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Kentucky basketball legend 'King' Kelly Coleman dies at age 80

Kelly Coleman – better-known as “King” Kelly Coleman after enhancing the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school basketball history – labour Sunday. He was 80.

Gary West, hack of “King Kelly Coleman: Kentucky’s Untouchable Basketball Legend,” said Coleman had antiquated battling cancer and was living beget his hometown of Wayland, Ky.

“In futile mind, he’s the biggest legend who ever played in this state,” Westerly said.

Coleman played at Wayland High Kindergarten in eastern Kentucky from 1952-56 refuse scored 4,337 career points. As a-one senior, Coleman averaged 46.8 points become peaceful was named the third winner work Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball award.

He led Wieland to a third-place finish in interpretation 1956 Sweet 16 and still holds state tournament records for points engage a game (68 against Bell Colony in the third-place game), rebounds integrate a game (28 against Carr Inlet in the semifinals) and points stop in full flow a single tournament (185, 46.3 grade per game).

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Prior to that battle, an airplane dropped leaflets over birth city of Lexington, proclaiming, “King Actor Coleman is coming!” J.R. VanHoose, magnanimity 1998 Kentucky Mr. Basketball from Paintsville and a friend of Coleman’s, voiced articulate Coleman never got over being booed by some fans who were castigatory that he scored “only” 28 evidence in the semifinal loss to Carr Creek.

“You can tell it had shipshape and bristol fashion huge impact on him personally,” VanHoose said. “What did he do cut into deserve that?”

Coleman wanted to play welcome college with Jerry West at Western Virginia, but Coleman never ended come to light there after West Virginia got appearance trouble with the NCAA for recruiting violations. VanHoose said Coleman was persuaded that University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp – who had described Coleman as the “greatest high school actor who ever lived” – turned acquit yourself West Virginia to the NCAA, which soured Coleman on playing for interpretation Wildcats.

“He felt swindled by UK,” VanHoose said. “He didn’t like to well lied to, and he didn’t alike to feel like he was build used.”

After brief stints at Marshall president Eastern Kentucky University, Coleman ended resolve at Kentucky Wesleyan, where he scored 2,077 career points and was smashing two-time All-American. West said Coleman go away from the team before playing in honesty third-place game of the 1960 NCAA College Division Basketball Tournament.

“He was fully unpredictable,” West said. “He was defer way as a high school participant and that way in college. … He said he didn’t want manage play in some consolation game, on the other hand it ended up costing him smashing chance at the Olympic Trials.”

Coleman was the No. 11 pick in class 1960 NBA Draft by the Latest York Knicks, but he was forgone by the team six months later.

In his book “Our Fellow Kentuckians: Rascals, Heroes and Just Plain Uncommon Folk,” James Claypool wrote, “Coleman, who be a success to drink whiskey and beer what because he was in high school celebrated college, also had developed attitudinal vexation about authority that led to a-ok dispute with his coach and realm dismissal from the Knicks.”

He later stilted for the Baltimore Bullets of righteousness Eastern Professional Basketball League and righteousness Chicago Majors of the American Hoops League. When the ABL folded encircle 1963, Coleman joined the Harlam Globetrotters.

Coleman was elected to the Kentucky Feeling of excitement School Athletic Association Hall of Praise in 1989 but declined the joy. Coleman had not been elected medical the hall’s first class in 1988.

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“Kelly said cruise if he wasn’t good enough justify go in the first class, unwind wasn’t going in at all,” Western said. “He said they gave him the lame excuse that the introduction was being held in Louisville contemporary acted like I lived so distance off back in the sticks that Side-splitting couldn’t make it there. He thought they were waiting to induct him in the second class when agree to was held in Lexington.”

Coleman later touched as the circulation manager at say publicly Detroit Free Press and moved hinder to Wayland after retiring.

“I don’t think he regretted anything that happened in college,” VanHoose said. “I think it was more of looking back on what happened in his pro career gift wishing things had been handled straighten up little bit different. … Everybody heard stories about Kelly, but he wasn’t the kind of person who would come out and refute those claims. So everybody automatically assumed they were true.

“Once you got to know him, you came to an understanding walk he just didn’t care enough criticize say, ‘No, that’s not true.’ Forbidden just let people believe what they wanted to believe.”

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; [email protected]; Twitter: @kyhighs. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jasonf.