Vicky Graff Photo
Kenny Walker enjoyed being with his former Kentucky teammates at the recent 1984 Final Four reunion because it was a happy occasion and the players received a rousing ovation from Rupp Arena fans.
Walker said unfortunately he had seen teammates after the passing of former teammates Bret Bearup, Ed Lavender, Cedric Jenkins and Melvin Turpin along with the passing of former coach Joe B. Hall.
“My father was a spiritual man and spoke at a lot of funerals. I remember as a kid I would look and see the flowers at funerals but my dad would always say he wish we would give flowers to people before they passed away,” said Walker, an All-American during his time at UK. “Too many times we give people flowers when they are dead and gone and can’t enjoy them.
“So this reunion meant a lot to me and the other guys. That’s why I always share the message about giving a man his flowers when he is alive and can enjoy them and UK did that for us.”
Kentucky’s 1983-84 team that reached the Final Four before losing to Georgetown was beloved by many UK fans.
“We had a lot of personalities. We had the Twin Towers with Sam (Bowie) and Melvin (Turpin). We had a frontline that could match up with any frontline UK has ever had. We had eight or nine McDonald’s All-Americans on our team. We were loaded.
“But for Kentucky to bring a team back that did not win a championship lets us know that everyone did realize how special we were. Georgetown was one of the most painful losses I ever had. The only one worse was 1986 when we had beat LSU three times and then lost to them in the Elite Eight to go to the Final Four.
“The ovation we received gave me goose bumps. The fans truly loved us all. We played tougher three or four years and fans got more invested in us. They watched freshmen grow to seniors. We didn’t give them a championship but we gave them a whole lot of memories. It’s still difficult for me to swallow that we did not win a championship. I have a lot of admiration for the fan following we had and you could never put a price tag on that.”
Bowie joked that the players off the 1984 Final Four team are so old that they can only “sit around and reminisce now” but like Walker said the reunion was special for everyone.
“Kentucky basketball is special and to acknowledge old men like us was very special,” Bowie said. “Our team was very special. I was the second pick in the draft and only averaged 10 points per game. I took the fourth most shots on the team. You didn’t have to put up 30 points to be noticed because our group had so much success.”
Like Walker, the 1984 Final Four loss when UK blew a 12-point lead by going 3-for-33 from the field in the second half still haunts Bowie.
“I always look at the 1984 team like we won. We all know we had the best team in the country that year,” Bowie said. “I always tell (Georgetown center) Patrick (Ewing) that he walked away with my ring. One half did not go our way but if it had been a three-, five- or seven-game series we would have won. We just had a bad night.
“Kenny and Melvin were first team all-SEC. I was second team. Melvin was first team all-American, I was second. Dicky Beal was MVP in the (NCAA) region. We did not have any egos. I know I am biased but standing on that Rupp Arena court again made me realize just how loaded our 1984 team really was.”
Walker grew up in Georgia where football was the main sport and he didn’t truly understand how big basketball was in Kentucky until he arrived on the UK campus.
“Kids grow up in this state watching Kentucky basketball,” Walker said. “I am just glad I was one of the guys who got to inspire people in Kentucky and part of the tradition who helped make fans interested in what we do at UK. I hope today’s players appreciate all that support from fans.
“I know a small percentage of our fan base can be a little unrealistic but the Kentucky fan base is still the best in the nation and it is not close.”
5 Responses
Thank you Kenny for speaking what True KY fans are.
Kenny is the best
I still find it hard to believe that that team, as loaded as they were, only shot 13% in the second half. Nightmares!
They should bring Skywalker in to every frosh class at uk and let him give a history lesson and the importance of playing basketball at UK.
Thank you for printing this story as the "past" seems to be the only part of KY BBALL that alot of longtime fans are able to hold on to anymore. Yes I know the game has changed, and times have changed, but today’s entire team should have to sit and listen to what SKY is talking about here, especially the one who claims title of head coach. Everything SKY speaks here represents everything KY BBALL is about, and what it means to the fans. And people today will say "well the fans are unrealistic"–which some of that is true–but here is one of the former all-time greats talking about how much this program means to him and so many of his peers. So u see, it’s not just the fans who have invested in this thing religiously–its decades’ worth of former players who have made this tradition what it is. And it’s interesting that he mentioned a team that didn’t win a championship is so beloved–its not all about winning a championship–its what u accomplish during your time here, it’s what u represent, it’s the way in which u play and carry yourself both individually and as a team, both on and off the court. This group that was together from 1982 to 1986 was special for all those reasons. They were the first group of CATS that I watched and followed in my life –they were my first UK heroes while I was still in diapers, and SKY WALKER was the first CAT who was bigger than life to me. He has always been one of my top 3 favorite CATS of all time, and Bowie right there behind him. Other guys like Winston Bennett, James Blackmon, Roger Harden, Ed Davender, Beal, Minniefield, these were all-time CATS that I grew up watching and going to see with my father. They will always be special to me, not only for the way they played as a team, and what they accomplished on the court, but for how great they were to me and my family in person when my father used to take me over to Freedom Hall for the open practices the day before their annual game there. I have pictures of me as a small tyke with every one of these guys from Freedom Hall and over at the old Executive Inn hotel that is no longer here (now I’m showing MY age!!!). All of these guys were just awesome–and yes there should be at least one championship in there during that run–but more important, these guys understood the importance and significance of what it means to play at the greatest tradition in the history of college hoops–and better than that, they have carried this with them all their lives and never forgotten it. That’s something that is DEFINITELY missing from today’s kids–u have a new generation in general where it doesn’t mean to them what it used to–but then u have a coach who encourages that same new-age mentality……..Thank you, SKY, for sharing how much it still means to you–because guys like me out here STILL miss seeing you and ur teammates out there on the court, championship or no. These guys got screwed in 1986 by the committee, when I believe we had the best team and talent that year, and one bad half in ’84, or we might have been talking about another dynasty like in the 90’s. Both years they had already beaten in the reg season the teams that were left in the championship games……but u know what, for what it meant to these guys playing here, for the way they played and what they accomplished, and for how great they were to a little 5 yr old kid who lived for Xmas vac every year when I could go see them in Freedom Hall, they are a dynasty in their own right in the eyes of fans like me. This is the era of of KY BBALL that is without a doubt the most forgotten and most underappreciated overall–so that’s why it meant so much to me to see them honored…….thanks for the article Mr Larry!