Remembering Coach Joe B. Hall by Larry Vaught | photos by Mike Cyrus and courtesy UK Athletics
Almost as soon as he got on campus, John Calipari did everything he could to embrace former Kentucky coach Joe Hall and make him a vital part of the UK program again. Yet in many ways, Calipari insists he got more out of his friendship with Hall than he gave to the former UK coach. “He told me you are in the best situation in the world for basketball [after Calipari got the UK coaching job in 2009],” Calipari said. “He was that guy who wanted the university’s program, the state of Kentucky basketball’s program, to do well. It was nice to have that guy in your corner, and he was always in my corner.” Hall passed away last month at age 93. Hall, a Cynthiana native, played one year at Kentucky for coach Adolph Rupp before transferring. He returned to UK in 1965 as Rupp’s assistant coach and was named Rupp’s successor in 1972
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— the first-native born Kentuckian to be UK’s head coach since Basil Hayden in 1926-27. He had a 297-100 record at UK before retiring in 1985. His 1977-78 team won the national championship when he was named national coach of the year. His 1974-75 team lost to UCLA in the national title game, and he also took a team to the 1984 Final Four. He won eight Southeastern Conference regular-season championships. Kentucky unveiled a statue of Hall outside Wildcat Coal Lodge in 2012, and his passing brought an outpouring of love from former UK players, UK fans and rivals. Dana Skaggs, a Louisville attorney, is one of many long-time UK fans who never met Hall but still admired him. “As is the case with some folks, I felt like I knew him. A fixture in Kentucky and for BBN,” Skaggs said.
February 2022 | TOPS in Lexington
