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Sports
LEGENDARY MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH JOE B. HALL DIES AT 93
Joe B. Hall, who faced the unenviable task of following the winningest coach in Kentucky men’s basketball history and carved out his own legacy with a national championship and three Final Four appearances, died Jan.15. He was 93 years old. Walking in the footstep of a Kentucky giant — the Baron of the Bluegrass, Adolph Rupp — Hall’s crowning coaching achievement was the 1978 national championship, the school’s fifth title but the first in 20 seasons. He also guided the Wildcats to Final Fours in 1975 and 1984.
“Some people are larger than life. Others make life larger and better for all of us. In a life that knew the biggest of victories on the biggest of stages, Joe B. Hall did both,” University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto said. “He helped coach some of the greatest figures in college sports, won championships and helped expand and enlarge the greatest tradition in college basketball. That’s the Joe B. Hall we all admired.” A native of Cynthiana, Hall was UK men’s head basketball coach from 1972-1985. He played one year of junior varsity and one year of varsity basketball during the “Fabulous Five” era at UK before transferring to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he finished his eligibility and set a single-game scoring record.
Following his college basketball career, Hall played on a college all-star team that accompanied the Harlem Globetrotters in Europe and Africa in 1951. He returned to UK and completed his degree requirements in 1955.
Hall was one of only three people to play and coach NCAA championship teams, the only one to do so at the same school.
“Coach Joe B. Hall — my friend, my mentor, and an icon in our state and in our profession — took over a program and carried on the winning tradition and legacy of excellence of Kentucky basketball,” UK men’s basketball head coach John Calipari said. “He made it the job it is today with his hard work, his ingenuity and his great basketball coaching.
Hall compiled a record of 297-100 (74.8%) during his time as Kentucky’s head coach. He won National Coach of the Year honors in 1978 and four Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year awards. He had seven players win All-America honors 11 times. Hall’s squads recorded a 172-62 (73.5%) record versus SEC competition during the regular season, winning eight regular-season titles in 13 seasons and one league tournament championship in seven tries.
Hall saw 24 players drafted during his 13-year tenure, six in the first round.
Off the court, Hall earned many recognitions.
Hall was named to the 1995 University of Kentucky Alumni Association Hall of Distinguished Alumni and he received a National Service Award in 1988, a recognition given annual to honor and recognize someone to has provided extraordinary service to UK and the UK Alumni Association. He served two three-year terms the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1987-1992.
“Coach Hall is an iconic figure in our state and was our greatest link to the history and tradition of Kentucky basketball,” UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart said. “The impact he made on our program, the University and the Commonwealth cannot be overstated. “After retiring from coaching, Coach Hall stayed close to the program, continuing to live here and giving so much to our community. Representing this place was immensely important to him. He supported everyone in the Kentucky coaching chair and had a special bond with Coach Calipari, whom he embraced from day one and I know will dearly miss Coach Hall’s insight and wisdom. Our deepest condolences are with his family, friends and all who knew him throughout the Big Blue Nation.”
Hall played a large role in the integration of Black student-athletes into the Kentucky men’s basketball program, first as an assistant coach under Rupp, then recruiting Reggie Warford as the program’s second Black recruit in his first freshman class.
His wife of 55 years, Katharine Dennis Hall, preceded him in death. He is survived by his daughters, Judy Hall Derrickson (Rick) and Kathy Hall Summers (Mike), and his son Steven Dennis Hall, as well as three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. His sister, Laura Jane Maltby (Bill) also survives him. ■
Cheerleaders presented former men’s basketball coach Joe B. Hall with a birthday cake on his 90th birthday at the men’s basketball game against UNC Greensboro in Rupp arena on Dec. 1, 2018.
Kentucky football, coming off a 10-3 season which included its fourth-straight bowl win, signed 24 players to the class of 2022.
Ranked 14th overall in the team rankings (5th in the SEC), this is arguably the best class in school history, said head football coach Mark Stoops.
