Ben Bowling!!! Best Ever from the Mountains?

[SValley Fan]

Was he the best basketball player from Eastern KY?????

[Survivor]

No

[The Guru]

Was he the best basketball player from Eastern KY?????
Refresh my memory....the name sounds familar, but I can't place him.

[The Guru]

But I seriosly doubt it.

[pillsburythrowboy]

lol
Three names:
Todd May
King Kelly Coleman
Ervin Stepp

[Blue-N-Gold]

Johnny Cox, Hazard Bulldogs State Champs 1955

[SValley Fan]

lol
Three names:
Todd May
King Kelly Coleman
Ervin SteppYea I forgot all those ppl could play for Oak Hill

[JD If U Please]

JJ Hylton
Charles Thomas
Jeremy Hall
JR VanHoose

[Doc Holliday]

No
But I am curious what did he do to warrent such a thread?

[SValley Fan]

No
But I am curious what did he do to warrent such a thread?lol IDK just got bored...

[TRAIN85]

Don't forget about Todd Conley.

[PLAYBOY5]

Ben Bowling...That is a name from the past. Didn't he move off and play for a team from Florida?

[SValley Fan]

Ben Bowling...That is a name from the past. Didn't he move off and play for a team from Florida?He played for Oak HIll and then a team from Florida I think, not for sure

[IRISH4]

No

[Johnny Fairplay]

King Kelly Coleman- the best
Jim Rose- Played for Rupp and semi-pro
Johhny Cox
Richie Farmer
John Pelphrey
Todd May
Ervine Stepp
JR Vanhoose
Jeremy Hall

I would take these guys any day.

[Moe]

King Kelly Coleman- the best
Jim Rose- Played for Rupp and semi-pro
Johhny Cox
Richie Farmer
John Pelphrey
Todd May
Ervine Stepp
JR Vanhoose
Jeremy Hall

I would take these guys any day.I like this list. I'd add Craig Ratliff from Paintsville, He didn't have the legandary status like some of these guy but could playe with anyone. Bowling Probabily had the talent to be one of the best off the court problems hurt how fans perceived him and his legacy but he was as good of a pure athlete to come out of East Ky. Didn't he sign with Tulane and get in trouble or something??

[SValley Fan]

Yea I think so but that was after he got kicked out of Oak Hill

[Moe]

He also played at a Prep School in FL. his last year of HS, Westminster Academy I believe. They were one of the top teams in the country his SR. year.

[SValley Fan]

Really tho He had it Made...Samething wit King Kelly...Both could have went anywere

[Moe]

Really tho He had it Made...Samething wit King Kelly...Both could have went anywereKing Kelly could have played in the league for many years had he done things differently.

[SValley Fan]

Very True

[IRISH4]

Didn't his trouble cause the team in FL to forfeit a lot of the games that they won?

[SValley Fan]

Didn't his trouble cause the team in FL to forfeit a lot of the games that they won?It sounds like I heard that before but idk for sure

[-STAT-]

King Kelly Coleman- the best
Jim Rose- Played for Rupp and semi-pro
Johhny Cox
Richie Farmer
John Pelphrey
Todd May
Ervine Stepp
JR Vanhoose
Jeremy Hall

I would take these guys any day.

Same here, thats an all-star team right there.

[kicker27]

Johnny Cox, Hazard Bulldogs State Champs 1955
^^^^^^^^
YES !!!

[SValley Fan]

Alot of these guys u all are naming was good but that was along time ago and everyone knows the the athletes now and then are 2 different types of players

[LOOKAYANNER]

Bowling is not even in the top 100 players of all time in the mountains!!!

He wouldn't rank in the top 50 in Perry County alone.

[SValley Fan]

Bowling is not even in the top 100 players of all time in the mountains!!!

He wouldn't rank in the top 50 in Perry County alone.lol now thats funny

[PLAYBOY5]

I thought he played for westminister and still remembered him playing on WYMT in a game..

[magic man]

King Kelly Coleman- the best
Jim Rose- Played for Rupp and semi-pro
Johhny Cox
Richie Farmer
John Pelphrey
Todd May
Ervine Stepp
JR Vanhoose
Jeremy Hall

I would take these guys any day.
Jim Rose did not play for Rupp-He played at Western and along with Big Jim Mcdaniels defeated rupp in the NCAA tOURNAMENT

[tubbyhater1]

you must have been bored to post a tread like this. Bowling is far from being the greatest player in the mountains, lol. Lets see there's King Kelly Coleman, Johnny Cox, Billy Ray Cassady at Inez, Joe Allen Stepp, Ervin Stepp, Charles Thomas and many , many others.

[Redneck]

NO... Ben Bowlin was a good ball player in his day, but he can't even compare to some the greats that have came from these mountains.

