22 Gene Stewart

Gene Stewart was born July 31, 1945, and grew up in Brookville, Indiana, where he became one of the community’s most accomplished young athletes. He led Brookville High School in scoring during each of his final three basketball seasons, produced more than 1,000 points and averaged 20 points while also pacing the team in rebounds and assists as a senior. Despite frequent double- and triple-teams, Stewart helped Brookville win 14 consecutive games in 1962–63, earned All-Indiana recognition and was named most valuable player of the Jefferson Tournament. An All-State linebacker who also played baseball and competed in track, he earned 12 varsity letters, captained all four sports and signed with Kentucky on April 11, 1963.

The 6-foot-2 forward joined a distinguished recruiting class that included Louie Dampier, Pat Riley and Wayne Chapman. Stewart started all 16 games for Harry Lancaster’s 1963–64 freshman team, averaging 11.8 points and finishing second on the Kittens with 142 rebounds. Wearing No. 22, he later appeared in 28 varsity games over three seasons, totaling 32 points and 27 rebounds. He scored four points against North Carolina in his varsity debut and set his career high with five in Kentucky’s 102–65 victory over Mississippi on February 6, 1965.

Stewart supplied depth for the celebrated 1965–66 “Rupp’s Runts,” who won the SEC championship and reached the NCAA title game. During Kentucky’s record-setting 115–78 rout of Auburn, he slipped beneath the basket for a layup at the final horn. Though sometimes called Kentucky’s “Forgotten Man,” Adolph Rupp valued him as a steadying influence, unselfish passer and strong defender. On senior night against Alabama, Stewart received a standing ovation, then scored his first points of the season with a free throw and jump shot in his final game at Memorial Coliseum.

A member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Stewart ran on the fraternity’s fastest qualifying team for the 1967 Little Kentucky Derby relay and later caught an apparent touchdown in the first all-campus flag-football championship, only to have it erased by a penalty. During Jim McDaniels’ recruiting visit that spring, Stewart crossed the locker room, put an arm around the young prospect and welcomed him as though they were old friends.

After graduating from Kentucky in 1967, Stewart returned to Brookville and built a long career as an attorney in his hometown.