“By national experts, it’s my understanding that this is the best class the University of Kentucky has ever signed,” said head football coach Mark Stoops. “That’s the way we understand it.”
This year’s class:
• Alex Afari, Lakota West, West Chester, Ohio • Kobi Albert, Fairfield Prep, Fairfield, Alabama • Jordan Anthony, Tylertown, Tylertown, Mississippi • Javon Baker, Alabama, McEachern, Powder Springs, Georgia • Grant Bingham, Johnson Central, Paintsville, Kentucky • Barion Brown, Pearl-Cohn, Nashville, Tennessee • Tomiwa Durojaiye, Middletown, Middletown, Delaware • Tyreese Fearbry, Perry Traditional, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Kiyaunta Goodwin, Charlestown, Charlestown, Indiana • Nik Hall, Akins, Austin, Texas • Quentel Jones, Peach County, Fort Valley, Georgia • Josh Kattus, Archbishop Moeller, Cincinnati, Ohio • Dane Key, Fredrick Douglas, Lexington, Kentucky • Tashawn Manning, Auburn University, Apopka, Florida • Noah Matthews, Woodbridge, Bridgeville, Delaware • Elijah Reed, Pleasure Ridge Park, Louisville, Kentucky • Tayvion Robinson, Virginia Tech, Cox, Virginia Beach,
Virginia • Jackson Smith, Boyle County, Danville, Kentucky • Andre Stewart, North Cobb, Kennesaw, Georgia • Destin Wade, Summit, Spring Hill, Tennessee • Keaten Wade, Summit, Spring Hill, Tennessee • Deone Walker, Cass Tech, Detroit, Michigan • Brandon White, Archbishop Moeller, Cincinnati, Ohio • Darrion Henry-Young, Ohio State, Princeton, Cincinnati,
Ohio
Kentucky football is slated to play eight homes games this fall. The schedule includes matchups against South Carolina (Oct. 8), Mississippi State (Oct. 15), Vanderbilt (Nov. 12) and defending national champion Georgia (Nov. 19). UK will also host nonconference Miami University (Sept. 3), Youngstown State (Sept. 17), Northern Illinois (Sept. 24) and Louisville (Nov. 26). ■
UK ATHLETICS ADDS SPORT OF STUNT TO VARSITY ATHLETIC PROGRAM
STUNT, a head-to-head competition between two teams that focuses on the technical and athletic aspects of cheer, has been added to the varsity athletics program.
Kentucky is one of 56 universities, including NCAA and NAIA varsity and club teams, that are sponsoring the sport for the 2022 season. Nine more schools are committed to begin in 2023. Kentucky has a club team in place, with many of those athletes expected to become part of the first varsity squad. STUNT will be the 23rd varsity team sponsored by UK, which has the largest sports lineup among Southeastern Conference schools. “We’re excited to add STUNT to our varsity program,” UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart said. “It is enjoying rapid growth and we believe the University of Kentucky can be a leader in this emerging sport.” UK named Bair Bergmann interim head coach in December. Bergmann came to UK in the summer of 2020 as an assistant cheerleading coach. Bergmann cheered collegiately at Alabama.
“Being named interim head coach of the UK STUNT program has been incredible,” Bergmann said. “Our current student-athletes have such a love for the University of Kentucky and seeing this opportunity present itself for them really motivates me to give my best every single day. Additionally, the opportunities this program will provide for other female student-athletes that want to attend UK and compete at a high level are second to none.”
Catherine Ruslavage was named assistant coach in February. She was a member of the STUNT and small coed cheer teams at Oklahoma State from 2015-2019. She and her team won four consecutive national champions in STUNT and one in small coed cheer.
STUNT is a four-quarter game. The skills that athletes learn through cheer — partner stunts, pyramids, jumps, tosses, tumbling — define the routines that must be performed in each of the four quarters by both teams head-to-head on the floor at the same time.