[SValley Fan]

you must have been bored to post a tread like this. Bowling is far from being the greatest player in the mountains, lol. Lets see there's King Kelly Coleman, Johnny Cox, Billy Ray Cassady at Inez, Joe Allen Stepp, Ervin Stepp, Charles Thomas and many , many others.Yea yea all those players played in the 50's or whatever...The game is much better now than then

[Doc Holliday]

Jim Rose did not play for Rupp-He played at Western and along with Big Jim Mcdaniels defeated rupp in the NCAA tOURNAMENT

You are mistaken, their were 2 players named Jim Rose.
Jim Rose was point guard for Wheelwright's 1961 3rd place state tournement team.
He went to Uk transfer half way thru his soph season and was an all american at GA Southern. Played pro ball in europe and coached at alice lloyd then took a feew of Knott centrals teams to state as well.

[rooster]

NO... Ben Bowlin was a good ball player in his day, but he can't even compare to some the greats that have came from these mountains.In his day??? He played just 5 or 6 years ago.

He was asked by UK as either a sophomore or a junior to come to Midnight Madness when he was at Perry Central. He was the only underclassman that was asked to attend that year. I thought he had more raw talent than any kid I have ever seen come out of the mountains. Million dollar body with a ten cent brain however.

[Johnny Fairplay]

You are mistaken, their were 2 players named Jim Rose.
Jim Rose was point guard for Wheelwright's 1961 3rd place state tournement team.
He went to Uk transfer half way thru his soph season and was an all american at GA Southern. Played pro ball in europe and coached at alice lloyd then took a feew of Knott centrals teams to state as well.


Thanks Doc, this is the Jim Rose I was talking about.

[SValley Fan]

In his day??? He played just 5 or 6 years ago.

He was asked by UK as either a sophomore or a junior to come to Midnight Madness when he was at Perry Central. He was the only underclassman that was asked to attend that year. I thought he had more raw talent than any kid I have ever seen come out of the mountains. Million dollar body with a ten cent brain however.lol I liked that one

[allthewayhome]

king kelly coleman the only thing that stopped him from being compared with the greats of basketball was his attitude and a drinking problem

[SValley Fan]

king kelly coleman the only thing that stopped him from being compared with the greats of basketball was his attitude and a drinking problemlol Thats why hes my Hero

[Official Legend14th]

Anybody ever heard of Richie Farmer??? I believe he could hoop a little as well.

[The Doctor]

cant believe none of you basketball guru pretenders have mentioned the all time leading scorer at the university of vanderbilt (phil cox) from harlan county. any of you ever heard of him, played for cawood high school. some of the players mentioned are not even in the same league with him.

[The Doctor]

cant believe none of you basketball guru pretenders have mentioned the all time leading scorer at the university of vanderbilt (phil cox) from harlan county. any of you ever heard of him, played for cawood high school. some of the players mentioned are not even in the same league with him.also from harlan county (nick sanford) also played for cawood and then averaged 30 points a game for 4 consecutive years at lincoln memorial university, scoring between 3,000-4,000 points in his college career, then was drafted in the continental league which was at the time the stepping stone league to the nba

[The Fan]

Anybody ever heard of Richie Farmer??? I believe he could hoop a little as well.never heard of him

[Old school Dawg]

Gee whiz nobody has even been close to King Kelly coleman.Earvin was great shooter but played no defense at all and was only a good high school player.

[Old school Dawg]

My second choise as far as high school players was Darrell Griffith from Louisville Male.Two best I ever saw was him and now OJ mayo.

[Old school Dawg]

Oh yea Wes Unseld

[Hoops Lover]

Bowling was a wasted talent....to even talk about him being an all time great is doing an injustice to every other great mountain player thoughout history..

[Hamburger]

Bowling was a wasted talent....to even talk about him being an all time great is doing an injustice to every other great mountain player thoughout history..If that is the case, we cant talk about King Kelly either

[Hoops Lover]

Not talking about Coleman...talking about Bowling...he may have been one of the most talented...but not one of the best players..

[Hamburger]

Ben Bowling COULD have went to any college in America, If he wouldnt of got messed up

[Hoops Lover]

IMO an alltime great mountain player has to at least have finished his HS career in the mountains....Would the people of the mountains loved Richie Farmer as much if he would have transferred to Fairdale or Male?

[Hamburger]

What could he do besides shot 3's

[Hoops Lover]

Man..I won't even dignify that question with an answer.

[Hamburger]

Man..I won't even dignify that question with an answer.Thats what I thought

[allthewayhome]

Gee whiz nobody has even been close to King Kelly coleman.Earvin was great shooter but played no defense at all and was only a good high school player.

yeah i have and he played before the three point line and last i checked still holds alot of scoring records.

