Book Review: House of Champions a celebration of history in more ways than one

For longtime fans of UK Wildcat basketball, the names and faces of top players and influential coaches will forever be well known. Details of important contests – rivalry games, championships, and even particularly painful losses – are seared into the memory. But what about the sites in which these historic events took place? What about the actual buildings that the Wildcats have called home, and the courts on which the Big Blue tradition was forged?

In his new book, House of Champions: The story of Kentucky basketball’s home courts, author Kevin Cook focuses on the evolution of the University of Kentucky’s basketball facilities, from Alumni Gymnasium, to Memorial Coliseum, to Rupp Arena.

Cook truly starts at the beginning, using newspaper records from the time to chronicle the events that led up to the construction of a gymnasium in the early 1900s that could serve as a hub for all of the university’s (then called Kentucky State College) athletic activities, including basketball. Accompanied by fascinating photos of the outside and inside of the old Alumni Hall, which housed the original gym, several stories are recounted, including how the school’s basketball program was nearly killed before it even had a chance to really get going, a relatively short-lived experiment that saw games being played at the Woodland Auditorium in Lexington’s Woodland Park, and eventually to the transformation of KSC to the University of Kentucky in 1916.

House of Champions not only provides a timeline of events related to the buildings that housed UK basketball action during the program’s infancy, but it also offers valuable insight into how the game itself was played at that time. Cook does a fantastic job of painting a mental picture that puts the reader inside a cramped gymnasium in the early 20^th Century, rooting for players competing in a contest that looked and felt remarkably different from the sport that fans know and love today.

This is a book for Kentucky basketball enthusiasts, of course, but because of the general historical approach taken by Cook, there is quite literally something here for everyone – from supporters of Wildcat athletics, to those interested in the history and evolution of the Lexington area, to those who simply enjoy reading about the game of basketball.

The story as it specifically pertains to UK’s various basketball facilities does serve as the focal point of Cook’s book, however, including the fundraising efforts that eventually led to the construction of the standalone Alumni Gymnasium, which was inaugurated by the 1924 boys and girls high school state championship tournaments.

Several renovations would be necessary as UK basketball continued to grow in popularity over the years. In the 1930s and 1940s, Head Coach Adolph Rupp would lead the way as a true dynasty was established, eventually leading to the erection of the massive Memorial Coliseum in 1950. The Wildcats would call the Coliseum home until 1976, when the team, now led by Coach Joe B. Hall, moved into Rupp Arena.

All along the way, University of Kentucky basketball continued to reach new heights as some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game graced the hallowed halls of these legendary facilities. By delving into every aspect of that longstanding tradition and rich lineage, House of Champions establishes itself as an important book in so many ways. A detailed historical account, and overall enjoyable read, it is available now as part of the University Press of Kentucky’s fall/winter 2022 catalog.

For more information on this and other titles currently being offered by the University Press of Kentucky, visit them online at www.kentuckypress.com.