text: bill spivey william edwin " bill " spivey ( march 19 , 1929 – may 8 , 1995 ) was an american basketball player . a 7 ft 0 in ( 2 . 13 m ) center , he played college basketball for the national collegiate athletic association 's ( ncaa ) kentucky wildcats from 1949 to 1951 . after his high school career , spivey was recruited to the university of kentucky . during his time with the wildcats , he led the team to the 1951 ncaa tournament championship , and was voted most outstanding player of the event . when a point shaving scandal was revealed that year , spivey was accused of being involved , which he denied . he left the wildcats in december 1951 , and the university banned him from the squad in march 1952 . after he testified before a grand jury in new york , he was indicted on perjury charges . although spivey was not convicted when the case went to trial in 1953 , he was prevented from competing in the national basketball association ( nba ) afterward . spivey instead played professionally for various minor league teams . in 10 eastern basketball league ( ebl ) seasons , his teams won three championships . spivey retired in 1968 and became a businessman , working in sales and operating restaurants . upset by the accusations against him in the early 1950s , he was reclusive in his final years . early life william edwin spivey was born in lakeland , florida , and had moved to columbus , georgia , by 1944 , at which time he was 6 ft 9 in ( 2 . 06 m ) . after taking up basketball , he played for his high school 's team and had 18 points in his first half of game action . the following year , he moved to warner robins , georgia , which did not have a basketball team before he arrived . the principal of warner robins ' high school created a team , however , once spivey came . during one of his high school seasons , he was forced to play without shoes — since none of the school 's shoes fit him — and wear three pairs of socks . spivey had over 1 , 800 points in his three - year high school career . college career recruitment several universities wanted to give spivey a basketball scholarship in 1948 . the university of kentucky first became aware of spivey when a georgia newspaper publisher phoned fred wachs , whom writer earl cox called " the most powerful man in lexington " ; according to cox , wachs " ran the university of kentucky " . after hearing of spivey from the publisher , who indicated a desire to have him attend the university , wachs notified kentucky 's men 's basketball coach , adolph rupp , who elected to have a scout watch spivey play . following positive feedback from the scout , rupp gave spivey an invitation to a camp held at alumni gymnasium , where he would try out against other leading high school seniors . he received a scholarship on the camp 's first day , one of two players to do so . 1948 – 49 to 1949 – 50 even though he offered a scholarship to the seven - foot spivey , rupp was concerned about his weight , which was between 160 and 165 pounds . rupp told him that he would play only if he added 40 pounds ( 18 kg ) , and spivey bulked up to 200 pounds ( 91 kg ) during the summer of 1948 . at the time , first - year players were not allowed to compete on varsity teams . therefore , spivey spent his first year at kentucky on a freshman team , while the varsity team won its second consecutive ncaa basketball championship in 1949 . the two teams practiced against each other , and varsity team member ralph beard later said that spivey outplayed the wildcats ' all - american center , alex groza . the u.s. olympic team , which had six wildcats players on it , practiced in lexington , and spivey gained knowledge and skills from team members groza , vince boryla and bob kurland . spivey also competed in games against other freshman teams , including one against xavier in which he posted 31 points . in 15 games , he averaged about 20 points per game . in the 1949 – 50 season , the wildcats lost several of the leading players from their championship - winning teams to graduation , including beard and groza . in response , rupp made spivey the focal point of the team , and the team exceeded expectations . in a february 18 , 1950 game against georgia tech , which the wildcats won 97 – 62 , spivey broke the team record for points in a game with 40 , two more than groza scored in a game the previous season . that record has since been broken , but his 42 field goal attempts remain a school record as of 2010 . spivey tied another of groza 's point - scoring records on march 5 with a 37 - point performance in a southeastern conference ( sec ) men 's basketball tournament game . kentucky won over tennessee 95 – 58 to win the sec tournament for the seventh consecutive season . kentucky ended the regular season with a 25 – 4 record , and spivey averaged 19 . 4 points a game . despite the wildcats ' record and sec title , the ncaa tournament selection committee did not give the team a berth in the 1950 tournament . kentucky did gain a berth to the national invitation tournament , but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by city college of new york ( ccny ) , 89 – 50 . in that game , spivey was forced to the bench for the final nine minutes of the first half after accumulating four personal fouls . at the end of the season , spivey was named to the all - sec team , and the associated press selected him for its 1950 all - american third team . 