50 Bob Burrow

Bob Burrow was born Robert Brantley Burrow on June 29, 1934, in Big Creek, Arkansas to Martin E. and Decie L. Burrow.  His father, Martin, was a lumberjack.  Burrow was a two-time All-American at Kentucky where he averaged 20.1 points and 16.1 rebounds in two seasons played.

Burrow played high school basketball in Wells, Texas. In 1952, Burrow enrolled at a nearby junior college called Lon Morris, where his well-known basketball legacy would begin. He scored a whopping 2,191 points in his two years with the Lon Morris Bearcats. After a highly successful JUCO career, Adolph Rupp reportedly offered Burrow a spot with the Kentucky Wildcats without ever seeing him play.  On May 24, 1954, Burrow announced his intentions to play for Kentucky.

“I chose Kentucky because even down in Texas it was known as the basketball capital of the world.  I wanted to see if I could play for the best.  Anyway, I liked the Kentucky fast break.”

In Burrow’s two-year career with the Wildcats, beginning in 1954, he quickly established himself as one of the best players in the nation, and perhaps the greatest rebounder in Kentucky’s history. In his first season with Kentucky, Burrow recorded 459 rebounds, the third-highest in school history. The 6’7 center did this in only 26 games, averaging a school-record 17.7 rebounds that season.

On December 18, 1954, Burrow pulled down 34 rebounds against Temple, tying Bill Spivey’s school rebounding record. The 34 rebounds also tied him for the 26th highest rebounding game in NCAA history.  Legendary DePaul Coach Ray Meyer summed up the feeling of many frustrated mentors when he declared, “The only way to beat Kentucky is to break Burrow’s control of the
backboards.” Rupp said of his star: “Bob stepped into the pressure-filled shoes of Cliff Hagan in excellent fashion last season and showed great promise of developing in the tradition of our outstanding centers of the past. He has the stuff to make All-America this year and should rate high consideration if he continues the pace he was setting at the close of last season.”

Big Bob Burrow blossomed almost overnight in the midst of Kentucky’s late-season troubles from the category of “good” to “sensational” and virtually carried the Wildcats to victory on the broad shoulders of his rugged, 220-pound frame. But even Burrow’s tremendous rebounding and clutch scoring was not enough to power the team to a fourth NCAA title and they were eliminated in the 1955 NCAA Eastern Regional Tournament.

The Knoxville Sentinel, which covers Tennessee athletics, once called Burrow an outcast from the dark ages.  The author of the article penned Burrow as a big fierce basketball player who looked like he would charge hell with a tincup of water.  Cumbersome but rugged, Burrow showed that writer a defensive performance not seen in Tennessee’s Alumni Memorial Gymnasium in quite some time, robbing the Vols star player Carl Widseth of at least 15 points with a sterling, ball-slapping exhibition.

Burrow’s rebounding prowess alone would earn him a place in Wildcat lore, but he was also an efficient scorer. He averaged 20.1 points throughout his career. In his senior year, Burrow had 50, 40 and 34-point games. His career-high of 50 came against LSU on January 14, 1956.  Burrow had a chance to equal the UK record of 51 points scored by Cliff Hagan–when he missed a free throw with 16 seconds remaining.  On February 4, 1956, Burrow hit a 10-foot jump shot with only 9 seconds showing on the clock to give the Wildcats an 82-81 triumph over Auburn.  Upon leaving UK, Burrow ended his career with 1,023 points in just two years and 51 games.

For his efforts, Burrow was selected as an All-American in both of his years with Kentucky. He was a consensus second-team All-American his first year with the Wildcats but made the first-team his senior year.  He led the Wildcats to 23-3 and 20-9 seasons.

Burrow participated in the East-West All-Star game on March 31, 1956, suiting up for the East squad.  He outscored the legendary Bill Russell, who played on the West squad and scored 10 points, by leading all scorers with 21.

Burrow played two years in the NBA. He was drafted in 1956 by the Rochester Royals, the franchise that would one day become the Sacramento Kings. He played for the Royals in the 1956-1957 season and for the Minneapolis Lakers the next year.

Becoming one of the best basketball players in the history of one of the storied basketball schools in the NCAA constitutes a successful life, but Burrow was meant to excel in other areas of life as well. After his playing career, he coached boys’ basketball and taught at Fort Knox High School from 1958-67 before becoming assistant principal in 1967. He took over as principal in 1968 and remained in the post until 1980. He served as the assistant superintendent of business of the Fort Knox Community Schools from 1980 until 1993 and finished his career as the superintendent from 1993 to 1994.

In 2005, Burrow was inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame.

Burrow passed away on January 3rd, 2019.  He was 84 years old.

One of Burrow’s students gave a eulogy at his funeral, where he said, “Bob Burrow inspired everyone he met… Best of all, Bob Burrow made every student feel good about simply being young.”

Family was extremely important to Burrow, a theme well expressed by his younger son Grant’s eulogy, “Although Dad raised us to have integrity, be honest and ethical, and do our best at whatever we did, the most important lesson Dad (and Mom) taught us was how important family is.”

Burrow’s son Grant, whom I went to high school with, recalled many poker games with his father and older brother Brett. On one such occasion, Burrow remembers his father saying to him, “My enjoyment is not about the game, although I enjoy playing.  It is about spending time with you and Brett and your friends.”

The importance of family was imparted through basketball as well. Burrow coached his sons and when the time came, he taught them a bit about coaching their own children. Grant Burrow remembers him saying, “You don’t have to know the game backwards and forwards to teach your kids and create memories.  You just have to be there.”

Burrow’s memory is being carried on by his family in an incredibly special way- for over 65 years a Burrow has worn number 50. Burrow’s eldest son, Brett, wore number 50 throughout his successful career at North Hardin High School and later with the Vanderbilt Commodores. A third generation of number 50’s came when Brett Burrow’s son wore it at Brentwood High School. Today, Grant Burrow’s daughter wears number 50 for her middle school travel team, Mid TN Elite.

Look up at the ceiling of Rupp Arena, a building with as much basketball history as any other, and you will see number 50 hanging in the rafters to honor one of Kentucky’s all-time greats.

Graduates of Fort Knox High School found a way to commemorate the memory of Burrow, a coach and administrator who invested 39 of his 84 years working at the schools on post.  During a celebration on December 7, 2019, the high school gym was officially named the Robert “Bob” Burrow Gymnasium.  The gym was constructed in the early 1960s while Burrow was the Fort Knox High basketball coach.

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