Chuck Taylor

Before there were 'McDonald's' All-Americans and before there were 'Parade' All-Americans, there were 'Chuck Taylor' All-Americans in the high school prep basketball ranks. These players were chosen from among the participants in a summertime all-star event called the "North-South Cage Classic" held in Murray Kentucky in the late 1940's through the mid-1950's.

For the first time, the best (*) high school talent from around the nation was selected and chosen to participate in this annual event held in Western Kentucky. The event would showcase a number of outstanding young basketball players, including Bob Pettit, Tom Gola, Bevo Francis, Charlie Tyra, Bailey Howell among others. Notable University of Kentucky players who participated included Gayle Rose, Jerry Bird, Earl Adkins and Vernon Hatton. A complete list of future UK players is available here.

A multitude of college coaches, newspaper and radio reporters throughout the country and past event coaches all formed the nominating committee which submitted nominations of players from their respective local areas. The players who were eventually chosen spent the week in the small town of Murray on the campus of Murray State College, practicing for the game, relaxing and otherwise attending social and charity events leading up to the main event. The event proved to be a huge draw for college coaches, intent on checking out the talent from around the country and hoping to woo one or two to attend their institution.

The crowning moment came after the game when five players were chosen "All-American" and one chosen "Mr. Basketball", based largely on how they performed in the game. Charles "Chuck" Taylor himself made the presentations although the team was named in conjunction with a committee. Taylor had been an early semi-pro basketball player in the early half of the century but was more widely known for his association with the Converse Shoe Company and the development of the basketball shoe which bears his name. His "Chuck Taylor All-Stars" shoes were by far the highest selling basketball shoe in history, with over 600 million pairs sold. Taylor also helped publish the "Converse Basketball Yearbook," which covered the game of basketball on an annual basis. Taylor began naming All-American teams beginning in 1932, however it is not clear when high school All-American teams were first named.

To the left are the rosters of the different teams which comprised the all-star teams for this event, along with the boxscores from each game, most of which were highly competitive. Also included below a reprint of two national articles discussing this event along with a listing of the high scorers and the year-by-year results.

(* - While the classic did feature players from various ethnic groups, including Native American Indian Bill Hawken, French-Creole Fred LaCour and presumably Hispanic Lupe Acevedo, conspicuous in their absence were any of the highly regarded black high school athletes of the early 1950s, such as Oscar Robertson among many others.)

Murray State Gymnasium: Site of the Games

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