34 Hugh Coy

Hugh Coy was born Hugh Milton Coy on August 18, 1934, in Madison County, Kentucky, the son of Charles Henson Coy and Maudie Sowers. He attended Madison High School in Richmond, where he earned second-team All-State honors as a senior. A 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward, Coy was described by Kentucky as a scrappy player with a good shooting eye who could hold his own under the boards. Like Kentucky’s other freshmen, he spent the 1952-53 season practicing without official varsity game action, but he impressed enough in workouts and intrasquad competition to enter the following year as a promising sophomore reserve.

Coy earned a varsity letter as a reserve forward on Kentucky’s memorable 1953-54 team. His season was interrupted by a lengthy layoff after the Christmas Invitational Tournament, but he returned late in the year and worked his way back into the rotation. One of his more notable appearances came in Kentucky’s 74-59 victory over Minnesota, when he replaced Lou Tsioropoulos in the third quarter and helped the Wildcats maintain control. He also scored during a second-quarter surge in a 100-64 win over Vanderbilt. Kentucky finished 25-0, won the Southeastern Conference championship and ended the season ranked No. 1 nationally.

Coy was also a serious two-sport athlete. In the summer of 1953, before his varsity basketball season, he pitched for Berea and threw a complete-game seven-hitter in a 5-4 victory over West Liberty. He later became one of Harry Lancaster’s leading pitchers at Kentucky, tying for the team lead with four wins in 1954 while also batting .343 as the Wildcats’ second-leading hitter.

His signature baseball performance came against Transylvania in May 1954, when Coy struck out 10, allowed five hits, hit two home runs and drove in four runs in a 10-3 Kentucky victory. He also pitched effectively against Vanderbilt and remained productive at the plate through the end of the season, making baseball an important part of his Kentucky athletic story.