Edward Paul Beck (June 28, 1936 – October 16, 2019) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player. He is best known as the starting center and team captain of the "Fiddlin' Five," the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

's 1958 NCAA championship team. Beck was recruited to play at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

after scoring 1,549 points and leading his team to win two state titles at Fort Valley High School. Beck was named team captain by head coach

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

going into his senior season after scoring 259 points and grabbing 380 rebounds as a junior. As a senior, Beck scored 163 points and had 337 rebounds in 29 games and was named

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) Defensive Player of the Year. Beck finished his college career with 459 points scored (5.6 per game) and 783 rebounds (10.0 per game) in 78 total games. After his collegiate career ended Beck opted not to play professionally, turning down a contract from the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. He decided to pursue a career in ministry and became an ordained Methodist minister after graduating from the

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

. He died on October 16, 2019, in Sun City, Arizona, at the age of 83.

References

External links

BigBlueHistory.net profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Ed 1936 births 2019 deaths American men's basketball players American Methodist clergy Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Candler School of Theology alumni Centers (basketball) Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players People from Fort Valley, Georgia