Wallace Clayton "Wah Wah" Jones (July 14, 1926 – July 27, 2014) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) from 1949 to 1952 with the

Indianapolis Olympians The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University, now known as Hi ...

Biography

Jones was born in

Harlan, Kentucky Harlan is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,745 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 2,081 at the 2000 census. Harlan is ...

. He attended Harlan High School, where he set a national scoring record in basketball and led his school to a state championship. He was all-state in football, basketball and baseball. Jones attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, where he continued to play varsity football, basketball and baseball. He was twice All- SEC in football. In basketball, he was a three time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and four time All-SEC. He led the Wildcats to two NCAA Championships, in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. Jones was a member of the 1948 Olympic Gold medal-winning team with Adolph Rupp's " Fabulous Five" and the

Phillips 66ers The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an orga ...

. During his four years at Kentucky, the basketball team had a combined record of 130–10 and won the SEC championship every year. He holds the unique distinction of being an All-American under both legends,

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...

(basketball) and

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

(

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

) when both coached at Kentucky. He is the only player to have his number retired in both football and basketball at Kentucky. At the University of Kentucky, Jones was a member of the

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

fraternity. Jones was selected in the seventh round of the

1949 NFL draft The 1949 NFL draft was held on December 21, 1948, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The draft was preceded by a secret draft meeting held November 15, 1948, at the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh. This was the third year that the ...

by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, but did not play in the league. Wallace-Jones-jersey

In 1953, Jones was elected the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Fayette County, Kentucky Fayette County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky and is consolidated with the city of Lexington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous county in the common ...

.Story, Mark, ''Farmer's political rise recalls another former Cat's''
Lexington Herald-Leader. September 5, 2010. In 1956, Jones was the Republican nominee for

Kentucky's 6th congressional district Kentucky's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Based in Central Kentucky, the district contains the cities of Lexington (including its suburbs), Richmond, and Georgetown. The district is curren ...

seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Though

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

, heading the Republican ticket, carried the state, Jones lost the election to Democrat John C. Watts. In 1978, Jones started a charter bus company called "Blue Grass Tours" that is contracted to the UK Athletics department. Blue Grass Tours is currently run by his son Wallace (Wah) Jones and grandson Corey Jones, and manages a fleet of coach busses for the use of the athletic teams.

"Wah Wah"

Known as Wallace in his early years, Jones acquired the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

, "Wah Wah", when his younger sister Jackie, just learning to talk, could not pronounce his name.Legendary UK basketball and football star Wah Wah Jones dies
Lexington Herald-Leader. July 27, 2014.

Death

Jones died in Lexington on July 27, 2014, at the age of 88.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Wallace 1926 births 2014 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Kentucky Indianapolis Olympians coaches Indianapolis Olympians players Kentucky Republicans Kentucky Wildcats football players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Kentucky Wildcats baseball players Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Harlan, Kentucky Power forwards United States men's national basketball team players Washington Capitols draft picks 20th-century American sportsmen