Jay Wallace

Jay Wallace was born August 24, 1905, in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Alonzo Christopher Wallace and Nellie B. Kaufman Wallace. Jay C. Wallace played basketball for Lexington Senior High School’s Blue Devils and graduated with the school’s Class of 1923 before enrolling at the University of Kentucky. At UK, he was also a member of Alpha Sigma Phi and participated in the university’s ROTC program.

Wallace competed for playing time on Ray Eklund’s 1925-26 Wildcats. A contemporary Lexington Herald account called the 5-foot-8 forward one of the surprises of the season, praising his speed, elusiveness, close-range shooting and determination despite his lack of height. He ultimately appeared in one varsity game, Kentucky’s 45-25 victory over Centre College on January 21, 1926.

Wallace continued playing basketball in Lexington after his Kentucky career, becoming a regular with the Goldberg Tailors independent team. He scored 11 points in a 1926 city tournament semifinal and remained active with the club through at least 1929. Wallace graduated from the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1927 and that same year was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps.

Wallace later spent 45 years with the R. Arnspiger Insurance Company and devoted two decades to public education as a member of the Fayette County Board of Education from 1948 to 1968. He was also active in Lexington civic and church life and served on the boards of New Union Federal Savings and Loan Association and First Security National Bank and Trust Company. Wallace died in 1981 at age 75.