Joe Beasman Hall (November 30, 1928 – January 15, 2022) was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at the University of Kentucky from 1972 to 1985, leading the Wildcats to a national championship in 1978.[1]
Biography
Hall played one year of varsity basketball at Kentucky before transferring to the Sewanee: The University of the South, where he completed his basketball playing eligibility but did not graduate.[2] After Sewanee, Hall toured with the Harlem Globetrotters and later returned to Kentucky to complete his undergraduate studies.[3] Hall graduated from Kentucky in 1955.[4]
Hall previously coached at the Central Missouri State College (now the University of Central Missouri) and Regis University before returning to Kentucky in 1965 to serve as an assistant coach under Adolph Rupp.[5] When Rupp reached mandatory retirement age of 70, Hall was selected as the new coach on April 1, 1972. In his initial statements upon taking the job he made it clear that he would recruit black players to the team (previously there had only been three in the program's history).[6] Hall made further waves by hiring the program's first black assistant coach; Leonard Hamilton would serve as one of Kentucky's main recruiters and would later have great success as a head coach himself.
On September 18, 2012, the University of Kentucky unveiled a statue of Hall outside of the Wildcat Coal Lodge to commemorate his accomplishments at UK and his contributions toward the Wildcat Coal Lodge. The university said that the bronze sculpture was produced over a period of eight months, beginning as a clay sculpture, then was cast in bronze. It was created by sculptor J. Brett Grill of Columbia, Missouri.[12] Hall co-hosted a radio sports talk show with former University of Louisvillebasketball head coach Denny Crum from March 2004 to October 2014. The Joe B. and Denny Show ended on October 30, 2014, after WVLK, the Lexington radio station from which Hall did his portion of the show, announced a change in format.[13]
Personal life and death
Hall died at his residence in Lexington, Kentucky, on January 15, 2022, at the age of 93.[14][15] He was buried at The Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.
National championPostseason invitational champion Conference regular season championConference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
