Until I was nine or ten, everyone called me Joe or Joe Hall. Hall is one of only three men to both play on an NCAA championship team (1949, Kentucky) and coach an NCAA championship team (1978, Kentucky), and the only one to do so for the same school. During his thirteen years as head coach at the University of Kentucky, from 1972 to 1985, Joe B.
Until I was nine or ten, everyone called me Joe or Joe Hall. Then one day, my grandmother, for reasons known only to her, pulled me aside, telling me my name was "too short and too plain." She said, "Let's add your middle initial to make it more interesting. From now on, you say your name is Joe B., not just Joe. It's Joe B. Hall." Joe B. Hall is one of only three men to both play on an NCAA championship team (1949, Kentucky) and coach an NCAA championship team (1978, Kentucky), and the only one to do so for the same school. In this riveting memoir, Hall presents intimate details about his remarkable life on and off the court. He reveals never-before-heard stories about memorable players, coaches, and friends and expresses the joys and fulfillments of his rewarding life and career. During his thirteen years as head coach at the University of Kentucky, from 1972 to 1985, Joe B. Hall led the team to 297 victories. The most memorable of these is the 1978 NCAA Men's Division Basketball Championship. This legendary coach followed in the colossal footsteps of Adolph Rupp to chart his own path to success and become one of college basketball's all-time greats and winningest coaches.
Joe B. Hall was the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky from 1972 to 1985. He had previously coached at Central Missouri State University and Regis University before coming to UK in 1965 to serve as an assistant coach under Adolph Rupp. In the 1978 NCAA Tournament, he coached the Wildcats to their fifth NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1978 and Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year on four different occasions. His record at UK was 297--100, and 373--156 over his career. Marianne Walker is a retired professor of English and philosophy at Henderson Community College. She is the author of Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind and The Graves County Boys: A Tale of Kentucky Basketball, Perseverance, and the Unlikely Championship of the Cuba Cubs .
ForewardWhy 'Joe B. Hall'?Hard TimesThe EpiphanyBack to KentuckyFishingTeenage YearsFootballMy Early Influences and Role ModelsAbout WorkingWildcats' World, 1944-1947A UK FreshmanFirst Practice, 1947The Fabulous FiveSewaneeMy World TourKatharineShepherdsvilleRegis CollegeGreat OpportunityAdjusting to Coach Rupp's RoutinesMore Adjusting to Coach Rupp's RoutinesRecruitingBeginning of the End, 1967The Heir Apparent, 1969-1970The Agony, 1971-1972UK Head Coach, 1972Australian Tour, 1974The Avengers! 1975John Wooden's Ploy: NCAA, 1975Running the WallAbout Boys Being BoysWildcat LodgeNCAA Championship, 1978The Georgetown Game, 1984Life After CoachingFarewellMy Thank-You Note