Interview with Kyle Macy, January 21, 2020

Interview Summary

Kyle Macy talks about the influence of his father in his life and his basketball career. Macy talks about his family's move to Peru, Indiana, and his high school basketball career and reputation. He talks about his experience with college basketball recruitment in high school. Macy describes playing basketball for Purdue University his freshman year in college, including team dynamics, coaching dynamics, and why he decided to transfer to the University of Kentucky. He describes the difficulty of sitting out the rest of his freshman year after transferring to UK.

Macy talks about his sophomore season with UK basketball. He talks about the team's seniors and discusses some players in detail, including Rick Robey, Mike Phillips, Jack Givens, James Lee, and Truman Claytor. Macy talks about Coach Joe B. Hall and his coaching style. He describes several games from the 1978 season in detail, including specific plays, and wins and losses. He speaks in detail about the 1978 NCAA Tournament and UK's games against Florida State University, Michigan State University, University of Arkansas, and their win in the championship game against Duke University.

Macy talks about his junior season playing basketball at UK. He talks about being drafted by the Phoenix Suns in his junior year of college. He tells stories from his experience playing basketball at the Pan American Games. Macy talks about his senior season playing basketball at UK. He talks about the talented incoming freshman class and and the team's difficulty figuring out their roles and playing style. He talks about their loss in the final game of the SEC Tournament against Louisiana State University. He talks about their success in the NCAA Tournament until their loss to Duke University on UK's home court.

Macy talks about playing basketball in the NBA. He talks about playing basketball in Italy. He talks about working in banking, radio, and coaching basketball at Morehead State University after playing professional basketball.

Interview Keyword

High school basketball Basketball games Basketball skills and drills Coach Joe B. Hall Purdue University Interpersonal relations. Phoenix Suns (Basketball team) Pan American Games College basketball NCAA Championships National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Southeastern Conference (SEC) SEC Tournament

Interview LC Subject

Basketball. Basketball players Basketball coaches Fathers. Coaches (Athletics) Basketball--Coaching University of Kentucky--Basketball University of Kentucky--Sports--History College athletes Basketball teams University of Kentucky Hall, Joe B. (Joe Beasman)

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.