BASKETBALL Former Blue Raider Ken Riley...
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Followed Ken's career at MT after his signing from Nashville's Cameron High - Freshmen weren't eligible for varsity at the time and his freshmen team was something - I saw every home game (played before Varsity games) and traveled to Tech, Cumberland (JUCO), Martin (JUCO), VU, and Shelbyville where MT and VU (led by Perry Wallace who Riley had a rivalry with from high school) played for a third time that season.
Really an exciting time to begin following the Blue Raiders (Willie Brown was in the previous class).
Damn, I feel old - RIP Ken
(Obit?)
Really an exciting time to begin following the Blue Raiders (Willie Brown was in the previous class).
Damn, I feel old - RIP Ken
(Obit?)
this little bit was in Mike Organ's column in the Tennessean:
MTSU 1,000-point scorer Riley dies
Former Middle Tennessee State basketball star Ken Riley, the Blue Raiders' leading scorer and rebounder in 1968, 1970 and 1971, died Monday. He was 69.
Riley had 1,043 career points and 924 rebounds. He also threw the discus and shot on MTSU’s track and field team.
Other than the mention by Organ in Sunday's Tennessean and a brief mention by Tim Tackett/Jeff Jordan (and Chip Walters during his MT segment) on AllSportsTalk yesterday I've seen or heard nothing about Ken Riley in the week following his death. At my age I accept that few fans and/or members of the media remember Ken but to this long suffering fan his loss is acute. Along with a handful of athletes and coaches his was a huge part of me becoming a MT fan.
At the very least Ken Riley's passing should have been a story on GoBlueRaiders.com and you would think that Monte Hale, Jr. (whose father called MT games during Riley's career) would have written something in the M'Boro Post with appropriate comments from Jimmy Early who coached him.
Ken's death should have been much more noted in the mid-state media if for no other reason than his place in history. He was one of the very first black athletes from the mid-state to accept an athletic scholarship to a previously all-white mid-state school. His battles in high school (Cameron/Pearl) and as a freshman at MT with Perry Wallace were legendary. MT wished that rivalry had continued at the varsity level but for good reason VU was very selective when playing OVC schools at the time. (as an aside: when Wallace passes - hopefully far in the future - you can be sure the Nashville media will cover his career in a manner similar to what we have seen recently for Summitt).
It's hard being a MT fan if for no other reason than that the mid-state (read that Nashville) media gives so little in-depth coverage to our program. Even a trailblazer, not to mention a good basketball player, such as Ken Riley (originally from Nashville no less) gets barely a mention in death.
[Crossposted with minor changes at BlueRaiderZone.com]
At the very least Ken Riley's passing should have been a story on GoBlueRaiders.com and you would think that Monte Hale, Jr. (whose father called MT games during Riley's career) would have written something in the M'Boro Post with appropriate comments from Jimmy Early who coached him.
Ken's death should have been much more noted in the mid-state media if for no other reason than his place in history. He was one of the very first black athletes from the mid-state to accept an athletic scholarship to a previously all-white mid-state school. His battles in high school (Cameron/Pearl) and as a freshman at MT with Perry Wallace were legendary. MT wished that rivalry had continued at the varsity level but for good reason VU was very selective when playing OVC schools at the time. (as an aside: when Wallace passes - hopefully far in the future - you can be sure the Nashville media will cover his career in a manner similar to what we have seen recently for Summitt).
It's hard being a MT fan if for no other reason than that the mid-state (read that Nashville) media gives so little in-depth coverage to our program. Even a trailblazer, not to mention a good basketball player, such as Ken Riley (originally from Nashville no less) gets barely a mention in death.
[Crossposted with minor changes at BlueRaiderZone.com]
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