Kenneth King

Kenneth King was born Kenneth Graham King on August 21, 1901, in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Edward F. King and Birdie H. Graham.  King attended du Pont Manual Training High School, where he distinguished himself in football, basketball and track and captained both the football and track teams. Contemporary coverage identified him as Manual’s football captain as early as 1919, while a later account credited him with scoring all of his team’s points in a regional basketball victory that helped send Manual to the state tournament, which the school went on to win.

King enrolled at the University of Kentucky and competed in both basketball and football. During the 1921-22 basketball season, the 6-foot forward worked his way into the Wildcats’ rotation and was considered for a starting assignment early in the year. One of his best-documented moments came in Kentucky’s 29-22 victory over Louisville, when he replaced Basil Hayden and drew praise from The Kentucky Kernel for adding greatly to the Wildcats’ defense with his “stellar floor work.”

Football became King’s most prominent collegiate sport. Playing end, he developed into one of Kentucky’s mainstays and was repeatedly praised in contemporary accounts for his defensive play. Against Vanderbilt in 1921, the newcomer from Manual blocked a punt that helped produce a Kentucky touchdown, while in a 14-0 victory over Cincinnati he recovered a fumble and returned it about 60 yards for the opening score. His finest documented performance came in Kentucky’s 7-0 victory over V.M.I., when the Kentuckian called him Kentucky’s “star end” and the outstanding player of the game; King caught a pass from Jenkins and carried it across from the 10-yard line for the game’s only touchdown. A later profile credited him with earning four football letters at Kentucky.

King graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1926 with an A.B. degree in sociology and economics. He then played professional football in the East, with contemporary Kentucky sources placing him with a Newark, New Jersey, team after graduation. King later built a long career in social services in Michigan, serving for many years as supervisor of the Midland Bureau of Social Aid before retiring in 1968. He died in Midland, Michigan, on March 7, 1971.