The team that executes the skills best wins the round and the point. That team then can determine which routine level will be called next. This allows the coaches to employ strategy throughout the game to advantage their team and affect the outcome of the game. UK Athletics added STUNT after researching and reviewing current and emerging women’s sports to find one that addressed the interests and abilities of young women attending UK and demonstrated great growth potential. ■
STUNT has been added to UK’s varsity athletic program.
Photo by Watercolors by Aimee
Aimee Griffith ’06 CI: Running for the Roses
By Akhira Umar
Aimee Griffith, a 2006 CI graduate, was recently named the official artist of the 148th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
The Kentucky Derby is known for its athletic horses and unique fashion. For 2022’s Derby, one University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information alumna is going to be known for her paintings.
Aimee Griffith, a 2006 integrated strategic communication graduate, is the official artist of the 148th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks to be held May 6-7. The Kentucky artist is taking the title not as a well-known, classically trained painter but as a full-time mom turned nearly full-time painter.
Becoming a professional artist was never in Griffith’s life plan. Her career was in advertising and marketing, and she loved it. But when she quit her job and moved to Australia for her husband’s career, she found herself taking a watercolor workshop while vacationing on Hamilton Island in 2016. Combining her new knowledge on the basics of painting with the inspiration she got from the art she discovered during her travels, Griffith figured she’d try her hand at making her own paintings.
“I feel like the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to not limit myself,” Griffith said. “We’re all capable, but it doesn’t hurt to try because if you try and it doesn’t work out, so what? Throw it away. It’s no big deal. Even if it’s not something that grows into a business, it can be very therapeutic, and it can bring joy to people that you make it for. One of the biggest things I just love is making art for other people.”
Love of watercolor
Though others might find the unforgiving nature of watercolors intimidating, Griffith finds it magical. Watercolor is her specialty because she loves its unpredictability and transparency. She can simultaneously narrow in on the details of her paintings while also allowing the watercolors to freely flow.
What started as a hobby to fuel her lifelong love for art turned into a side hustle when she started an Etsy shop for the people who wanted prints of her paintings. Though she wasn’t sure what she was doing when she started her business, she used what she learned in ISC in the design of her Etsy shop, website, wholesale line sheets and social media marketing. Now her art business has grown enough to establish itself and become Griffith’s job instead of just a pastime.
“When I left my job and became a mom full time, I was really unsure of what my purpose was going to be past being a mom,” Griffith said. “And art has been an outlet for me. I’m just glad that I’ve found something that I enjoy doing so much that is able to help support me.”
Right when Griffith hit a low point in her new art career after taking a hiatus from painting to help her kids through virtual learning, she was surprised with a request in early 2021 to submit her art for consideration of becoming the official art for the 148th Kentucky Derby. She never imagined being selected, but she knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
To Derby and beyond
She created two 2 feet by 3 feet watercolor paintings, one for the Derby and the other for the Oaks. Her goal was to create paintings with lots of energy. The Derby painting features racehorses and their jockeys mid-run.
Griffith wanted to capture the “bright spot” she felt when painting this — the feelings of hope, kids going back to school and the vaccine being released. As such, this painting is full of color, excitement and joy. For the fashion-forward Oaks painting, she wanted to create a fun atmosphere showcasing the pageantry and anticipation leading up to the race. Griffith wanted this piece to tell a story with the people and fashion it features.
Griffith hopes the exposure from the Derby and Oaks will open more doors for her art career in the future, not just to support her but to support others as well.
“I really want to try to find a way to use my art to help other people,” Griffith said. “I think that some things are a gift, and it’s good to give that gift to other people so that it can help others. I’m trying to figure out that for me.”
“Official Art of the Kentucky Derby” will be featured on the 2022 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks official racing programs and a variety of merchandise, including Derby and Oaks 148 limited edition artist-signed and numbered posters.
If you like to purchase other merchandise featuring the “Official Art of the Kentucky Derby,” visit the Kentucky Derby Museum and www.kentuckyderbystore.com.
If you would like to purchase Griffith’s other paintings or prints, visit www.watercolorsbyaimee.com. ■
