Today, January 20th, is "Joe B. Hall Day" in Kentucky

During Governor Andy Beshear’s new Team Kentucky update, he signed a proclamation in memory of Joe B. Hall, the former Kentucky Basketball head coach who passed away last weekend.

“Today, it’s my honor to recognize a special Kentuckian who made history in our state and changed history too,” said Governor Beshear before signing into effect “Joe B. Hall Day” in the state of Kentucky.

Read the full proclamation:

To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come:

WHEREAS, Joe Beasman Hall, who championed the challenge of following the winningest coach in the University of Kentucky men’s basketball history and created his own legacy with a national championship and multiple trips to the Final Four, died Saturday, January 15, 2022. He was 93; and

WHEREAS, Joe B. Hall grew up in Cynthiana, KY. Playing both football and basketball in high school, Hall decided that basketball would be his sport of choice and ended up playing one season for the legendary University of Kentucky Coach Adolph Rupp, for whom he eventually became an assistant coach; and

WHEREAS, Joe B. Hall carved out his own legacy as one of the most beloved basketball coaches in University of Kentucky history. He not only ended his 13-year career from 1972 to 1985 with a winning record with 297 victories, but he took the Wildcats to the Final Four three times. Hall was named Coach of the Year after Kentucky defeated Duke University, 94-88, for the 1978 national championship-the Wildcats’ fifth NCAA title but its first in 20 years; and

WHEREAS, Joe B. Hall is one of only three men to both play, in 1948, and coach, in 1978, on an NCAA championship team and is the only coach to do so for the same school. Coach Hall’s other “firsts” include hiring Leonard Hamilton, the program’s first black assistant coach, and he also played a large role in the integration of black student-athletes into the Kentucky men’s basketball program, beginning while he was an assistant coach under Rupp and then as a stellar recruiter for his own teams, showcasing some of the greatest players in the school’s history; and

WHEREAS, Joe B. Hall, who clearly made an impact in Kentucky basketball lore, continued to work in the community and throughout the state to promote his beloved sport. He teamed up with once-rival former Louisville Head Coach Denny Crum for a five-days-a-week radio sports show for more than a decade making his last broadcast in 2014; and

WHEREAS, Joe B. Hall continued to mentor the UK basketball program by remaining an active presence on and off the court. He often attended practices and could usually be seen courtside during home games at Rupp Arena. A statue of Coach Hall sits in front of Wildcat Lodge;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ANDY BESHEAR, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2022, as JOE B. HALL DAY in Kentucky.

Celebrate “Joe B. Hall Day” in Kentucky with Kentucky Basketball’s look back at some of Hall’s sound bytes from his time as head coach.