Remembering a former Bulldog and Louisville Hall of Famer
By Ron Bailey
If you ask the average basketball fan from our area to name a former MHS Bulldog whose jersey is hanging in the UofL Yum Center, I doubt you would get an answer. Well the answer is Kenny Reeves. Kenny grewup in Aberdeen, but he decided to cross the bridge to play for Coach Earle D Jones and the Maysville Bulldogs. He played in the 1945 and 46 state tourneys with the Dogs in his junior and senior year. The Louisville Cardinals noticed his talent and offered him a scholarship and it payed off big time for the Cards.The former Bulldog led the Cards to a combined record of 90 wins and 33 losses in his four years at Louisville. Kenny starred on the Card’s 1948 NAIB championship team as he averaged 10.5 as a starting sophomore guard. He is one of the Louisville Cardinal’s 1000 point scorers as he tallied 1,245 points in 118 appearances in his four years.
He was drafted by the Boston Celtics after his playing days in Louisville, but became a dentist after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. In fact, he was still seeing patients up to a couple of years ago. Kenny Reeves was inducted into the U of L Hall of Fame for his basketball exploits, but the Cardinal brass had more in mind. He is also one of only a handful of players to have their jersey retired. For years his retired #13 jersey with his name on the back hung from the rafters of Freedom Hall in Louisville.
Whenever I would attend a game, tractor pull or aconcert in Freedom Hall I would point up to the ceiling and say, “he is a former MHS Bulldog”. With the 2010 opening of the new KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville as the home of U of L basketball his retired jersey was moved there as one of the greatest U of L players of all time. I know the millennials probably never heard of Kenny Reeves, they do not realize his connection with Aberdeen and Maysville High School and Louisville basketball history, but #13 was special not only on the basketball court but also with his long time dental practice. RIP Hall of Famer Kenny Reeves!