Bennie Purcell Named To Ralph Beard Award

Murray State basketball legend Bennie Purcell was named as the recipient of the 2016 Ralph Beard Life Time Achievement Award, March 15.

Purcell died at age 86 on Feb. 12, 2016 and was very proud to know that he was to receive the award. His son, Mel, Murray State men's tennis coach accepted the award for his father.

The Beard Award is one of many given by the Mr. Basketball Fraternity and Kentucky Lion's Club on the eve of the KHSAA State Basketball Tournament. The Kentucky Mr. and Miss Basketball Banquet took place at the Lexington Center Bluegrass Ballroom in Lexington, Ky.

There was a moment of silence for Bennie before the award was presented. Eastern Kentucky Hall of Famer Ralph Richardson presented the award to Mel Purcell.

The Ralph Beard Award was first given in 2008 and is meant to recognize an individual for lifetime achievement. This could be in the game of basketball or some other walk of life the person has excelled in. Purcell, certainly fits both ideals.

Many referred to Bennie as Mr. Murray State for his continued involvement in all things at MSU. He played basketball at Murray State from 1949-52 and was an All-America selection his final season. He was the first Racer to reach 1,000 career points and was named to the Ohio Valley Conference's 40th anniversary basketball team in 1988. His No. 21 jersey was the first retired at MSU in 1952.

After his college career, Purcell toured with the Harlem Globetrotters before returning to Murray to serve as assistant basketball coach under Cal Luther and later became MSU's tennis coach in 1969. Purcell's MSU tennis teams won 11 OVC titles and 10-straight in the 1980's.

Purcell was a six-time hall of fame selection including: National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) (1969), Murray State Athletics (1969), Ohio Valley Conference (1990), Kentucky USTA (1994), Intercollegiate Tennis Association (1999) and Mount Vernon High School (2011).

The award given to Bennie Purcell is significant. Ralph Beard was a Kentucky High School All-Star in 1945 and was part of the "Fabulous-Five" from the 1945 University of Kentucky team that won back to back NCAA Championships (1948 & 1949). He was also an Olympic Gold Medal winner. In 1951, Beard was a member of the first NBA All-Star Team. Beard died in 2007 and the award in his name was started in 2008.

Many of the recipients of the Beard Award played high school basketball in Kentucky. Purcell was a high school legend in Mount Vernon, Ill.

Other awards presented at the event included Kentucky High School Mr. and Miss Basketball: Carson Williams of Owen County High School and Erin Boley of Elizabethtown of High School. The Donna Murphy Award was given to Emma Young of East Jessamine High School and the Wah Wah Jones Award went to Owensboro Catholic's Ray Zuberer and Landon Young of Lafayette High School.

Ralph Beard Award Recipients & Alma Mater
2008 Randy Embry, Kentucky
2009 Jim "Big Mac" McDaniels, Western Kentucky, Ron King, Central Florida State
2010 Billy Ray Lickert, Kentucky
2011 Harry Todd, Western Kentucky
2012 None
2013 Ralph Richardson, Eastern Kentucky
2014 Jack Givens, Kentucky
2015 Darel Carrier, Western Kentucky
2016 Bennie Purcell, Murray State

Murray State University Athletics

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