Shelbyville Kentucky’s Charles Hurt UK Star
Remembering Charles Hurt
Charles Hurt played basketball for the University of Kentucky Wildcats under
Coach Joe B. Hall. He played the 1979-80 through the 1982-83 season scoring 786career points and grabbing 496 rebounds. Charles played forward was six foot six and his playing weight was 215 pounds.
Charles Hurt was born March 28, 1961 and died September 16, 2016 at age 55. He died a few weeks after undergoing a stem-cell surgery for treatment of leukemia.
Charles played for the Shelby County Rockets in high school and was coached by
Tom Creamer. Coach Creamer was quoted as saying “In the four years I had him, I don’t remember him complaining about anything. He had a lot of talent, but what always impressed me about Charles was that he didn’t want any limelight on him. He wanted it to be on the team. The team concept was the most important thing to him.”
The 1978 Sweet Sixteen Kentucky High School Boys tournament featured a first
round showdown between the top two teams in the state Apollo and Shelby
County. This was Charles’ junior year. Shelby County beat Apollo 62-55 led by
Charles’ 23 points before 17,000 fans at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.
In the 1978 finals, Shelby County was down by (2) 64-62 to Covington Holmes
with time out and : 02 seconds on the clock. Shelby County had actually practiced
their : 02 second play and executed it perfectly. Mike George, unguarded on the
in-bound pass, threw the ball 3/4 the length of the court to Charles Hurt who
caught it at the free throw line, turned and banked in a jump shot as the buzzer
sounded.
This was the first time the title game had gone into overtime. Shelby County won
68-66. Charles Hurt had 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Charles Hurt had a great senior season 1978-79 averaging 22.9 points and 17.1
rebounds, even though they lost to Oldham County in the first round of the 8 th
Region tournament.
CHARLES HURT WAS A FOUR YEAR STAR AT KENTUCKY
Charle’s grew up in Shelbyville Kentucky where he played for the Shelbyville Rockets.
He was a strong, 6-6 Playing and weighed 215
He was born on March 28, 1961
He passed away too soon on : September 16, 2016
Nickname: Charles “Atlas” Hurt
He was a Parade All American his senior year playing under coach Joe B. Hall. He was drafted in the 6th Round of the 1983 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, before going on to have a storied career in the Military.
| Season | Games Played |
Minutes | FG | FGA | % | FT | FTA | % | Total Rebs |
Asst. | St. | BS | F | TO | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-80 | 35 | 475 | 52 | 86 | 60.47 | 32 | 52 | 61.54 | 87 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 74 | 22 | 136 |
| 1980-81 | 28 | 683 | 79 | 138 | 57.25 | 33 | 57 | 57.89 | 127 | 30 | 13 | 3 | 92 | 31 | 191 |
| 1981-82 | 30 | 754 | 70 | 125 | 56 | 65 | 92 | 70.65 | 134 | 21 | 19 | 5 | 80 | 43 | 205 |
| 1982-83 | 31 | 895 | 102 | 162 | 62.96 | 50 | 74 | 67.57 | 148 | 39 | 29 | 5 | 75 | 41 | 254 |
| Total | 124 | 2807 | 303 | 511 | 59.3 | 180 | 275 | 65.45 | 496 | 104 | 74 | 19 | 321 | 137 | 786 |
Charles Hurt was drafted by Milwaukee in the 6 th round of the 1983 NBA draft
being the #134 overall pick. He also played in Japan.
Charles joined the Army in 1987 and became a career military man. He lived in
Germany, Kuwait, and Korea. He also served in Saudi Arabia.
In 2012 Shelby County hired Charles Hurt as an assistant basketball coach.
OBITUARY FROM LEXINGTON KENTUCKY Former UK basketball player Charles Hurt dies at age 55,
Lexington Herald-Leader (September 16, 2016) originally posted by Greg Kocher
Charles “Atlas“ Hurt, who scored 786 points in 124 games with the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team, died Friday. He was 55.
Hurt died after undergoing a stem-cell surgery some weeks ago for treatment of leukemia, former UK player Jack “Goose” Givens and former UK coach Joe B. Hall said.
“According to his mom, it went very well, and they thought it was very positive,” Givens said. “He got better, actually, but obviously it didn’t do what it was supposed to do. … They had tried a number of other procedures, and after a long battle he fought it hard, but it just didn’t work.”
“I talked to him about three days ago, and I talked to his mother, and they were going to call me when he could have visitors,” Hall said. “But then I got word he’d passed away.”
Hall said Hurt “was from an excellent family. They were very gracious people, and they were very supportive of their children. They were absolutely the finest people in the world, and Charles reflected that in everything that he did. He was a wonderful kid to coach.”
Hurt, who was from Shelby County, played for UK from 1979-80 through the 1982-83 seasons. He averaged 8.2 points as a senior and 6.6 points as a junior.
Givens didn’t play with Hurt at Kentucky, but they were friends through their association with the school.
“That body of his, every guy would dream to have,” Givens said. “He was put together in a way that not many guys were. He had those great shoulders that every guy would like to have.
“But the main thing is, Charlie was always a gentleman,” Givens said. “He played the game the way it was supposed to be played. He played hard. No one outworked Charlie Hurt.
“He wasn’t the most talented player, especially on offense,” Givens added. “But boy, I tell you, he made up for it going up for rebounds. He got his points the old-fashioned way, he earned them, by getting offensive rebounds and dunking on people. Charlie was a super guy, and it was good to have known him.”
Hurt was picked by Milwaukee in the sixth round of the 1983 NBA draft. Later he played basketball in Japan and worked at other less-than-satisfying jobs for a few years, then joined the Army in 1987.
He was a career military man. He lived in Germany, Kuwait and Korea and became an information systems chief. In 1990, as a member of the 82nd Airborne Army unit, he was in Saudi Arabia as part of the Army’s intelligence force.
In 2012, he became an assistant basketball coach at Shelby County.
