The University of Wyoming campus is filled with plaques and statues, each one holding a unique meaning. One of UW’s most well-known and famous alumni is Kenny Sailors, a men’s basketball legend.
Sailors’ two-ton bronze statue is currently at the East entrance of the Arena auditorium. The statue is 18 feet tall and surrounded by plaques filled with other notable UW athletes.
The statute was added to the 2017 $30 million renovation of the athletics facility. Various construction workers built the auditorium, but Sailors himself was created and sculpted by artist Thomas Jay Warren.
Sailors was born in 1921 in Nebraska and died of a heart attack at age 95 in 2016. Sailors was a well-accomplished man and fathered an extensive family, though he was most known for his basketball skill during his time at UW.
At 5 ’10, Sailors was a point guard for UW from 1939-1946 and was an integral player of the team when UW won the 1943 NCAA tournament. Sailors went on to be awarded College Basketball Player of the Year that same year. This would be his second time receiving the award after winning the year prior in 1942. He would go on to win the award once more in 1946.
While Sailors was an accomplished player, he became most well-known for his invention and popularization of the jump shot.
Before Sailors, most players kept both feet on the ground and shot with both hands, but he changed that.
Sailors grew up playing basketball against his much older and taller brother. Determined to beat him, Sailors knew he needed to be creative while utilizing athleticism. Night after night, he worked to create something groundbreaking and new and eventually found the jump shot.
In college, Sailors brought those skills to the University of Wyoming, putting UW’s athletics program on the map for the era.
After graduating from UW, Sailors played professionally in the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) and NBA from 1946 to 1951. He played for the Baltimore Bullets, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Rebels, Chicago Stags, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia Warriors, and the Providence Steamrollers.
After retiring in 1951, Sailors was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame on October 29, 1993, and was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
His jersey is displayed in the Arena-Auditorium for future generations to admire.
