77 Harold Hurst

Harold Hurst was born Harold Mason Hurst on September 28, 1933, in Ezel, Kentucky, to Samuel and Virginia Murphy Hurst. At Powell County High School, he averaged 29 points as a senior and earned third-team All-State honors. He scored 43 points against Estill County and 39 against Kirksville with Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp in attendance. Hurst also played in the East–West All-Star game before enrolling at UK.

Kentucky did not play a 1952–53 season, so Hurst entered his first varsity season without game experience as a freshman. As a sophomore in 1953–54, the 6-foot-7 center was among the prospects being developed behind All-American Cliff Hagan. He played sparingly, scoring his first varsity field goal against Georgia Tech on February 2, 1954, and was a member of the Wildcats’ unbeaten 25–0 team.

Hurst returned as a reserve center in 1954–55. His two varsity seasons totaled 10 appearances and eight points according to Wildcat World. He remained at Kentucky through 1956, though the available varsity records do not establish a senior playing season. Basketball was part of his campus life beyond the varsity team: he scored 18 points in an intramural victory for Alpha Gamma Rho.

Hurst also participated in the Student Government Association and 4-H Club. He earned a degree in agriculture in 1956 and returned to Powell County, where he taught vocational agriculture and helped students earn state and national FFA awards. He later served as mayor of Stanton and as a Powell County magistrate while operating several local businesses. Hurst and his wife, Bertha Frazier, had two daughters. He died at his Stanton home on January 26, 2009, at age 75.