1950 – 51 spivey set another school record in a february 13 , 1951 , game , gathering 31 rebounds . as of 2010 , he remains tied for the team record with bob burrow , who had the same number of rebounds in a 1955 game . for the season , spivey again averaged more than 19 points per game , and he added 17 . 2 rebounds per game . his point total led the sec , and his 479 regular season points were the third - most in league history at the time . the wildcats had a 28 – 2 record during the regular season , and entered the postseason as the top - ranked team in the country . one of those losses came in the sec tournament against vanderbilt , but it did not affect the team 's prospects for an ncaa tournament berth because the sec had decided to send its regular season champion to the newly expanded 16 - team tournament . kentucky advanced to the tournament 's final four , where spivey had 28 points and 16 rebounds in a 76 – 74 win over illinois . the wildcats then faced kansas state in the ncaa championship game . despite falling behind early in the contest , they took the lead in the second half and pulled away to win 68 – 58 . spivey played an important role in the victory , scoring 22 points and pulling down 21 rebounds . rupp said after the game that " spivey made the difference after he went to work . " for his performance in the final four , spivey was named the event 's most outstanding player . he was later selected to the 1951 all - american team , as well as the all - sec team for the second straight season . in gambling scandal the ccny point shaving scandal was revealed in 1951 . a series of college basketball players had conspired with gamblers to shave points to ensure that their teams lost against the point spread . according to manhattan district attorney frank hogan , 32 players were involved in point shaving or match fixing , and 86 games were affected . that figure included three ex - kentucky players : dale barnstable , beard , and groza , who engaged in point shaving during a 1949 national invitation tournament game . having been sidelined in the early part of the 1951 – 52 season after knee surgery , spivey gave up his eligibility to play for the wildcats on december 24 , 1951 . he denied rumors that he was involved in the scandal , calling them " false and malicious " . spivey intended to return to the wildcats once the situation was resolved , which kentucky 's athletic association expected before reinstatement . on february 16 , 1952 , he and the association 's directors agreed to have him testify before a grand jury in new york . after spivey 's grand jury appearance later in february , however , the university banned him permanently on march 2 . in its statement , kentucky 's athletic board said evidence pointed to him fixing games during the 1950 sugar bowl tournament . gambler jack west was charged with bribing two wildcats players , spivey and walter hirsch , to engage in point shaving during one of the tournament 's games , and eventually pleaded guilty . in his grand jury testimony , spivey denied receiving $ 1 , 000 to shave points in games from december 1950 to january 1951 , or talking about doing so with gamblers . in april , the grand jury indicted him on charges of perjury for lying under oath during his testimony , claiming he had done so on seven occasions . trial on june 9 , spivey was arrested in new york , and was released pending a trial , which started in january 1953 . hirsch testified that spivey asked to be included as a point , and was upset that the payment for his role in shaving during the 1950 sugar bowl game was less than he anticipated . this , however , contradicted his original grand jury testimony , which had no mention of spivey 's involvement . hirsch also told the grand jury that spivey and west , the ringleader , had not met . west declined to testify , leading to criminal contempt charges against him . spivey again denied taking part in the scandal , stating that he had turned down a different gambler on two occasions . according to him , ex - teammate jim line mentioned his name to the grand jury ; spivey said he learned this from line . the trial lasted for 13 days before the case went to a jury . by a 9 – 3 margin , the majority of jurors supported acquittal for spivey , and the hung jury caused a mistrial . the grand jury eventually dropped the charges against spivey . professional career although spivey was not found guilty in the scandal , he found himself blackballed from the nba after league president maurice podoloff banned all 32 players involved in the ccny scandal for life . the cincinnati royals later tried to sign spivey , but podoloff refused to approve the contract . spivey filed a lawsuit against the nba and podoloff in 1960 , seeking more than $ 800 , 000 in damages . afterward , he claimed that his rights under the sherman antitrust act had been violated and sued the league in federal court , dropping his initial case . in response , podoloff offered to settle with spivey for $ 10 , 000 , which he accepted . according to sportswriter jim murray , spivey felt that he had no choice but to accept because the court schedule was so full that even if he had won his case , he would have been too old to be a viable nba prospect in any case . future kentucky coach joe b. hall said that " most people feel [ spivey ] would have been one of the top five centers of all - time had he had the chance to mature in the nba . " instead , spivey spent his professional career playing