This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/28/2013
Beautiful University of Kentucky basketball blanket belonging to star 3 time NCAA First Team All-American(1947-1948-1949) Ralph Beard. Beard was a member of Adolph Rupp's "Fabulous Five", the nickname applied to the five starters on the 1947-1948 University of Kentucky men's basketball team. That team went 36-3 and won the NCAA National Championship. That summer, all five starters along with their coach, Adolph Rupp, were part of the gold medal winning United States Olympic team at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Four of the five players, Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, Wallace 'Wah Wah' Jones, and Cliff Barker were also starters for the 1948-1949 University of Kentucky men's basketball team. That team went 32-2 and also won the NCAA National Championship. Beard was taken in the second round of the 1949 NBA draft and played two seasons with the Indianapolis Olympians, averaging 15.9 points and 4.4 assists per game. After the 1951 season, Beard and former teammate Alex Groza were banned from the NBA for life after admitting to shaving points while both were at the University of Kentucky.
Large 75" by 59" wool blanket is dark blue with a large 12" by 12" white "K" in the center and 3/8" white trim around the sides is still in very good shape. A 13" long "Ralph Beard" nameplate in script stitched at one corner. There are a few areas of fraying and brown staining to the white trim with about 10 or so small holes scattered across the blanket. Great piece of University of Kentucky Basketball history.