New Book About Kentucky Basketball, THE GRAVES COUNTY BOYS, is Released

With high school basketball teams kicking off their seasons all over the Commonwealth, the greatest upset in the state's history gives hope to teams across Kentucky. In 1952, just one year after Coach Adolph Rupp's University of Kentucky Wildcats won their third national championship in four years, an unlikely high school basketball team from rural Graves County, Kentucky, stole the spotlight and the media's attention. Inspired by young coach Jack Story and by the Harlem Globetrotters, the Cuba Cubs grabbed headlines when they rose from relative obscurity to defeat the big-city favorite and win the state championship.

A classic underdog tale, The Graves County Boys: A Tale of Kentucky Basketball, Perseverance, and the Unlikely Championship of the Cuba Cubschronicles how five boys from a tiny high school in southwestern Kentucky captured the hearts of basketball fans nationwide. Marianne Walker weaves together details about the players, their coach, and their relationships in a page-turning account of triumph over adversity. This inspiring David and Goliath story takes the reader on a journey from the team's heartbreaking defeat in the 1951 state championship to their triumphant victory over Louisville Manual the next year.

More than just a basketball narrative, the book explores a period in American life when indoor plumbing and electricity were still luxuries in some areas of the country and when hardship was a way of life. With no funded school programs or bus system, the Cubs's success was a testament to the sacrifices of family and neighbors who believed in their team. The Graves County Boys features numerous photographs, a foreword by University of Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall, and an epilogue detailing where the players are now. "The Graves County Boys is much more than a David slaying Goliath story," according to Walker. "It is about determination, hard work, and a rural community's support making a shared dream come true."

Marianne Walker is a retired professor of English and philosophy at Henderson Community College and the author of Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind.

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