1955 Kentucky/Indiana All-Star Games

The summer of 1955 would be one of change for the Kentucky and Indiana All-Star basketball squads and their new found “series.”  The annual basketball battle between these bordering states had advanced to a series the two years prior thanks to Bruce Hall.  The innovative Hale had pieced together a series in 1953 and 1954 by bringing the Indiana All-Star to Louisville to play their Kentucky counterparts before their “home folks”.  Indiana officials were not very fond of Hale’s “notion” for the second game (especially after he “borrowed” their uniforms for the 1953 game) but after two very successful outings on the south side of the Ohio River, Indiana decided to move forward and recognize the “series.”

Up to this point, the Hoosier state had enjoyed great success in their summer clash with Kentucky.  Indiana had won 15 of the 16 games and were on a twelve game winning streak.  There were several theories to why the outcome of the games had been so one sided.  Some Bluegrass backer felt that Ed Diddle, the Kentucky All-Star coach, selected the team based on who he wanted to recruit for his Western Kentucky University program, and left off some of the better players he couldn’t get to play for the Hilltoppers.  Others believed it was due to Kentucky not having African American players on its roster.  Indiana had selected an African American, George Crowe, their first “Mr. Basketball” in 1939 and regularly featured black players on their squads.  Still, some Kentuckians were convinced Indiana was “just plain cheat’n.”

Whatever the case, Kentucky set out to rectify its deficiencies in 1955.  For the first time, the All-Stars from Kentucky would be selected by the game sponsors was and by votes from the media in addition to the head coach.  The first player chosen by the games sponsors was one of Kentucky all-time great prep player, Kenny Kuhn of Male High School.  Kuhn was a phenomenal three sport super star who was the state’s first player to earn All-State First team in basketball three straight seasons.  He was named Kentucky’s “Mr. Basketball,” the first to be selected by a state wide vote.  The sponsors and coach announced their second on May 18, 1955 of John “Pie” Liveious of Louisville Central.  Liveious was a 17 year old African American who as a 6’4” center had led Louisville Central to a national title while earning All-Nation and All-State honors.  The remainder of the squad would be chosen over a three week period by the media with Saint Henry’s Julian Steffen selection coming on June 10, one day before practice was set to begin.  The remainder of the squad in the order they were selected included; Johnny Cox of Hazard, Terry Randall of Adair County, Donnis Butcher of Meade Memorial, Larry McDonald of Burkesville, Ed Huffman of Newport, Joe Viviano of St. Xavier, Bobby Austin of Paducah Tilghman, and Steffen.

Kentucky and Indiana also agreed to allow two alternates to take part in the series this summer.  Oddly, the alternates would practice with the team, but would not take part in the actual games unless one of the All-Stars were unable to play.  The selections were left to the media, who would choose one, while Diddle would choose the other.  The players named as alternatives were John McClearn of Madisonville and Livious’ teammate at Louisville Central, Jim Beck.  When practice began at Western Kentucky June 11 the team was missing three of its players, but by the next day with the arrival of Cox and Viviano, Diddle was in good spirits.  His last “star” Kuhn was in Brooklyn trying out for the Dodgers’ baseball team.

Following a week of two-a-day practices, the team loaded up a car and drove the 240 mile trip to Indianapolis two days prior to the game.  Dressed in new red uniforms, the Kentucky squad jumped out to a 16-4 lead behind the play of Cox and Kuhn.  The Kentucky lead expanded to 26-10 as Liveious dominated the game inside with several key rebounds.  But, as had happened in each of the past ten meetings, the All-Stars from Indiana stormed back to trail 75-76 in the game’s fourth quarter much to the delight of the 13,264 fans in Butler Fieldhouse.  As that point in the game Kentucky’s Kuhn was called for a charging violation (much like Vern Hatton had been charged with in the ’53 game) and Indiana’s Jim Henry made both of the ensuing free throws before nailing a long one-hander to put the Hoosiers up for good 79-76.  Indiana went on to a 94-86 victory behind Henry’s 17 point effort.  Kuhn was magnificent, totaling 25 points while connecting on 13 of 15 free throws, a record that still stands for Kentucky in free throws made in a game.  Liveious proved to be a key figure on the Kentucky side as he scored 12 points and collected countless rebounds.  Still the taste of defeat was in the mouths of the Kentucky players for the thirteenth straight time.

As in the previous two years in Louisville, the sponsors put a new twist into the game.  This year they invited the Governors of both states to the All-Star event.  Kentucky’s Governors Lawrence Wetherby offered to, “sit with Uncle Ed and the boys on the bench if it’ll help him beat those Hoosiers”.  Another change was the addition of Beck as a replacement for Steffen who left the team following the first game on Saturday night.

Playing before another sellout crowd of 6,500 at the Louisville Armory the Hoosiers charged out to an early 9-4 lead before Kentucky regrouped to move ahead 14-13.  Indiana trailed until the start of the third quarter when they took a two point advantage at 41-39, but Cox, who totaled 21 points in the game scored three goals.  He, Kuhn, and Liveious than took over and pushed the Kentucky lead to 58-47 with less than six minutes left and it appeared the “Hoosier hex” was about to be broken.  But as had been the case in the past six meeting, Indiana rallied and tied the score 60-60, only to have Liveious and Kuhn answer with six straight points early in the fourth quarter.  Indiana would not go away and tied the game once more at 69-69 before Cox scored on a fast break.  With Kentucky leading 74-72 Diddle put his team into a stall to ice the game, but Indiana’s Henry forced Kuhn into a turnover with 40 seconds left.  Following a time-out by the Hoosiers, Henry drove into the left side corner and connected on a one-hander to knot the score at 74-74 with 31 seconds left.  Kentucky failed to score and the home team was forced into overtime.

In the extra period, Cox continued to come up big as he connected on a reverse lay-up before Butcher scored on a fast break helping Kentucky build a 81-74 lead.  Indiana made the game close, but Kentucky claimed their first win in ten years and thirteen tries with an 86-82 overtime victory.

Liveious was named the game’s “Star of Stars” and was presented the award by Governor Wetherby.  The Central star tallied 27 points and helped Kentucky pound Indiana on the defensive boards as he grabbed 17 rebounds.

More changes were on the horizon.  Diddle would only coach one more season, giving way to high school coaches, but the foundations of the series were set to become the greatest All-Star event in the nation!

Game One at Indianapolis

Game Two at Louisville