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By Amanda Mardis
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
This collection contains material related to Paul McBrayer's career as head basketball coach of Eastern Kentucky State College and years after, ca. 1940-2001. The majority of the collection contains correspondence from players who kept in touch with McBrayer over the decades. The collection also contains a variety of photographs of individual players, teams, and former players' families. Concerning McBrayer, there are newspaper articles, photographs, awards, correspondence, and memorabilia from him or relating to him.
Collection Historical Note
Paul McBrayer was born October 12, 1909 in Kavanaugh, KY. He attended Kavanaugh High School where he played basketball. In 1926 he started playing for the University of Kentucky where he was selected as an All-American in 1930.
His first coaching job was at Morton Junior High School; and the following year he went to Kavanaugh High School to coach for two years. In 1934, he became the assistant coach under Adolph Rupp at U.K. During WWII McBrayer left U.K. and served as a staff sergeant in the Army. Afterwards, when McBrayer went back to U.K., Rupp informed him there were no available staff positions. Soon afterwards, President O'Donnell of Eastern State College offered McBrayer the head coaching job.
At Eastern he accomplished more than any other coach before or for decades afterward. He brought the basketball team from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to Division I basketball. He was the most winning basketball coach in Eastern history, with a 219 win, 144 loss record.
After retirement, both UK and EKU former players annually gathered for McBrayer Appreciation Days. A scholarship was named in his honor for Anderson County students, and in January 1989, the McBrayer Arena at Eastern's Alumni Coliseum was named in his honor.
In 1999, McBrayer died of cancer in Lexington, KY. (Information taken from a Lexington Herald-Leader article by John Clay and an article from The Anderson News by Rick Bailey, both can be found in the Paul McBrayer Newspaper Articles folder).
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives
Acquisition Source:
Donation from Kathryn McBrayer, wife of Paul McBrayer
Other Note:
Photographs were initially numbered with the accession number; however, a decision was made to change to collection number. The database was changed, but the numbers written on the images were not changed.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
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Box 1],
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Box 2],
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Box 3],
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Box 4],
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Box 5],
[Box 6],
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Box 7],
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Box 8: Awards and Memorabilia],
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Box 9: Oversize],
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Item 1: Framed UK Photograph, 1996],
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All]
- Box 6
- Barcode: 31234014045437
- Folder 1: Slayback, Jerry
- Letters from McBrayer and others, topics include admission into Eastern, term reports, and sports. Class schedule for unidentified semester and term report. Basketball cumulative scoring record and basketball publicity information sheet. Photos include 2009A001-240-244.
- Folder 2: Smith, Roger, 1951-1952
- Correspondence from Smith and McBrayer; topics include school and basketball. Basketball publicity information sheet. Photos include 2009A001-245-247.
- Folder 3: Springate, Bruce
- Three letters from McBrayer, topics include term reports, awards, and job recommendations. Index cards with Springate's addresses. Two class schedules for unidentified semesters and a term report for Spring 1960. Basketball cumulative scoring record and basketball publicity information sheet. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-248-251.
- Folder 4: Standley, Bob
- Contains two letters from McBrayer concerning basketball and admission to Eastern. A signed basketball scholarship contract.
- Folder 5: Stanford, Stanley
- Correspondence from Stanford and McBrayer, topics include basketball and personal news. Basketball publicity information and Tip-Off Club sheets. Photos include 2009A001-252-254.
- Folder 6: Stevens, Alex, 1951-1998
- Correspondence from Stevens and McBrayer; topics include housing, job recommendations, basketball, and personal news. Index cards with statistics from 1951-52; 1948-51. Tip-Off Club sheet. Boyle County School paper with an article about Stevens. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-255-257.
- Folder 7: Stivers, Clayton
- Two letters from Mae Stivers concerning personal news. Class schedule for unidentified semester. Basketball statistics sheet and basketball publicity information sheet. Paramount mat and matching print. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-258-264.
- Folder 8: Strong, Guy
- Correspondence from Strong and McBrayer, topics include scouting, thank yous, and basketball. Basketball publicity information sheet and data for players card. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-012; 2009A001-265-267.
- Folder 9: Tate, Kenneth
- Contains two letters from McBrayer concerning athletic scholarships and term reports. Basketball publicity information sheet.
- Folder 10: Tepavich, Nick
- Contains a basketball publicity information sheet and photo of Tepavich (2009A001-268).
- Folder 11: Tolliver, Jimmie Bert
- Contains a letter on an athletic scholarship and a basketball publicity information sheet.
- Folder 12: Tolson, Elmer, 1948-1953
- Correspondence from Tolson and McBrayer, topics include the military, basketball, and personal news. Basketball publicity information sheet and statistics from 1948-53. Photos include 2009A001-269-270.
- Folder 13: Upchurch, Jack, 1957-1960
- Correspondence from Upchurch and McBrayer; topics include admission and scholarship at Eastern, and personal news. Basketball cumulative scoring record, statistics for 1958-59, and a basketball publicity information sheet. Three class schedules for the school year of 1960-61. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-271-274.
- Folder 14: Vencill, Ray, 1958-1994
- Correspondence from Vencill and McBrayer, topics include invitations, academics, basketball, personal news, and well wishes. Basketball cumulative scoring record and basketball publicity information sheet. Two class schedules for unidentified semesters. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-275-282.
- Folder 15: Wallace, Grady
- Contains a basketball publicity sheet.
- Folder 16: Webb, Dick
- Contains an invitation and well wishes. Also a newspaper clipping of Webb.
- Folder 17: Weber, Richard C.
- Contains a letter from Weber about boat lights and two index cards with his address.
- Folder 18: Whitaker, Bobby Joe, 1954-1961
- Correspondence from Whitaker and McBrayer; topics include basketball, job recommendations, and personal news. Basketball publicity information sheet. Newspaper clipping. Photo of Peggy Lynn Whitaker (2009A001-283).
- Folder 19: White, Nelson
- Correspondence from White and McBrayer concerning basketball and job recommendations. Eligibility certificate for the O.V.C. and basketball publicity information sheet. Three schedules for the school year of 1960-61. Photos include 2009A001-284-287.
- Folder 20: Wierwille, Roland
- Correspondence from Wierwille and McBrayer, topics include academics, military, well wishes, and personal news. Basketball cumulative scoring record sheet, career summary sheet, and basketball publicity information sheet. Three class schedules for the school year of 1960-61. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-288-296.
- Folder 21: Wood, Larry, 1958-1969
- Correspondence from Wood and McBrayer; topics include basketball, academics, military, copies of articles on Wood, and awards. Basketball cumulative scoring record sheet, career summary sheet, list of awards, basketball publicity information sheet, and other statistic sheets. Two class schedules for unidentified semesters. Newspaper clippings. Photos include 2009A001-297-310.
- Folder 22: Woolum, Roy
- Basketball publicity information sheet and statistics chart. Photos include 2009A001-311-314.
- Folder 23: Wright, Carl
- Two letters from McBrayer and J. Licata concerning Wright. Class schedule and book list for unidentified semester. Basketball publicity information sheet, eligibility certificate for the O.V.C., and Tip-Off Club sheet. Photos include 2009A001-315-321.
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[
Box 2],
[
Box 3],
[
Box 4],
[
Box 5],
[Box 6],
[
Box 7],
[
Box 8: Awards and Memorabilia],
[
Box 9: Oversize],
[
Item 1: Framed UK Photograph, 1996],
[
All]
