
- Name
- Donald Orme
- Position
- Forward
- Class
- Senior
- Hometown (Last School)
- Indianapolis, IN
- Ht
- 6'0"
- Wt
- 168
- Seasons
- 1939-40, 1940-41
- Birthday
- January 5, 1920
Donald Orme was born Donald Rufus Orme in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 5, 1920, to Charles Sanford Orme and Hazel Susan Jordan Orme. Orme played both basketball and golf at Kentucky.
Orme played forward for Southport High School in Indianapolis where he was all-county.
As a freshman at Kentucky, Orme, a red-headed forward who enrolled to study engineering, led the team with 20 points against Cumberland.
As a sophomore, the Lexington Herald-Leader called him one of the deadliest shots on the team. He was a member of the “lost battalion,” players who practiced against the varsity but did not play very frequently. Today we would call them red-shirt players. The idea was to give them a chance to develop as players while preserving their year of eligibility.
As a junior, Orme saw action in 11 games. On February 3, 1940, he scored a career-high nine points to lead Kentucky past Marquette. Orme, known as “Rufus the Red,” had entered the game late in the second half and was instructed by Adolph Rupp to shoot every time he had an opportunity.
Orme was also a member of Kappa Sigma, a social fraternity, while he attended Kentucky.
He was a sales manager for the domestic division of Allison Division of General Motors Corp. for more than 40 years, retiring in 1984.
He passed away on May 23, 2000, at the age of 80.