for numerous minor league and barnstorming teams . in october 1952 , spivey played in two games for the american basketball league 's elmira colonels , scoring 21 and 32 points in the contests . that season , he also was a member of the detroit vagabonds barnstorming team . for the next three seasons , he spent time with three teams connected to the harlem globetrotters exhibition team : the boston whirlwinds , the house of david , and the washington generals . in one game with the whirlwinds , spivey got into a fight with globetrotters player bobby " showboat " hall . for the 1955 – 56 and 1956 – 57 seasons , spivey played for another barnstorming team , the new york olympians , later renamed the kentucky colonels . beginning with the 1957 – 58 season , spivey spent 10 of his remaining 12 professional seasons in the ebl . the first two of those ebl seasons were spent with the wilkes - barre barons , and spivey led the team to consecutive league championships . on april 20 , 1958 , he scored 62 points in the title - clinching game against the easton , setting an ebl playoff record . in 1958 – 59 , he became the first player in league history with a 1 , 000 - point season , and had 64 points in a march 1959 game . along with his play in the ebl , spivey reached an agreement to join the ansonia of the semi - professional connecticut basketball association ( cba ) in 1958 . over two years with the , his points - per - game average exceeded 30 . 0 . spivey moved to the baltimore bullets for the 1959 – 60 season , and played two seasons for the club . in spivey 's first season with the bullets , he had 36 . 3 points per game , the highest average of his ebl career . outside ebl competition , he received an opportunity to play opposite leading nba center wilt chamberlain in a 1960 exhibition game , held in milford , connecticut , against the cba 's milford chiefs . spivey had a 30 - point , 23 - rebound performance ; his statistics were comparable to those of chamberlain , who recorded a 31 - point , 27 - rebound game . the bullets won the league championship in 1960 – 61 , after which spivey played two seasons in a different american basketball league , with the los angeles jets and long beach – hawaii chiefs . spivey was named to the 1961 – 62 all - abl second team after averaging 22 . 7 points per game and 11 . 2 rebounds per game with the chiefs ; his total of 1 , 773 points was second behind connie hawkins . in the 1962 – 63 season , which was shortened when the league suspended operations , he had an average of 22 . 5 points per game in 24 games with long beach . in abl history , spivey was third in points scored and fourth in rebounds . spivey returned to the ebl in 1963 to join the scranton miners , for whom he played five seasons . his highest scoring average for the miners came in the 1964 – 65 season , when he had 27 . 0 points per game . in 1967 – 68 , his final professional season , spivey went back to the barons . playing for about $ 200 in salary per contest , he had 10 . 4 points per game . on february 11 , 1968 , spivey participated in his final professional game . taking advantage of a loophole in the nba 's rules , he took part in an all - star game in baltimore featuring former baltimore bullets players before a bullets – san diego rockets game . spivey led both teams by scoring 12 points , but his team lost by one point . one day later he retired , saying " it really meant something for me to finish off my career with a game like that . " by the end of his career , spivey 's physical condition had declined ; lou , who had played with him at kentucky , said , " he was just completely disabled . he could barely walk . " later life after retiring from basketball , spivey became a businessman , and moved back to kentucky . the majority of his jobs involved sales ; these included the selling of building materials and insurance . he also helped to develop real estate and owned restaurants , including a lexington - based eatery , bill spivey 's restaurant and lounge . for a time he was the state 's deputy insurance commissioner . spivey ran in the primary election for lieutenant governor of kentucky in 1983 as a democrat , but came in last in the seven - person race . spivey made his final public appearance in 1991 , at a reunion of the 1951 kentucky wildcats team in lexington . writer greg says that " he was a recluse " at the time . according to his wife , audrey spivey , " he never got over [ his accusation in the 1951 college basketball scandal ] . bill could not let that go . he was just devastated . " then living in daytona beach , florida , he was later hurt in an automobile accident , which aggravated a lower - back injury . spivey 's son , , said that " he never made a full recovery from that . it affected his posture , and he had chronic pain from that . " in a post - accident bone grafting operation , a piece of equipment became lodged in spivey 's lower back ; according to , he won a small amount from the hospital in a lawsuit . spivey moved to quepos , costa rica , around 1993 , after vacationing there with a friend six months before . audrey did not come with him , although the couple did not separate legally . on may 8 , 1995 , he was found dead of natural causes at the age of 66 . spivey received two notable honors posthumously : his jersey number , 77 , was retired by the university of kentucky in january 2000 , and the kentucky sports hall of fame inducted him in september 2004 .