re: Anyone recall the Louisville fan talking trash on this site?

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Well to be fair, the entire SEC was probably racist as hell back then.

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I've heard this excuse before and to that I say, NOT GOOD ENOUGH, STILL NO EXCUSE! Rupp could've used his influence to change the south but he didn't. If the argument is he didn't want black players because he couldn't protect them in the SEC then that's not only being racist but it's being a coward. In that case you leave the SEC.

UK could've said "we're bring in black players and you will protect them at the other schools or we won't show up." UK could've left the SEC and played northern and midwestern schools that already had black players. UK could've been a leader in the movement to have black players in college basketball, instead they were at the heart of the problem.

Doing the right thing is usually not the easiest thing, in fact it's the hardest thing. Rupp had a change to exert his influence and instead tried to protect racism instead of ending it.

UK fans can believe whatever they want about Adolph Rupp, but for the rest of the country Adolph Rupp will always be remembered by his racism and cheating as much as he is by his wins and championships (many of which were won by cheating, such as the massive cheating scandal involving the 49 and 51 Championship teams that led to the NCAA creating the death penalty). Rupp will always have a tarnished legacy.

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Then Belle answer me this, where were the black players at UK in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s? Where were they? Adolph Rupp had the chance to recruit them and openly decided not to because he wanted white players only! It wasn't until the 66 NCAA Title Game against Texas Western that Rupp's stance changed because he knew the days of winning it all with only white players was over.

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Why would the Kentucky Negro Education Association ask him to be their keynote speaker in 1938 if he was such a rampant racist?

In the same year he held a basketball clinic at historically black Kentucky State. He did it multiple years afterward including 1945 (see the article below). Seems kind of counter-productive for someone who was a rampant racist trying to hold African-Americans down.



For a long time the SEC didn't allow the inclusion of black players but he helped kids get on at other Universities.

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In 1950, Rupp attended the Kentucky black high school state tournament, where he noticed a talented black player by the name of Jim Tucker from nearby Paris. After Tucker's team lost in the tournament, Rupp asked for permission to speak with Tucker.

"I knew who he was, and he [Rupp] said to me, 'I'd like you to come to Kentucky, but you know our situation here. But what I'd like to do is contact some of my friends in the coaching community and see if they might have an interest in you because I think you have the ability to become an All-American and a good basketball player."

Rupp did follow through with the offer, and eventually Tucker signed with Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and their coach Donald Moore, who accepted Tucker sight unseen, based solely on Rupp's recommendation. "He said that if Adolph Rupp recommends you, that's the only reason we showed the interest, because if he couldn't have you, then we'd like to."

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When Rupp started the Kentucky All-Star team (that would go on to play Indiana in following years) he named Tucker to that squad. The first african-american player to play with them.



Then you had this as well:

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"When Frank McGuire brought his St. John's team to Lexington in the early '50s, he had a black player named Solly Walker. Walker would be the first black ever to play in Memorial Coliseum. And Adolph called Ed Ashford at the Herald office. I was there at the time. Adolph got Ed to write a column asking people to be tolerant and hospitable to Solly Walker. I can still see Ed typing the story with two fingers. and the St. John's game went just fine." - by Dave Kindred, Lexington Herald Leader, "Calling Rupp a Racist Just Doesn't Ring True," December 22, 1991, pp. F2.

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And that's just a little bit against the bullshite you're touting.

Oh how nice Belle finds an article where Rupp was concerned about the safety of a black player. Again, where were the black players at UK in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s? If Rupp is such a wonderful guy as you all think he is, why did UK have no black players until after the 1966 NCAA Champ game against Texas Western?

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Rupp drew criticism late in his career for failing to recruit African-Americans and only one black ever played for him, 7-foot Tom Payne. Though Rupp talked of recruiting blacks during the 1960s, Kentucky was one of the last major basketball schools to integrate its program.

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On the other hand, Rupp reportedly didn't recruit Connie Hawkins, the nation's best high school player in 1960, when he learned Hawkins was an African-American. He supposedly once vowed that blacks would never play for him at Kentucky. But he did relent and Payne appeared in the coach's next-to-last season (1970-71).

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It was reported that at halftime Rupp used the words "coons" in reference to Texas Western. And the Miners' Nevil Shed remembered that Rupp failed to shake hands with the Texas Western players after the game and didn't give the winners any credit for their victory.

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Yep such a fine gentlemen, refusing to shake the hands of black players. Yep not a racist at all.

LINK

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Though Rupp talked of recruiting blacks during the 1960s, Kentucky was one of the last major basketball schools to integrate its program.

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Er, Steve Matthews tried out for the team in '64 but admittedly due to his own poor conditioning didn't make the team.

Also, 7 current/former SEC schools didn't integrate until after the University of Kentucky in basketball either (Florida, Georgia Tech, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, A&M, Mississippi State).

Other notable teams that didn't integrate until the late 60s/early 70s (starting with Houston in 65-66, ending with South Carolina and others in 70-71)? Houston, Maryland, Duke, Texas Christian, Baylor, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, NC State, Wake Forest, Texas, Auburn, Clemson, Texas Tech, Georgia, South Carolina, etc.

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Making other schools look bad Belle doesn't make UK look any better

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Funny you should say that. What's your response to UofL Basketball not integrating until 1962 when they played in the Missouri Valley Conference and above the Mason Dixon Line?

I'll be patiently waiting.

I see you're not going to answer my question.

I don't have to find a UofL coach who said that. Not integrating until 1962 while being a northern school says plenty about UofL's stance on race relations.

Adolph Rupp integrated his high school team in Illinois BEFORE the University of Louisville integrated their collegiate team. Congrats.

Yep and the University of Louisville basketball and football teams integrated well before the University of Kentucky basketball and football teams. I think that says it all.

Never mind I've never heard the word n*gger used at a UofL sporting event. I have heard the word used at a UK game several years back when Tubby Smith was on his last legs at UK and they weren't quiet about it. At UofL we would've put that fan in his place, at UK it is quietly accepted. Says a lot about the University of Kentucky and the UKKK fans.

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And BTW Belle you still haven't answered my question on why Rupp never recruited players in the 1940s, 1950s, or 1960s. I'm waiting!!!

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He did? Next question?