Kentucky Wesleyan College Books

West did a fine job with his book and has a real sense of capturing both King Kelly and the state tournament (I played in two). But more than that, he captured the sadness and the loss of what King Kelly could have been. As good as King Kelly was, we never got to see him mature as a player beyond Wayland.

In 1956 I was fortunate to have been to the Kentucky high school basketball tournament and witnessed the amazing King Kelly Coleman. He scored 68 points against Shelbyville. This book is great and a fitting tribute to a true legend. This guy is without a doubt the greatest basketball player to ever walk in a pair of shoes. He could move like Michael Jordan, rebound and block shots like Bill Russell, handle the ball like Pete Maravitch, and dribble like Marques Haynes. And those are the things never mentioned because they are dwarfed by his uncanny shooting ability. The only times he ever missed a shot were when he had two or three guys all over him, but that didn't matter because when he did miss he would get his own rebound and put it back in. His personal story is fascinating. He played a short time in the NBA but they say he quit because pro basketball didn't pay well in those days. After 50 years I got to meet him at a book signing. He deserves the title of "King of Basketball".

I found this book fascinating - even though I didn't grow up in Kentucky hearing the King Kelly Coleman stories. This book is more than a one dimensional basketball book. It offers an insight into the cultural aspects of Eastern Kentucky as well as the rich tradition of basketball throughout the state.

King Kelly Coleman is a very good read about a legend in Kentucky Basketball history and the area of our Commonwealth where he grew up. Fascinating to see how choices made change an entire lifetime.

This is a fun Read. Gary P. West did a great job.

King Kelly Coleman..Kentucky's Greatest Basketball Legend, written by Gary P. West, is a story about a man who played basketball, not necessarily about a basketball player.

It's about a youngster, the son of a coal miner, with 10 brothers and sisters, who became the biggest high school legend in the history of basketball-crazy Kentucky.

The footprint he left and the records he set are still being talked about some 50 years later.

His more than 4,000 career points, and 68 points and 28 rebounds in the 1956 high school state tournament have withstood the assault of some of Kentucky's greatest basketball players.

In 1956 he was considered the best high school basketball player in the nation, ranking ahead of Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. He had just broken Wilt Chamberlain's national record for most points scored in a career, and University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp publicly called the King from Wayland perhaps the best basketball player of all-time.

You can read Gary P. West's take on it all as he reveals for the first time what is fact and what is fiction in "King Kelly Coleman.. Kentucky's Greatest Basketball Legend".