(This story is Chapter Two of one of six serialized highlights from the Ken Mink book “Big Blue Blues: The Inside Story of Kentucky’s Involvement in the Point-Shaving Scandal of the 1940s-50s.” The complete book is on sale on the Internet through Amazon Books, Smashwords Books and Barnes and Noble. Mink is a former Herald-Leader sportswriter who spent many hours with the late UK basketball Coach Adolph Rupp and other coaches and journalists researching data for the book. He is a native of Vicco, near Hazard, in Perry County.)
Chapter 2: To Stay and Play for UK or Go Away
The 1945-46 team was succeeding, with veteran stars — juniors Jack Tingle and Jack Parkinson leading the way, but Beard was having trouble adjusting to Coach Rupp’s caustic methods.