Memorial Coliseum

75 Years as Monument, Stage, and Arena

Retail Price: $39.95

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Opened in 1950 to host the ever-popular University of Kentucky men’s basketball games, Memorial Coliseum has been a stately fixture along the Avenue of Champions in Lexington for 75 years. Known as “The House That Rupp Built,” at one time the venue was the largest arena in the South and could seat 12,000-plus.

Perhaps more importantly, the building was designed as a monument to the nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who lost their lives during World War II, and it continues as a memorial to the Commonwealth’s honored war dead through today.

In his book, Memorial Coliseum: 75 Years as Monument, Stage, and Arena, author Kevin Cook takes us on a visual tour of the coliseum from its planning stages and construction, through its glory years in the 1950s-70s, and today as the renovated home of UK women’s athletics, including the school’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and stunt teams.

Memorial Coliseum: 75 Years as Monument, Stage, and Arena is a beautiful tribute to one of Lexington’s most celebrated and elegant structures.

About The Author

Kevin Cook Kevin Cook writes on UK sports history and travel. He grew up in a navy family, living in Hawaii and traveling to twenty countries, but always following UK basketball. His first memory of the Wildcats was the near-championship season of 1974-75, when his family moved back to Jessamine County. His first experience of Memorial Coliseum was seeing the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA, with Dan Issel and Louie Dampier, defeat the Utah Stars and a teenage Moses Malone. Kevin has degrees in engineering and American history, and has wo Learn More about Kevin Cook

“Memorial Coliseum is a special building, and it’s filled with unbelievable memories not only for coaches and players, but especially for our great fans. It’s an iconic part of our program’s history, where on the hardwood greats like Dan Issel and Mike Pratt, Kevin Grevey and Goose Givens, Cotton Nash, Louie Dampier and Pat Riley became legends, along with championship coaches Adolph Rupp and Joe B. Hall, and where so many others shed blood, sweat and tears between the lines in practice and games. But this building represents so much more than that, to our University as a whole, and most significantly in remembrance of the Kentuckians who have given their lives for our country. I’m thrilled Memorial’s history is being shared within these pages!”

-– Mark Pope, Head Coach, University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball Team and Captain of the 1996 National Championship team

Drawing on his diverse background — including a passion for Kentucky Wildcats basketball, a master’s degree in history, and service as a Navy veteran — Kevin Cook provides a compelling and detailed account of Memorial Coliseum’s significance, both in sports history and its broader cultural impact. It’s a labor of love, and the inclusion of personal reflections from those who competed in, worked at, and attended events in this iconic arena add a unique and meaningful dimension to the narrative.

-– Doug Brunk, author of Wildcat Memories and Forty Minutes to Glory, co-author of They Call me Goose

Visionaries saw a chance for lifelong experiences when they conceived and built Memorial Coliseum. For those who were lucky enough to be there, this book is a walk down memory lane.

-– Jim Andrews, 2-time All-SEC center, UK Athletics Hall of Fame

The new version of Historic Memorial Coliseum is spectacular, but there are so many wonderful memories from the original incarnation of that legendary venue and this book brings back those moments for Kentucky basketball fans. The crescendo of the roar when the Wildcats took the court would end many games before they even started for the opponent, and you’ll enjoy reliving those moments or learning about them for the first time.

-– Tom Leach, Voice of the Wildcats on the UK Sports Network

In words and pictures, Kevin Cook tells the story of the Coliseum from conception to renovation, with an inside look at how it all unfolded. Whether you are a rabid UK supporter, a casual fan, or just a lover of well-written, accurate history, you’ll enjoy Memorial Coliseum.

-– Tom Hammond, National sportscaster, Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame

“There have been hundreds of books written about Kentucky basketball, but none as unique as Memorial Coliseum: 75 Years as Monument, Stage and Arena. This is a book that belongs in every Big Blue fan’s collection.”

-– Dan Issel, UK All-American, member Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

New Book on UK’s Memorial Coliseum Filled with Memorable Photos & Stories

4 days ago
3 min read

By Jamie H. Vaught

Not long before the classes were scheduled to begin for the Fall 2025 semester, there were many UK basketball legends who showed up at the recently refurbished Memorial Coliseum on campus. They attended a “book launch” event on August 11 to celebrate and sign an impressive-looking hardcover titled Memorial Coliseum: 75 Years as Monument, Stage, and Arena by author Kevin Cook (Acclaim Press, $39.95).

The 208-page hardcover is filled with numerous photos and stories as well as memories shared by the legends and several folks who had connections with Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 1950. Popularly known as “The House That Rupp Built,” the Coliseum, at one time, was the largest arena in the South and could seat 12,000-plus. The building also was designed as a monument to the nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who lost their lives during World War II, and it continues as a memorial to the Commonwealth’s honored war dead through today.

Among the former UK standouts who attended the event and signed copies include Jim Andrews, Doug Flynn, Dick Parsons, Mike Flynn, Jack Givens, Chip Rupp, Cameron Mills, Jared Prickett, Sean Woods, Dicky Beal, Kenny Walker and Derrick Ramsey along with broadcasters Tom Hammond, Ralph Hacker and Tom Leach.

The author pointed out “one of the most satisfying chapters” of the book is a collection of Memorial Coliseum memories from UK fans and people associated with UK sports. “For example, Karen Marlowe shares memories of her dad, Bill Keightley, the longtime UK basketball equipment manager known to generations of Kentucky fans as Mr. Wildcat,” Cook said. “The building has touched untold lives in many ways, and it was a privilege to include some of their recollections.”

Author Kevin Cook speaks at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington Monday evening while former UK standouts Kenny Walker, Dick Parsons and Sean Woods look on. (Photo by Jamie H. Vaught)

The author, who also wrote House of Champions: The Story of Kentucky Basketball’s Home Courts, said he enjoyed his research work on fascinating photos to be used for the book. “Perhaps, the most fun I had in working on the book was finding an interesting photo related to the Coliseum, downloading it to my iPad, and then zooming into it to look for details,” said Cook, who lives in Nicholasville. “For example, I could see on a number of basketballs in the old pictures that they were Adolph Rupp signature models from various certified sporting goods manufacturers — some of them made in Kentucky — which he and the program took great pride in and used during home games. I learned that Al McGuire, the Marquette coach, hated playing with a Rupp-model basketball when they visited Memorial Coliseum.

“The pictures weren’t difficult to find online through the UK archives once I learned the tricks of searching by keywords. This depended, of course, on how the pictures were labeled in the archives, and sometimes a keyword, like ‘Coliseum,’ might not bring up all of the pictures of Memorial Coliseum. Instead, some pictures might be laced as ‘field house’ or ‘auditorium,’ which is what the building was referred to in its planning stage. So, it did take some time to learn this and not miss any of the photos. But I thoroughly enjoyed the detective work.”

Cook added that he hopes the book will help the older generations share their memories or stories of Memorial Coliseum with the younger Kentuckians while everyone can appreciate the renovated arena for years to come.

The gym, which is now officially known as Historic Memorial Coliseum with a reduced seating capacity of approximately 6,250, is the home of UK volleyball and women’s basketball teams as well as other sports.

Memorial Coliseum is an enjoyable book to have in your library if you are a Kentucky Wildcat fan. The book will be available online (Amazon, AcclaimPress.com, among others) and bookstores in late August.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of seven books about UK basketball, including soon-to-be-published “Unforgettable Journey with the Cats: Inside Kentucky Hoops Madness.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro, he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle44@gmail.com.