Jackson County - Out of the Basketball Past - Remembering Paul Sears (McKee High School Class of 1954)

Community Mourns the Loss of a Local Hardwood Legend – Remembering the Legacy of Paul Sears  - (originally appeared in JC Sun October 19, 2022)

Jerry Sparks, Co-Editor/Senior Reporter

Over the weekend Jackson County lost a local basketball legend when Paul Benton Sears, age 88, of McKee, Kentucky passed away on Saturday, October 15th, 2022 at Cardinal Hill Hospital in Lexington, Ky. He was the son of the late Rev. Wesley Earl and Lillie Mae Chaney Sears. Paul loved music, and was an excellent musician, playing the guitar, banjo, and mandolin as well as writing his own songs. However, Sears accomplishments and feats on the basketball court are legendary to those old enough to remember. He was a basketball hero to an entire generation of local fans and players and was perhaps only one decision away from playing on a National title team for Coach Adolf Rupp and the UK Wildcats. To many he remains the best player to ever play in Jackson County.

Paul Sears graduated from the old McKee High School in 1954. His family moved to McKee after his father became Pastor of the McKee Baptist Church in 1946. Sears began starting as forward on the McKee High School Bulldogs Varsity basketball team when he was in the 7th grade. He maintained his starting position for a total of 6 years and made the 49th District All-Tournament team each year he played. As a freshman he averaged 21.4 points/game and was already being scouted by several college programs including Wake Forest and Rupp’s Kentucky Wildcats. He led his freshman team to a season record of 26-8 as the Bulldogs (ranked as the 13th best team in Kentucky for a period) earned their first ever trip to the 13th Regional tournament. The Bulldogs went two games deep into the 13th Regional before losing to Middlesboro. Sears was named to the 13th Region All-Tournament team.

After the season was over Sears was chosen to play on the State’s East All-Star team in an exhibition game held in the newly constructed Memorial Coliseum. At the time the critics called this all-start team the greatest high school club ever assembled in Kentucky. 

Sears sat out portions of his sophomore and junior years due to illness. However, despite missing these games he stilled scored a record total of 3,120 points (with no 3-point shot) over his high school varsity career. He had two games scoring over 50 points. As a freshman he scored 50 points in the first 22 minutes of a game. With almost half the game still to play the single game scoring record could have been placed out of reach but the coach made the decision to take Sears out of the game and play some of his other players to get them experience in a game that had already been decided. 

In the last game of Sears’ senior season (against the Tyner Cardinals and first year coach Bruce Morris) McKee coach Charlie Norris pulled his team into the huddle at the beginning of the fourth quarter with simple instructions… “This is Paul’s last quarter in his last game. Let’s just turn him loose!” Sears had already scored 30 points over the first three periods. He responded to Coach Norris by scoring 24 more points in the last 8 minutes to finish with a total of 54 points for the game. McKee defeated Tyner by a final score of 126-51. In an interview with the Jackson County Sun in 2010 Sears said, “This was the single game scoring record in Jackson County until Richie Farmer (Clay County) scored 56 points in a 49th District tournament game at the JCHS.” Sears insisted that if Coach Norris hadn’t taken him out of the game where he scored 50 points in the first 22 minutes he would have put the scoring record so far out of reach that no one could have touched it. “I held most of the scoring records in the 13th Region until Farmer played.”  Sears was an avid follower of local high school basketball while living quietly at the McKee Manor until he passed.

Sears’ fellow teammates included Lewis Ray Norris (guard), Hubert Harrison (guard), Cordell Huff (forward), and Luther Little (center). His younger brother Billy Sears would come off the bench as a substitute guard at times. In 2010, when asked if he had any outstanding memories of playing with Sears, Mr. Norris replied, “Do you have 4 or 5 hours?” Mr. Norris recalled that the crowds were so large watching this team play that the players couldn’t get in the gym through the front doors. “When we played Clay County we had to find our way inside the gym by breaking in through an old back door. The crowds were so big in the gym itself that the players had no room to take the ball out of bounds during the game,” he said.

Mr. Norris recalled one special performance by Sears in a game against Annville. “We were down 12 or 14 points with less than a minute to play,” he recalled. “Paul scored 16 points in the last 40 seconds or so and we won the game. When the ball crossed the center line Paul could score from anywhere on the court…with either hand!” Just imagine what his point production would have been if there had been a 3-point shot in the game when he played!

Adolf Rupp had enough interest in Sears that the legendary Wildcat coach arranged a post-season scrimmage game between the McKee Bulldogs and the Nationally ranked #1 Lafayette High School. Rupp wanted to evaluate two players: Vernon Hatton (Lafayette) and Paul Sears. Lafayette’s team was too talented and the Bulldogs were defeated 91-49. However, Paul Sears managed to tally 29 of the 49 points scored against the #1 nationally ranked team. In addition, Sears played the game in the role of “Center” instead of his normal forward position. Sears also had his 54-point outburst against Tyner while playing the Guard position. This demonstrates that Sears was outstanding playing any position on the court.

Afterwards, Rupp recruited Hatton instead of Sears. Hatton was a great player as well. As a starting senior at UK in 1957-58, Hatton led the Wildcats scoring at 17.1 points/game. In the 1958 National Title game Hatton scored 30 points and helped the Wildcats overcome a 25-point, 19 rebounds, performance by Elgin Baylor to capture their fourth (and Coach Rupp’s final) NCAA Championship. This could easily have been Paul Sears in the national spotlight making UK basketball history.

Sears was also scouted by Wake Forest as a senior but decided to take a four-year scholarship to play for the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels. He played there for three years and then left college to join the Army. While in the Army he played for the Army’s Fort Chaffee All-Star team. He later returned to college and received his degree in Physical Education and Geography. “What I really wanted to do was return to the hills of Kentucky and teach. I belong in these hills,” Sears said.

The younger players in this county should recognize it is possible to grow up in rural Jackson County and achieve greatness. Mr. Sears spent his last years as a resident at the McKee Manor. For those that remember (or for those that want to learn) he will always remain a legend of the local hardwood. In the past 70 years no one from Jackson County has achieved the same accomplishments on the basketball court. In addition to the rich history he helped write, Mr. Sears was one of the most gentle and nicest people one could ever meet. The community is richer because he graced us with his presence. 

Thank you, Mr. Sears, for setting a standard of excellence and showing all of us what can be achieved. You may no longer be physically with us but you will always be a local hero and you will never be forgotten.