Jack King

Unsure that he would ever get an opportunity to play college basketball, Jack King not only went on to play basketball at Arkansas City Junior College, he was the captain of the 1952-53 team that finished as the national runner-up.

After his stellar college career at Arkansas City Junior College and later Southwestern, King went on to serve as a highly successful teacher and coach at the high school level for 30 years. His life-long accomplishments have earned him a spot in the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame. He will be inducted Feb. 7, 2004.

  "When I heard about the honor, it was like a dream," King said. "It is such a wonderful feeling to be honored by your peers."

King, who lettered in basketball each of his four years at Winfield High School, went on to join the U.S. Navy. He was offered a scholarship to play basketball at Purdue University after he was to complete his stint in the Navy. However, his time in the Navy was cut short as he had to return home to help with the family business when his father suffered a stroke.

After two years of tending to the family business, his father's health improved enough to where King could look into going to college.

At the time he was married and had two children. However, with his dream of playing college basketball rekindled, King approached his former teammate at WHS, Dan Kahler, who at the time was the head basketball coach at ACJC, about the possibility of playing for the Tigers. Kahler responded by giving the 5-foot-7 King a scholarship.

"I thought the world had come to an end, but the college gave me a new life," King said. "When Dan and the college gave me a scholarship to play basketball, it was the beginning of a new life for me."

As team captain, King played a key role in the Tigers' run to the title game at the end of the 1952-53 season. That season, he formed friendships that are still going strong today with players such as Ray Potter, J.C. Louderback, and Lafayette Norwood, to name a few.

"I have got so many friendships that originated from my time at the junior college," King said. "I have great memories and had great times spent at the college. If it wasn't for the junior college and the players on the basketball team, I don't think I would be as successful as I turned out to be. They were a part of my new beginning in life."

After playing at ACJC, King joined Norwood and Potter at Southwestern. There, he helped the Moundbuilders reach the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City for the first time since 1939.

King's desire to coach came from working with Kahler. He went on to coach football, baseball, basketball, track and tennis, and served as a social science and physical education instructor during his 30-year career in education.

While coaching tennis at Independence from 1970-1985, King's teams captured 16 league championships (nine girls, seven boys), and qualified for the state tournament a combined 22 times (13 girls, nine boys). His girls' teams also strung together 61 straight dual victories, which still stands as a school record.

King credits Louderback, another member of the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame, with his success in coaching tennis.

"I consider J.C. to be one of the great fundamentalists in tennis," King said. "I used his examples and his ideas while I coached tennis at Independence."

King and his wife Marcia, who has been the tennis coach at Independence Middle School the past 20 years, have given private tennis lessons for 33 years.

King, who resides in Independence, has three children: Roger, Marilyn, and Jeff. He also has four grandchildren and one great-grandson.