When I reached out to Tom Payne, the first African-American basketball player at Kentucky, to see what he thought about calls to change the name of Rupp Arena because of claims former coach Adolph Rupp was a racist, Payne told he hoped those calling for the change would think about what it might do to the Rupp family.
Well the Rupp family has apparently decided enough is enough and has launched a website — CoachRupp.com— to defend his name.
“Coach Adolph Rupp was not a racist nor a segregationist. He was a basketball coach dedicated to his players and fostering a winning tradition. Those who falsely accuse the coach did not know him, work with him, or play for him,” the Rupp family statement on the website said.
“Those who did uniformly agree that Coach Rupp was a driven, competitive, strong personality who was intensely dedicated to building University of Kentucky basketball into the winningest college program of its time. He treated people fairly and without regard to their color, creed or religion.”
The website has testimony from some of Rupp’s former players and various coaches. It also contains various stories about Rupp, including one I wrote when the controversy erupted.
No matter how you feel about Rupp, the website CoachRupp.com has a lot of information you might want to see.
