Kentucky basketball began modestly on February 6, 1903, when the team representing what was then Kentucky State College played the first intercollegiate game in school history. There was little ceremony surrounding the occasion. The newspapers devoted more attention to an intercollegiate speaking contest being held that evening, but inside the State College gymnasium, a program was quietly taking its first official step.
The team had been organized by Walter W. H. Mustaine, the college’s physical director. Mustaine was an accomplished gymnast and an enthusiastic promoter of physical education, but basketball was far from his principal interest. His gymnasium program included tumbling, boxing, wrestling, fencing, work on the bars and exercises with Indian clubs. He also managed the glee club, taught dancing and participated actively in campus organizations.
Mustaine’s contribution to Kentucky basketball was less about coaching than simply getting the game started. He called together interested students, collected approximately $3 to purchase a basketball and instructed the players to elect a captain and provide their own shoes and uniforms. Kentucky did not have a formal basketball coach during these first seasons, and Mustaine largely left the players to organize and teach themselves the game.
The team’s home was the gymnasium in Barker Hall, which had opened in 1902. The school annual described it as a splendid room with a good floor, an elevated running track and the equipment needed for gymnastic training. Spectators watched games from the circular mezzanine, where three rows of chairs were installed on game days. The building had not been constructed specifically for basketball, but it supplied the young program with a suitable place to play.
Most of the students knew very little about the sport. Thomson R. “Tommie” Bryant, who arrived at Kentucky’s preparatory school in 1903 and later earned basketball letters in 1905, 1906 and 1907, remembered contributing money toward the school’s first ball. It was inflated with a foot pump and then laced closed. Had the ball been damaged, Bryant recalled, the team could not have played.
“None of us knew much about the game,” Bryant later said. The players understood the opening jump at center court, but little else. Preparatory students could practice alongside the college players, although school rules prevented them from representing the varsity in intercollegiate competition.
Kentucky’s First Intercollegiate Game
Mustaine’s efforts produced Kentucky’s first official team, which met Georgetown College on the afternoon of February 6, 1903. The game began at approximately 4 p.m. before a gymnasium packed with supporters of both schools.
Kentucky’s lineup consisted of J. White Guyn, Joe Coons, Richard H. Arnett, Leander Andrus and Henry J. Wurtele. Georgetown entered the game with a considerable advantage: its players had trained since the previous fall and already had several games of experience, while the State College team had practiced for only a few days.
Georgetown led 7–1 at halftime and pulled away as Kentucky tired during the second half. Contemporary newspaper accounts disagreed on the final score. The Lexington Herald reported a 17–6 Georgetown victory, while the Lexington Leader listed the score as 15–6. Regardless of the precise margin, both papers described the inaugural game as entertaining and well received. The Leader called it a success and noted the enthusiastic crowd’s response to the play of both teams.
Kentucky recorded its first victory later that season by defeating the Lexington YMCA, 11–10. The team then closed its three-game schedule with a 42–2 loss to Kentucky University, the Lexington institution now known as Transylvania University. Kentucky State College therefore completed its first official season with a 1–2 record.
A Game Still Finding Its Form
Basketball in those years bore only a passing resemblance to the modern game. Rules could vary from one gymnasium to another, and teams sometimes disagreed over officials before games. Playing floors, boundaries and basket arrangements were not standardized. Visiting teams frequently brought their own referee and timekeeper because hometown officials were often suspected of favoring the local players.
The game could also be extraordinarily physical. Players wore knee-length padded shorts or tights, sleeveless or quarter-length shirts and long woolen stockings. Rubber-soled shoes were introduced during this period, and knee guards soon became necessary. Bryant remembered games marked by hard contact, bloody noses and occasional fights. One later contest was described as resembling a football battle more than a basketball game.
Interest nevertheless grew quickly. Crowds packed the early gymnasiums, and schools throughout Kentucky began adding the new winter sport to their athletic programs. During the 1903–04 season, State College played its first game outside Lexington and earned a notable 25–21 victory over Cincinnati. By then, basketball was becoming an established part of college life rather than an experimental campus diversion.
Kentucky won only three of its first 13 games over three seasons, but those results mattered less than the foundation being laid. From a $3 collection, a single laced basketball and a group of students with only a basic understanding of the rules emerged one of college basketball’s most enduring programs. The first official team did not win a championship or attract national attention, but it began a tradition that would eventually make Kentucky basketball synonymous with the sport itself.