[Official Legend14th]

What could he do besides shot 3's
If you are talking about Farmer he did alot more than shoot the 3, at 6'0 he jumped to start the game for Clay County. He rebounded, he played defense and he had something you can't teach he had HEART and he showed that @ UK by being 1 Lucky Shot away from helping lead the Cats from it's darkest day to the Final 4 in 1992. Oh yeah he lead his Clay County Tigers to the Sweet 16 championship in 1987 and back to the championship again in 1988 where he had 51 points in the finals.

[PF23]

The best ever to come around is
King Kelly Coleman
Johnny Cox
Todd May
Ervin Stepp
John Pelphrey

Top 5 for sure

[thepasttime]

has anyone every heard of the fab five from care creek guess not i am pretty sure they beat coleman, but i agree bowling was a waste of talent. Coleman was by far the greatest player to come out of the moutains anyone that can score over 2,000 pooints in a season without a three point line is awsome. How many did bowlen have with a three point line rest my case.

[allthewayhome]

has anyone every heard of the fab five from care creek guess not i am pretty sure they beat coleman, but i agree bowling was a waste of talent. Coleman was by far the greatest player to come out of the moutains anyone that can score over 2,000 pooints in a season without a three point line is awsome. How many did bowlen have with a three point line rest my case.

i was reading a book the other day about king kelly coleman and he said that when he was playing at the state games that first game he went into they whole stadium started booing. he said that has never happened to him before. i thought this was kinda funny.

[ERblue4ever]

Todd May-Virgie- no question about it!!!

[konan]

How is everyone forgetting jason jacobs???I guess he was one of the most underated players in the mountains??

[SportsKrazee]

King Kelly Coleman- the best
Jim Rose- Played for Rupp and semi-pro
Johhny Cox
Richie Farmer
John Pelphrey
Todd May
Ervine Stepp
JR Vanhoose
Jeremy Hall

I would take these guys any day.

I agree in a heartbeat...All great players

[Subway Eater]

How is everyone forgetting jason jacobs???I guess he was one of the most underated players in the mountains??Clyde Jacobs

[nasticus]

Heres one more Jody Thompson from Feds Creek

This is kinda off topic but I would like to get everyone opinion on why is it that so many great players from eastern ky go to a big school for about a year or so then quit. For example : Jody Thompson @ UK for a yr., Jeremy Hall @ Wisc for yr., Todd May @ UK for yr and Wake Forest for yr, or players like Conley and Bowling went nowhere. Just like to hear ppl's thoughts on this.

[Doc Holliday]

already a thread lok for one called whats wrong with Ky boys

[Subway Eater]

Ben Bowling was the best ever to play in the 14th period.

[PoppaBear]

How is everyone forgetting jason jacobs???I guess he was one of the most underated players in the mountains??

HAHAHA... i guess Double J was forgotten thru the sands of time... mid 90's at Knott Central was when he played right?

[PoppaBear]

Ben Bowling was the best ever to play in the 14th period.

You obviously haven't been around too long have you... or know much about mountain basketball and the 14th region...

[konan]

HAHAHA... i guess Double J was forgotten thru the sands of time... mid 90's at Knott Central was when he played right?Yes i think it was i think he only made it through one year though. I cant believe none of these guys havent heard of the great double j

[LOOKAYANNER]

Here's a few players that haven't been mentioned:

Larry Stamper-Lee County. 6'8, played at UK, started his senior season.

Brian Kiser-Estill County. 6'5 guard. Saw plenty of playing time for Louisville.

Paul Smith-Owsley County, guard. Played for Mississippi St. in the mid sixties, and started his senior year.

Paul Andrews-Laurel County. Played for UK. Hero for Laurel in the state tournament.

Glen Combs-Carr Creek guard. Played in the NBA.

Herbie Stamper-Hindman and Knott County Central. Played at Morehead.

Glen Napier-MC Napier. Great shooter for Morehead.

Rodney Woods-Lone Jack. Big scorer for Tennessee. UK's Rupp always regretted not ecruiting him. He was a thorn in their side everytime they played.

Larry Noble-Breathitt County. Starred for Breathitt's '67 state semi-finalist and also for Austin-Peay.

There's others but I've run out of time....gotta go.

[Subway Eater]

You obviously haven't been around too long have you... or know much about mountain basketball and the 14th region...Shows how much you know.

[Doc Holliday]

I just thought I would mention Grady Wallace, many feel he may be one of the best to ever come out of the Mountains.

From the Hearld Leader

Condolences

Grady Wallace, a Betsy Layne High School basketball legend who went on to establish scoring records at the University of South Carolina in 1957, died this month in South Carolina. He was 72.

Wallace was born on Mare Creek in Floyd County. He initially attended Pikeville College and then transferred to South Carolina. He holds the South Carolina records for career scoring average (28.0) and single-season scoring average (31.3). That average of 31.3 points enabled Wallace to beat out Wilt Chamberlain as the nation's leading scorer in 1956-57.

