Kyle Macy was arguably the most popular basketball player ever to wear the UK Blue & White. There was so much demand for autographs, pictures and all other mementos that go with celebrity that the Sports Information Office assigned a special secretary to the task. Students clamored to attend his student teaching classes at a local high school. Parents named their newborns after him. Boys in the sandlots mimicked his habit of drying his hands on his socks before shooting a free throw.

The late Cawood Ledford called Macy the "most revered" UK player during his 30 years broadcasting Wildcat games. "It is difficult to come up with any one reason, probably because the reasons are many and varied," Ledford said.

"Perhaps it is Kyle's clean-cut, All-American boy image. Perhaps it is his silky-smooth style on the court, his 'Mr. Cool' under pressure. Perhaps it is Kyle's modest demeanor and unflagging good manners off the court. Whatever it is, it is chemistry between a player and an entire state that is unique."

The All-America guard was unflappable through it all. He went about his business as usual, never a hair out of place and his face sometimes an inscrutable mask. One newsman said he looked like a choirboy, but his countenance on the court belied his determination to perform in pressure situations.

 Macy earned that exalted status by leading the Wildcats to their fifth NCAA title in 1978 and hitting more winning last-seconds shots than any player in UK history; at least it seemed that way. He led the team in assists three straight years and his .890 career free-throw percentage is a UK record. He was a two-time All-America and the SEC Player of the Year as a senior.

Macy grew up in Fort Wayne, Ind., a self-styled "gym rat," the son of high school coach Bob Macy. Kyle was a mascot for Bob's team when he was small and by the fourth grade he was playing organized basketball.

When Kyle finished his junior high eligibility at Fort Wayne, Bob was coaching at Indiana Tech. After some family soul-searching and advice from fellow coaches, they decided that Bob and Kyle would form a father-son, coach-player relationship. Peru High School was the lucky recipient of this largesse.

Despite the pressure of his first high school game, Kyle had 27 points, nine rebounds and five rebounds. He had a good season that first year at Peru, an even better one as a junior, when he averaged 35.6 points a game. He averaged 35.4 points as a senior and was named Indiana's "Mr. Basketball.

Kyle chose Purdue over Kentucky, Cincinnati and UCLA, although he was impressed by a visit from UK's Joe B. Hall, who "came across very well."

Macy averaged 13 points a game as a 6-foot-2 point guard at Purdue. His first doubts about going to Purdue began to surface once the regular season got underway. He spent most of his time on the bench during the first four games. Kyle's big break came when Bruce Parkinson, whose father Jack had been an All-American at UK, broke his wrist in a game against Rutgers in Madison Square Garden. Kyle stepped into that starting guard position for the rest of the season.

He averaged better than 13 points a game and his high game of 32 points against Wisconsin was a record for a freshman.  However, Kyle felt a team concept was missing at Purdue, and he began to look elsewhere. When he chose UK, there was much rejoicing in Lexington.

Macy sat out the required year, and immediately took command of a Wildcat team that included a group that had won the 1977 NIT. Coach Hall said he had never seen a player catch on to a new offense so quickly; Macy explained that he had studied Wildcat game films before taking over the point. Hall said it was like having a coach on the floor.

"I know now that my year with the redshirts was a meaningful year to me," Kyle said later. "I became very familiar with our offenses and defenses. I gained some weight, and I think I matured a lot. Just one year does wonders."

As a sophomore in 1977-78, Macy averaged 12.5 points a game. His 18 points and 10-of-11 free throws, mostly down the stretch, rallied UK to a win over Michigan State in the Mideast Region finals. He scored nine points and had an important eight assists in the NCAA championship against Duke that year.

Macy was the lone surviving starter who returned to UK the following year. He led the team with a 15.2 average, but the Cats needed more fire power, and finished 19-12. Macy averaged 15.4 games his senior year, when the Cats finished 29-6. His 1,411 points ranks 19th on UK's all-time list.

"I don't think anyone could have written a better script as far as the way my career has turned out at Kentucky," Kyle told Cawood Ledford. "We won the national championship and not many players can say they played on a national championship team. We didn't win any national titles my last two years but, in a way, they were just as satisfying. We were a young team both of those years, but we won a lot of victories. In the three years that I played we won 78 games, that's an average of 26 victories a year, and not many teams can claim that kind of success.

