By David Green
wordman27@hotmail.com
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For more than a century, the sounds of balls bouncing, gym shoes squeaking and crowds cheering have been a staple of winter nights in Kentucky. Much of the old-time fervor over basketball at the high school and collegiate levels remains, in spite of dramatic expansion of opportunities in sports and other extracurricular and leisure-time activities.

A shrine to high school basketball in the far western end of the Bluegrass State is taking shape, and the effort is gaining momentum, says Ed Jones of Benton.

No wonder, says Jones, who was a star player at Benton High School and later coached at his Alma Mater. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm,” he said. “We’re really pleased.”

The genesis of this project was a series of meetings that began more than a decade ago to gather players, coaches and others in social gatherings where they could share a meal and relive the times when they were in action against each other or as teammates. The meetings, held at a variety of locales, were established by the late Barney Thweatt, who was a member of the Brewers High School team in the late 1940s. The 1948 Redmen were the last state champion boys team to complete a perfect, undefeated season.

Many of those attending the get-togethers had not seen each other in years, and the fellowship was heartwarming. “That was very good,” Jones said of the meetings, noting that Jeff Waters, long-time radio voice of the Marshall County Marshals, was able to obtain dozens of recorded interviews with many of those who took part in the sessions.
Those experiences inspired Jones to travel to the eastern Kentucky town of Wayland. “King Kelly” Coleman, who played for the Wayland Wasps and graduated in 1956, held the record for most career points scored in Kentucky high school basketball until last year, when Lyon County’s Travis Perry eclipsed Coleman’s mark.
Jones described how Wayland languished after its main industry – coal mining – finished its run in the early 1960s. The population dwindled. But the gymnasium where Coleman played remains, and has been restored. Residents of the town hope to derive some tourism business from the gym, which has been restored much as it was in the 1950s.

Another motivation is the common opinion of residents in the Jackson Purchase and other counties in this far-flung end of the Commonwealth that we are largely unknown and somewhat disrespected by those who live on the east side of an imaginary line between Owensboro and Bowling Green.

“In these 13 counties, we’ve got eight state championships, several runners-up” and an assortment of highly talented players, Jones said. Perry, last year’s Mister Basketball and now a freshman on the Kentucky Wildcats roster, is the latest of a long line of excellent players.
“We wanted to preserve this, because so many basketball fans are going to be able to look back, and they had a grandpa, they had an uncle, somebody played, and they can see a picture of ‘em, maybe, the score, things like that.”
Members of the museum organization are working to collect information and photographs, newspaper clippings, rosters, statistics, box scores and other paraphernalia from their home counties.
Also, Jones said, the media departments of a number of schools are including this research as a part of their students to produce content.
The rebound of an idea has been claimed, the outlet pass has been made and the lanes are filled on the first fast break. The first cheers of the crowd are being heard. The West Kentucky High School Basketball Heritage Museum is on its way.

“This will be an ongoing thing,” Jones said with a smile. “Who knows what might happen this year?”