and
brings the faithful together
from all walks of life to cheer and fret as we pit this year’s home team
against all comers. Basketball is an institution in Kentucky.
It’s no real
surprise
then that four of our Kentucky Athletic Hall of
Fame Class of 2012 inductees made their mark in the world of hoops.
Basketball is in our blood, and we root for the home team. We love our
football, too, and we have two inductees who made their names on the
gridiron. Rounding out our KAHF Class of 2012 are two horse racing legends.
Let's meet all of our inductees!
The
Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame
presents the Class of 2012:
Rick Robey
starred at the
University of Kentucky. At UK, Robey was a member of
the team that won the
1978 NCAA Championship and
the team that was the
1975 NCAA Runner Up. Robey was the third overall pick in the
1978 NBA Draft, selected by the
Indiana Pacers. Robey then played eight seasons (1978–86) in the
National Basketball Association as a member of the Indiana Pacers,
Boston Celtics, and Phoenix
Suns. He scored 3,723 points in his career and was a member of the 1981
Celtics
championship team.
Angel McCoughtry
is a professional basketball
player who completed her
college career at the
University of Louisville in 2009. She was selected first overall by the
Atlanta Dream in the
2009 WNBA Draft and is considered its
franchise player. She also
plays for the Turkish powerhouse
Fenerbahçe Istanbul
in the
EuroLeague Women.
Bobby Watson
played
basketball for Owensboro High School and The University of Kentucky as a
guard. He also played in the
National Basketball Association. Watson was drafted by the
Milwaukee Hawks in the
1952 NBA Draft.
He first played in the NBA with the
Minneapolis Lakers in 1954 before being traded back to the Milwaukee
Hawks
for Lew
Hitch.
Lee Corso
is
a sports broadcaster and
football analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN's
College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as
a commentator in EA Sports'
NCAA Football through
NCAA Football 11. In 1969, he was given the head coaching position at
Louisville where he coached his ESPN colleague
Tom Jackson. After taking Louisville to only its second-ever bowl game
in 1972, he was hired by
Indiana.
Homer Rice
was a college athletic director and football coach. From 1967 to 1968, he
served as the head football coach at
Cincinnati, and at
Rice. He has also served as Offensive Coordinator at
Oklahoma (1966), and Assistant Coach at
Kentucky.
Hugh Durham
is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and is the first and only coach in the
history of NCAA Division I basketball to lead two different schools to the
NCAA Final Four for the first and only time in each school's history (Florida
State University - 1972;
University of Georgia - 1983). No other coach in either school's history
has been able to duplicate Durham's achievements.
Seth Hancock
is the current owner of the famous Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. Secretariat
was syndicated by Seth Hancock for breeding purposes and stood at stud at
Claiborne Farm at the conclusion of his racing career at the end of 1973
until his death in 1989.
Churchill Downs
is a
Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the
Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the
first Kentucky Derby and the first
Kentucky Oaks in that same year. Churchill Downs has also hosted the
renowned
Breeders' Cup on seven occasions,
most recently in 2011.
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The
Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame display
at the KFC Yum! Center honors the accomplishments of athletes from
across the Commonwealth with a display on the east and west sides of the
Main Concourse. The display's nine panels showcase the Hall of Fame
athletes in various sports as well as coaches, contributors and icons of
the Bluegrass State. Those highlighted throughout the display include
Denny Crum, Hillerich & Bradsby, Muhammad Ali, Adolph Rupp, Phil Simms,
Dan Issel, Tom Jurich, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Pat Day, Tori Murden-McClure
and many others.
To read about all of our
Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, please
click here.
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The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame is pleased
to have as our corporate sponsor: |
Click here or logo above to visit
Insuramax.
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Insuramax
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky,
Insuramax has been helping individuals
and businesses for more than 40 years. |
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