I remember Mr. Mac (HOF AD) telling me that Solley Walker was not allowed to play in that game. The "Cat House" in Lexington, Kentucky did not accept black men and so our best player could not appear in that game on that floor or stay in the team hotel. Rupp got the message in the 60's when an all black team from Texas won the NCAA's and he grudgingly made some changes for the better. That was just the way it was then. Later, in the NCAA regional final in1951 in Reynold's Coliseum in North Carolina, we played them with a full squad and beat them by 7 to go to the semi-finals. Some justice was done in a way.
Fast forward to 1985 in Lexington where we played in the final four and I can remember observations
from local Ky fans about how fortunate we were to have such fine "white" players on our team. I have always pitied those people who grew up in that environment. Little had changed there over the 34 year period from '51 to '85.
I do think they have caught up to the rest of the world by today but those thoughts do die hard.
Tom Payne, 7 foot 2, was Kentucky's first black player, signed in 1969. After playing one season, he opted for the NBA after becoming the first black all SEC player. He was subjected to incredible hostility, including being burned in effigy on Kentucky's campus. Views of Adolph Rupp all depend on who you speak to. Payne refers to Rupp with admiration, and a a father figure. He has spent nearly his entire adult life in prison. The folowing is a really great interview, which reveals a very bright man who acknowledges the impact of his role in Kentucky basketball on his life.
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/03/27/prison-defines-life-of-tom-payne-kentuckys-first-black-player/
Hard to feel sorry for this guy in spite of the racial hostility he endured during his year at Kentucky. Many others were subjected to much more and didn't go on to rape and attempt to rape multiple women, He doesn't take any responsibility for his actions nor does he show much remorse. Here's more on his crimes from Wiki:
Payne’s promising career ended suddenly in May 1972, when police in Georgia arrested him after investigating several rapes in the Atlanta area. Later, he was indicted in Kentucky in connection with one rape and two attempted rapes. In 1972, he was convicted on two counts of rape and one count of aggravated sodomy in Atlanta. He served five years in prison in Georgia, two and a half of those in solitary confinement for participating in a prison riot.
Immediately after his release from prison in Georgia, Payne was extradited to Kentucky, where he was convicted on one count of rape and two counts of attempted rape. He served five years in prison in Kentucky before being paroled in 1983. After his release from prison, he attempted a basketball comeback with the Louisville Catbirds of the CBA. He also made an attempt at a professional boxing career, participating in five bouts. Later, he moved to Hollywood and became an actor, once appearing in Night Court, as well as a McDonalds commercial.
On Valentine’s Day, 1986, police officers in Los Angeles, California caught Payne in the act of raping a woman. He was convicted of this crime, which also violated his parole in Kentucky.
Payne was released from prison in 2000, after legal wrangling allowed him to get his sentenced reduced. He was then transferred back to Kentucky, where he faced an additional 15 years in prison for violation of parole from the 1971 charge.
