There’s always a Logan County connection, I always say. R.B. Mays even mentioned that truth when talking about his hiring of Lance Gregory to be
the head football coach at Graves County. (See story on this website.)
It turns out that the former Mr. Basketball and University of Kentucky standout Mike Casey, whose heart gave out last week,
played in a softball tournament at Lewisburg between his junior and senior years at Shelby County High School.
Lewisburg sports historian Gerald Hildabrand remembers that Casey played shortstop in the state men’s fastpitch softball tournament at Warrior
Park in Lewisburg in 1965.
Casey is not well-known to many UK basketball fans now, but he was one of three stars who formed one of the greatest trio of teammates in Wildcat
basketball history. The other two were Dan Issel, who is the leading scorer in UK history, and Mike Pratt, now the color analyst for Kentucky radio
broadcasts. Pratt also represented all former Cats in helping choose John Calipari as the new Kentucky basketball coach. That appears to be a very
popular choice.
Issel was a great player, my personal all-time favorite Wildcat. Yet it was Casey who led the team in scoring when they were sophomores.
I got to see that trio at their best when they played at Vanderbilt their sophomore year-their first on the varsity, since freshman weren’t
eligible in those days. I was a senior down the street at Lipscomb University.
No tickets were available, but one of my good friends knew a ticket taker. That kindly man would let Bill in, and then my friend would go to the
visiting restroom and let the others in a window. We didn’t think there was anything criminal about it, reasoning we would have bought a ticket if any
were available.
Problem was, we had to sit in the middle of the Vanderbilt student section, since all other seats were reserved. That was okay with my Lipscomb
buddies, since they were for the hometown guys anyway. I was still bleeding blue.
With Rupp’s Runts center Thad Jaracz and guard Phil Argento joining the three sophomores in the starting lineup, Kentucky could do no wrong in the
first 10 minutes or so at Vandy’s Memorial Gymnasium. I was as good as I could be, too, sitting quietly even though I was thrilled with what was going
on.
A Commodore came busting through the lane and was called for a charge. The Vandy students were up in arms, as were my friends. “He ran right over
Issel,” I said. There was a lull before (now doctor) Ronnie Hunter said with disgust, “Turner’s for Kentucky.”
I was an outcast. But I enjoyed it immensely.
That year it was Mike Casey, not Pratt, Issel or Jaracz who led the Cats in scoring. Casey still holds the scoring record in a debut game for a UK
rookie with 28 points. The next year Dan became the scoring machine, averaging 26.6 points a game. Yet it was Mike Casey, not Mike Pratt, who was
second in scoring at 19.1.
UK was poised to make a run for the national championship with the dynamic trio as seniors even though Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul Jabbar)
playing for UCLA, but in the summer of 1969 near his Shelbyville home Casey suffered a severely broken leg when his car had a blowout on the I-64 exit
ramp.
When Coach Adolph Rupp learned that Mike Casey would not be available for that season, der Baron reportedly said, “We’ve just lost the national
championship.”
Issel and Pratt led Kentucky to an outstanding season, but it all ended when UK lost to Ohio State in regional semifinals 82-81 after Issel was
called for his fifth foul on an offensive foul at midcourt. The dream had ended.
Casey came back to play for Kentucky his senior season but was not as quick as before the acciden. He has a good senior season, but the team’s
talent level was on the way down, as was Rupp’s career.
Mike Casey averaged almost 19 points per game for his career and scored 1,535 points, still ranking him 13th all-time among UK scorers.
Casey is said not to have liked being remembered for his wreck having cost the Cats a chance for Rupp’s fifth national championship. He was happy,
though, that he is to be inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame on April 29.
Sadly, though, it will be posthumously.
loganjournal
When Gerald Hildabrand told me that Mike Casey (and Vanderbilt’s Snake Grace) played in a state tournament at Lewisburg, I drew a blank on Warrior
Park. The following is how he explained the place:
“For anyone who doesn't remember Warrior Park, it is hard to imagine the way it was situated. It was on the land right behind the current location
of Webb's Restaurant and the little shops just south of the restaurant. There is a trailer park (kind of hidden by trees) on most of that land.
“The park was built about 1960 by L. D. and Buddy Coursey (Lonnie and Jeff's dad) to serve as home field for the Warriors team that was sponsored
by Kentucky Mills (now Nelson Company). At various times, Howard Gorrell, Glenn Sams, Bobby Taylor, Marion Wells, Jimmy Milam, Denny Milam, Clacy
Hinton, Mickey Martin, and many, many more played for the Warriors. They reached the State Fast-Pitch Tournament every year for several years through
much of the '60s.
“The ball park was a regulation fast-pitch softball field with covered stands that seated several hundred people. They added new sections of
seating almost every year for several years. There were two main concession stands located along the concourse above the lower level seating and an
elevated press box directly behind home plate.
“My summer job after my freshman year of college was managing a small grocery (with fuel pumps) in one of the buildings just south of the current
Webb's Restaurant location. There was a motorboat business in the back of our store. That was the summer (1965) that Warrior Park hosted the State
Fast-Pitch Tournament. Actually, they hosted three tiers of tournaments (district, regional, and state) covering 32 consecutive nights (except
Sundays...strictly afternoon games).
“I was official scorer and P. A. announcer for the full duration, except in the district I had to find a sub for certain games when our own team
was involved. A team from Lexington, Square D, won the state tournament.”
Now you know, thanks to Gerald Hildabrand.