Jones was born in Harlan, Kentucky. He attended Harlan High School, where he set a national scoring record in basketball and led his school to a state championship. He was all-state in football, basketball and baseball.[1]
Jones attended the University of Kentucky, where he continued to play varsity football, basketball and baseball. He was twice All-SEC in football. In basketball, he was a three time All-American and four time All-SEC. He led the Wildcats to two NCAA Championships, in 1948 and 1949. Jones was a member of the 1948 Olympic Gold medal-winning team with Adolph Rupp's "Fabulous Five" and the Phillips 66ers. During his four years at Kentucky, the basketball team had a combined record of 130–10 and won the SEC championship every year.[1][2]
He holds the unique distinction of being an All-American under both legends, Adolph Rupp (basketball) and Bear Bryant (football) when both coached at Kentucky. He is the only player to have his number retired in both football and basketball at Kentucky.[3] At the University of Kentucky, Jones was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[4] Jones was selected in the seventh round of the 1949 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, but did not play in the league.[5]
In 1978, Jones started a charter bus company called "Blue Grass Tours" that was contracted to the UK Athletics department and more recently purchased a custom sleeper coach for the use of the athletic teams.[7]
"Wah Wah"
Known as Wallace in his early years, Jones acquired the nickname, "Wah Wah", when his younger sister Jackie, just learning to talk, could not pronounce his name.[7]
Death
Jones died in Lexington on July 27, 2014, at the age of 88.[7]
^"1949 Chicago Bears". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2020.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
