70 John Brewer

John Brewer was born August 21, 1935, in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Silas Herbert Brewer and Christine Meguiar Brewer, and grew up in Anchorage. He starred at Eastern High School, where he won the Jefferson County scoring championship as a senior in 1952-53 by averaging 19.7 points and scoring 414 points in 21 games. Brewer earned Courier-Journal All-State third-team honors, appeared in six postseason all-star games, and scored 27 points in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Game to earn “Star of Stars” honors as the game’s most valuable player. He then signed a grant-in-aid with the University of Kentucky.

Brewer averaged 14 points per game on Harry Lancaster’s undefeated 1953-54 freshman team and impressed Adolph Rupp enough to earn a midseason promotion to Kentucky’s No. 1-ranked varsity. He became especially valuable as a sophomore after Phil Grawemeyer suffered a broken leg, moving into the starting lineup during Kentucky’s drive to the 1955 SEC championship. Brewer went on to become a three-year varsity letterman, appearing in 67 games, scoring 253 points and collecting 200 rebounds while helping Kentucky win SEC championships in 1955 and 1957. Contemporary coverage repeatedly described him as a steady, dependable and clutch performer who could contribute at both guard and forward. Away from the court, he studied in the College of Commerce and was a member of the K Club and Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

Among Brewer’s memorable Kentucky moments were a 22-point performance against Auburn, 19 points in the 1955 regular-season finale against Tennessee, and a late steal and basket with seven seconds remaining against Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl tournament. Brewer later said his greatest basketball thrill was playing in Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament game against Marquette. He was also the subject of a lighthearted newspaper item after appearing in a Kentucky uniform on which “Kentucky” had been misspelled, the result of an uncorrected manufacturer’s error.

After graduating from Kentucky in 1957, Brewer married Susan Roach and entered the United States Marine Corps, serving at Quantico, Virginia, where he continued playing basketball for the Marine Corps team. He left the service in 1960 as a second lieutenant and declined an opportunity to try out for the New York Knicks. Brewer subsequently built a long career in the aluminum industry with Anaconda Aluminum and Metal Exchange Corporation, retiring in 2007 as vice president of sales. An accomplished golfer, he belonged to several country clubs during his later life. Brewer died February 9, 2021, in Naples, Florida, at age 85.