Kenny L. Sailors

1921 - 2016

The Final Four One of Kenny Sailors' great moments of life was in 1990, when he was honored as Player of the Decade at The NCAA Final Four in Denver, Colo. A man credited with inventing the jump shot, Sailors had many such moments in life, yet they ultimately mattered little to him. When he was in his 90s, a reporter asked what the "Final Four" in his life would be. He replied in order of importance: God, husband, father, U.S. Marine. Basketball didn't even make the list. When asked if he was disappointed that he was never inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Sailors just grinned, "I'm already a member of the greatest Hall of Fame there ever was," he said, pointing to heaven. Decades before his death, he drilled his family members with the same intensity of his earlier fast breaks and jump shots. "At my funeral, I don't want people saying how wonderful I am but who I am only through God's grace." This will be a difficult wish to follow, when there are so many accomplishments to list, so much worthy of note. So much, dare I say it ... greatness. And not just on the basketball court: As a hunting guide, homesteader and award-winning coach, Sailors was known as a "man's man." His crumpled cowboy hat, rope-worn hands and unwavering Christian faith would cause some to toss him into a one-dimensional, conservative Christian box. Yet those close to him talked of his capacity for compassion and devotion and respect he showed his wife and mother. "Aside from the Lord, these two women have had more of an influence on my life than anyone," he'd say. When someone would gush over his accomplishments, he'd point to his wife, Bokie, and say, "She's the one who keeps me going." "Don't you cry for me when I go," Sailors told his family. "I won't stay on this earth one day longer or shorter than God intended." Jan. 30, 2016, was that day. A day for those who knew him to feel blessed, heartbroken, ultimately hopeful. A day for a husband, father and U.S. Marine to join "the greatest Hall of Fame there ever was."