Wally Jones

Wally “Wah-Wah” Jones set a national high school record by scoring 2,398 points before playing on the great Kentucky teams that won two NCAA championships in the late 40s. But basketball was not the only sport this 6-4 (1.93) forward could play. While in college he also lettered in football and baseball, although basketball was his best sport. As a hoopster he was named All-America in 1947, 1948 and 1949, as well as All-Southeastern Conference four straight years – 1946-1949. In football he was named All-Conference in 1946 and 1947, and received occasional All-America mention in 1947. Jones is probably the only athlete who played for coaching legends Adolph Rupp in basketball, and Bear Bryant in football.

After graduation in 1949, Jones played three years of NBA ball with the Indianapolis Olympians – the “Kentucky” team. He settled in Lexington, Kentucky and was elected sheriff of Fayette County, serving from 1954-58. He made an unsuccessful run at the US Congress, and returned to business, eventually starting and becoming CEO of Blue Grass Tours, a small bus company that specialized in sight-seeing excursions of Lexington’s horse farms. Jones is a member of the State of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame, the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame and the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.