18 Paul Noel

Paul Noel was born August 4, 1924, in Midway, Kentucky, the son of Paul Noel and Willa Lane Childers. Paul Wendel Noel became an All-State player at Midway High School and played in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Game under Western Kentucky coach Ed Diddle. He arrived at the University of Kentucky with a considerable reputation. During preseason workouts in 1942, the Kentucky Kernel called him a “lanky Midway scoring sensation,” and Noel survived Adolph Rupp’s early cuts to become one of 11 freshmen selected for varsity duty.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound forward appeared in 20 games during the 1942–43 season, scoring 84 points for a 4.2-point average and earning a varsity letter. Noel began the year behind Kentucky’s veterans but steadily earned Rupp’s trust, eventually drawing a start against Vanderbilt and contributing with his rebounding and defense as well as his scoring. His finest stretch came at the end of the season. When starting center Mel Brewer was injured immediately before the SEC Tournament, Rupp shifted the freshman forward into the middle. Noel responded with some of his strongest basketball of the year as Kentucky defeated Tulane, Georgia and Mississippi State to reach the championship game against Tennessee. He scored nine points before fouling out in the Wildcats’ 33–30 loss, and a contemporary account reported that he received an individual trophy for his tournament performance. Noel also earned honorable mention All-SEC recognition.

By season’s end, Noel had made an impression far beyond what his modest career totals might suggest. The Kentucky Kernel marveled at how quickly the Midway freshman had made the jump from high school basketball to one of the nation’s leading college teams, and at Kentucky’s postseason dinner Rupp praised Noel as the best freshman he had coached and ranked him behind only former Wildcat great Leroy Edwards among the most gifted players he had coached. Noel’s Kentucky career nevertheless ended after that single season when his father became ill and he returned home to help on the family farm.

Noel continued playing basketball and later competed with a service team connected with the University of Denver. In 1947 he signed a professional contract with the New York Knickerbockers, beginning a career that later took him to the Rochester Royals. In 1951, Noel helped Rochester win the NBA championship, defeating his former Knicks team in a seven-game Finals. After leaving professional basketball, he returned to Kentucky, officiated high school games, operated the Corner Drug Store in Versailles and entered public service. Noel served on the Versailles City Council before serving two terms as mayor and was later inducted into the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. He died at his home in Versailles on November 16, 2005, at age 81, leaving an unusual legacy as a one-season Wildcat whose talent carried him from Midway High School to Kentucky, professional basketball and an NBA championship.