The 1983-84 season for the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team was one of the most memorable seasons in the program's rich history. The senior class from that season still holds a special place in the hearts of Wildcat fans. The seniors from that team were Sam Bowie, Melvin Turpin, Tom Heitz, Jim Master and Dicky Beal.
Being a native of Northern Kentucky, Dicky Beal was a very popular figure in that area. It was not that often that a player from Northern Kentucky was able to make a big impact at UK, and the fans in that area were extremely proud of their hometown Wildcat. After the 1983-84 season had been completed, an event was planned to honor the UK career of Dicky Beal.
The event was held at Holmes High School in Covington where Dicky was a high school basketball star. The event was created to spotlight Beal and the other UK seniors form the 1983-84 team. In addition to the game with the UK seniors, Beal was also going to be honored by the city by having a street named after him. All five of the UK seniors were in attendance to play in the game and to sign autographs for fans.
In these never before published photos, you can see Beal and fellow seniors Tom Heitz, Jim Master, Melvin Turpin and Sam Bowie signing autographs for the many UK fans who were in attendance that day. The photos are a great look back at the classic uniform style worn by the team that year. They are also a great historic reminder of one of the lesser known events in the history of Kentucky basketball and one of the favorite senior classes of all-time.
(click on images for a larger view, these images are copyrighted)
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