King Kelly Coleman, Kentucky's Greatest Basketball Legend--New Expanded Edition - Hardcover

by Gary P. West (Author)

The story of Kelly Coleman, who played basketball at Wayland High School in eastern Kentucky from 1952-56, scoring 4,337 points during his high school career. Kelly was the all-time scoring leading for boy's high school basketball until 2023, a record that stood for over six decades. The son of a coal miner, Kelly was described as "the greatest high school player who ever lived" by Coach Adolph Rupp and "one of the most exciting players in Kentucky's history" by Coach Joe B. Hall. Kelly went on to have a remarkable career at Kentucky Wesleyan College and later played professional ball in the NBA. Originally published in 2005, this new expanded edition provides an intimate look at Kelly's later years up through his death in Hazard, Kentucky, on June 16, 2019. The book is about more than just Kelly the high school basketball legend (that's included for sure), but also a look at Kelly the man, the husband and father, presenting not only his successes on the court but also his trials and failures off the court.

Author Biography

Gary P. West has simple criteria when it comes to writing books. "I only take on a project that I will enjoy writing about and I only write about something I think people will enjoy reading," he says. West grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and attended Western Kentucky University before graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1967 with a journalism degree. At U.K. he was a daily sports editor for the Kentucky Kernel. Throughout his extensive career he has served as executive director of the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation at Western Kentucky University, provided color commentary for Wes Strader on the Hilltopper Basketball Network, and served as executive director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. He retired from there in 2006 to devote more time to his writing. He is a freelance writer for several magazines in addition to writing a syndicated newspaper travel column, Out & About...Kentucky Style, for several papers across the state. Gary is in demand as a speaker and for book signings throughout Kentucky. This is his seventeenth book. Gary and his wife, Deborah, live in Bowling Green, Kentucky.