"Overall, I certainly don't have any complaints about my career at the University of Kentucky. I've had so many honors come my way and it has justified my belief in the team concept of basketball that is played at Kentucky." His honors included:

® Voted to the All-Southeastern Conference team every year he played at Kentucky.

® 1980 – Chosen the most valuable player in the league; (AP, UPI) SEC Player of the Year.

® Twice MVP trophy twice in the SEC Tourna-ment.  

® Twice named to the SEC All-Academic team and twice to the All-American Academic team.

® Twice named All-America, consensus in 1980.

 

Macy was selected with the 22nd pick of the 1979 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, even though he had a year of college eligibility remaining. Macy played out his last year of college, and started playing for the Suns in 1980. He spent five years with the Suns, averaging 10.6 points and 4.0 assists per game. Macy spent one year each with the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers before retiring from the NBA in 1987.

Wanting to stay near the game, Macy turned to broadcasting. While working for many top networks, including ESPN, Sports Channel and RayCom Television Sports, his job was to give the inside scoop.     

Macy was on the road a lot when he and his wife, Tina, started their family. The couple has two daughters, Mallory Beth and Meredith Anne.

In 1992, Macy returned to UK as a radio voice for the basketball Wildcats. During that time, Macy was also considering a coaching career. On top of all the observations he had made in the booth, he also learned the game while playing for coaches like Joe B. Hall, at UK; Bobby Knight, at the Pan American games; Jack Ramsay, at Indiana and John MacLeod, in Phoenix.

"It was kind of always in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a coach," Macy said. "I played for great coaches with different styles and philosophies and I always picked and learned things that I wanted to use."

When Bob Macy was the coach, at Indiana Tech, he'd take Kyle with him on recruiting trips. "We'd go out and scout, and have conversations back and forth," Kyle said. "That's where I learned the game."

Macy was head coach of the Morehead State University Eagles of the Ohio Valley Conference for nine years. In 2003, Macy coached the Eagles to 20 wins, its most in 19 years, and a share of the OVC regular season championship. However, the 2004-05 season was less successful, as Morehead failed to qualify for the OVC tournament. Following that season, Macy coached a group of Sports Reach collegiate all-stars that toured China and finished with a perfect 7-0 record against several Chinese professional teams. After a disastrous 4-23 season at Morehead in 2005-06, Macy resigned as head coach on Feb. 28, 2006.

An excellent free throw shooter throughout his career, Macy still holds the career free throw shooting percentage record at the University of Kentucky, as well as the Phoenix Suns franchise record. Macy emphasizes free throw shooting in his coaching, and the emphasis paid off, as his Morehead State teams were perennially among the Division I leaders in free throw shooting percentage.

Macy returned to UK as co-host of the introduction of the 2006-07 Wildcats at "Midnight Madness." He showed that he had not lost his shooting touch, going toe to toe with UK senior Bobby Perry during a first-to-ten three-point shooting contest. Perry won by hitting his 10th three-pointer seconds before Macy hit his.

"As long as I live I'll be grateful to the people of Kentucky," Macy wrote in his book – Macy, as told to Cawood Ledford, Lexington Productions, Inc., 1980. "The fans have been outstanding. I've made many, many friends that will be close to me for the rest of my life. Kentucky is my home, and even though I might be a transplanted Hoosier, this is where my heart is. But most of all, I'll remember my teammates, a great bunch of guys who shared the great times and the bad times with me over the past four years.

"I've come in for a lot of kidding from my teammates. My hair is thick and I keep it cut short. I don't use hair spray. Through my years at UK, it has been written in the press a few times about my hair always being in place. My teammates tell me that the way I'll be remembered at UK is that my hair didn't move.

"I hope the people of Kentucky will remember me as a player who gave all he had all the time. I know I'm not the fastest player alive. I know I can't jump the highest. I tried to use my brain to make up for some of the other things I couldn't do as well as others. I tried to get the most out of the talents I had and I hope all of you think I gave it my very best.

"I love you Kentucky, even if my hair doesn't move."

Kyle doesn't have to worry about hair anymore; he is practically bald.