Wallace once held the school single-game scoring record of 54 points. He still holds four of the five highest single-game scoring totals.

There are green roadside signs alongside U.S. 23 in Betsy Layne that identify it as the home of Wallace. He was the first South Carolina player to have his jersey retired.


From the Gamecocks History page


#42 Grady Wallace 1955-57
Wallace, who wore 42, was the first South Carolina player to have his jersey number retired. Wallace averaged an amazing 28.0 points per game in his career and led the NCAA in 1957 with 31.3 points per tilt, edging out Kansas' Wilt Chamberlain. Wallace holds down four of the top six scoring games in school history, scoring 54 points vs. Georgia in his senior year.



Coach Odom reflects on Grady Wallace


Former Gamecock All-American, who led the nation in scoring in 1957, passed away Thursday.













Aug. 17, 2006

With the passing Thursday of one of South Carolina's true basketball legends, Grady Wallace, USC head coach Dave Odom issued a statement Thursday evening.

Statement from Dave Odom "Grady's passing leaves a tremendous void in Gamecock basketball history. The last couple of years I've had the chance to get to know him as a man - something I will always cherish. His accomplishments on the court were many, including leading the nation in scoring in 1957. Still, Grady will long be remembered by all his friends and the Gamecock faithful as a wonderful human being."

Wallace, a USC letterman from 1955-57, was named All-American in 1957 when he led the nation in scoring with 31.3 ppg. Highlights that season included him scoring 54 points at Georgia on Dec. 21, 1956 - second most in school history (only second to John Roche's 56 points vs. Furman on 2/4/71).

His No. 42 jersey was the first jersey to be retired at Carolina and he was a member of the South Carolina Hall of Fame (inducted in 1968).

He still holds the school record for career scoring average (28.0 ppg), single season average (31.3, 1957) and the second best mark for career rebound average (12.8 rpg). He also holds the single season school record for most points scored (906, 1957), most field goals made (336, 1957), most field goals attempted (803, 1957) and most free throws made (234, 1957).

[nasticus]

Doc:

Thanks for that info, I have to say that I have heard the name Grady Wallace but I had no idea who he was. Sounds like he was a special player and you have sparked my interest with him.

[happyface]

Charles Thomas - Harlan
Nick Sanford - Cawood
Phil Cox - Cawood
Bruce Mitchell - Lynch

[konan]

jason jacobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[kyrifle]

There are too many good players from the mountains to say this gu is better or that guy is better. They played in different era's. Can't really compare against each other. What you can do is compare what they did after they graduated high school. I'll give you a few names from the 50's & 60's that were really good players. ( Don't like to use the word GREAT to describe players, that word is used way to much these days.)

Alvin Ratliff--Meade Memorial High School 1965--UK 1966--Delta State 1971, All America.
Donis Butcher--Meade Mem. 1958--Pikeville College--NBA Detroit Pistons & New York Knicks.
Charlie Osborne --Flat Gap 1957--Western Ky U. NBA Syracuse
Carroll Burchett--Flat Gap 1956--UK 57-60
Larry Conley--Ashland Tom Cats--1962--UK Member of 1966 Rupps Runts that were beaten by Texas Western In The Championship game.
Grady Wallace--Betsy Layne--1954--Pikeville College--South Carolina.
E.A. Couch--Carr Creek--1957 State Champs--UK one year, got married had to quit team.
Billy Ray Cassidy--Inez--UK
Pete Grigsby--McDowell --UK
There are many more players that went on to play on other levels, Div2, NAIA etc. Too many to mention. This is just a few I could think of off the top of my head.

[thepasttime]

know one remembers herb stamper maybe alot of people over look him because he played a while back but he holds a lot of records at knott and morehead

[Larry Bird]

Jim Rose did not play for Rupp-He played at Western and along with Big Jim Mcdaniels defeated rupp in the NCAA tOURNAMENT

you're right, jim rose signed the day before he was supposed to go to UK and sign with rupp....later in his career he played adolf rupp's team...western won

[Estaban Esteves]

ervin stepp Mr. Basketball

all those guys idk just look at stats on KHSAA!



OH LOL

I pick OJ mayo once he graduates.....i win in about what 5 months?

[Doc Holliday]

Well considering Mayo is from WV and not Kentucky I doubt you would win anything.

And Since Zeke from Cabin Creek is from WV, I doubt you would even win the WV prize

[rooster]

Well considering Mayo is from WV and not Kentucky I doubt you would win anything.

And Since Zeke from Cabin Creek is from WV, I doubt you would even win the WV prizeActually Mayo lives in Ohio and attends school in West Virginia.

[JC Cheer Fan]

How could you forget Wallace "Wah Wah" Jones from Harlan? He was on a team that won a state title, played at UK and was one of the Fabuolus Five that won an Olympic Medal. He also started and excelled in football and baseball at UK, who in this group had done that?