19 Forest Sale

Forest Sale was born Forest Elmer Sale on June 25, 1911, in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, to Foster E. and Mary Sale.

Fellow players and friends called him “Aggie” because he was in the UK College of Agriculture as a freshman student. “Aggie” was a two-time All-American for the University of Kentucky and the first Wildcat to be voted college Player of the Year,

In the 1930-31 season, Adolph Rupp’s first as head coach at UK, Sale, a sophomore who played second-string center. In his next two years, Sale moved up to the first team, playing mostly at forward. As a senior, he broke the Southeastern Conference Tournament scoring record. Sale was named an All-American in the 1931-32 and 1932-33 seasons. He received the Helms Athletic Foundation’s Player of the Year Award in 1933, the same year the foundation named the Wildcats the collegiate champions of the year. Sale was enshrined in Kentucky’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1957, and in 1963 he was named to the National Basketball Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Helms Athletic Foundation.

Rupp always considered Aggie Sale to be among the finest players he ever coached. He scored the first two points for Rupp at UK, and was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points in the first of Rupp’s 876 career victories. He was a very quick and agile inside player and averaged 5.6 points as a sophomore despite being hampered by an injury. He developed into an outstanding player in his final two seasons, teaming with Frenchy DeMoisey to give the Cats a potent inside scoring tandem. Sale averaged a team-high 13.6 points during his junior season. He scored 21 against Tulane and 20 against Washington & Lee. Sale shook off a swarm of defenders to score 20 points in the Cats 43-42 loss to North Carolina. He was named Captain of the 1932-33 team and improved his scoring average to 13.8 in his final season. Sale saved his best for last, scoring 71 points in four games to help the Cats win the inaugural SEC Tournament. He had back-to-back 20-point showings against Florida and LSU in that tourney. 

“Whenever he (Rupp) mentioned his best players, Aggie Sale was the first player he mentioned,” UK sports information director Russell Rice said. “In his day and time, Aggie Sale was a giant.”

Sale once said of Rupp, “When Rupp came to UK (in 1930) I thought he was the most intelligent person I’d ever met.  He was witty and he always had the right answer at the right time.”

Sale, a native of Anderson County, returned to his home county to teach and coach basketball at Kavanaugh High School after he graduated from UK. He coached at Kavanaugh from 1933 to 1937, and he went to Harrodsburg High School as a history teacher and basketball coach in 1937. Sale entered the Navy during World War II and achieved the rank of chief specialist. He returned to Harrodsburg after his military stint and resumed his teaching and basketball career at Harrodsburg High. He remained basketball coach there until 1960 and retired as a teacher in 1964. After he quit coaching, Sale opened the Sale Sporting Goods Store in Harrodsburg, which he ran until about 1967. The store still bears his name. He also managed the family farm in Anderson County. In 1971, Sale, a Democrat, was elected to the Kentucky General Assembly from the 55th District. He was re-elected to the post four times. Sale served on several legislative committees, and education was one of his primary legislative interests. In 1983, the Harrodsburg Rotary Club named Sale the Mercer County Citizen of the Year. He was a Mason, a Shriner, and a longtime member of the Harrodsburg Lions Club. Sale also taught Sunday school at Harrodsburg Christian Church.

Sale died of a heart attack on December 4, 1985 at his home in Lexington.

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