Former University of Kentucky basketball coach Joe B. Hall dies

Joe B. Hall, who made his mark on Kentucky basketball by successfully following a legend and then becoming one himself, died early Saturday morning. He was 93.

His lifelong connection with UK basketball began as a child keeping score as he listened to games on the radio, continued as a reserve player on the 1948-49 team, then later as an assistant and head coach, until in retirement becoming a fan once more. The Big Blue circle was unbroken.

After seven seasons as an assistant coach, Hall was named the successor to Kentucky basketball’s founding father, Adolph Rupp, in 1972. He remains the only native-born Kentuckian to be UK coach since Basil Hayden in 1926-27.

“It was not just another coaching job to him,” Hall’s son-in-law, Mike Summers, said. “It was the coaching job.”

Joe Beasman Hall was born on Nov. 30, 1928. He grew up in Cynthiana and brought the reverence and protective zeal of a fan to the job of Kentucky coach. This lack of professional detachment intensified the pressure on a mere mortal following the coaching mahatma that was Rupp.

“He’s about as decent a person as I’ve ever dealt with,” longtime friend and Lexington attorney Terry McBrayer said of Hall in 2017. “But he took the program so seriously, and had to defend the program at all times. He was the defender of the program.”

One of the critics Hall had to fend off was Rupp, who made no secret of his desire to remain coach. With Hall having gained a reputation as a good recruiter and likely successor, Rupp felt threatened by his assistant coach.

“I just don’t think he ever wanted anybody to really succeed him …,” Lexington businessman Jim Host said of Rupp. “Joe really connected with the followers and the fans, yet Coach Rupp was never ready to turn it over to him. He saw him as a competitor.”

Kevin Grevey, who was a freshman in Rupp’s last season as coach (1971-72), recalled Rupp openly criticizing Hall during practices. Rupp made no secret that he favored another assistant, the newly hired Gale Catlett, who had little chance of becoming Kentucky coach.

“Gale Catlett could do whatever he wanted to do,” Grevey said. “And Coach Hall had to step…