| Wins against Kentucky - 0 | Losses against Kentucky - 14 |
Alma Mater: Mississippi [1938]
Hometown: Baldwyn, MS
Date Born: August 24, 1914
Date Died: October 13, 2001
Overall Record: 144-168 [13 Seasons]

Obituary - McComb (MS) Enterprise-Journal (October 15, 2001)

B.L. Graham

Bonnie Lee "Country" Graham, 87, of Oxford died Oct. 13, 2001, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford.

Visitation is 10 a.m. Tuesday at Waller Funeral Home in Oxford, until services there at 11 a.m. The Revs. Warren Black, R. Glenn Miller and Marjorie Buckley will officiate. Burial will be in Oxford Memorial Cemetery in Oxford.

Mr. Graham was a native of Baldwyn. He was a retired basketball coach from the University of Mississippi. He retired from Ole Miss in 1974 as assistant professor of education. He was a member of Oxford University United Methodist Church. He began his coaching career as head football and basketball coach at Jones Junior College, winning state championships in both sports. He was the head basketball coach and assistant football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1949 until 1962. He lived in Oxford for 50 years. While playing at Ole Miss from 1936-1938, Mr. Graham pioneered the one-handed pivot shot and was the first All-American basketball player in the state in 1938.

He led the Southeastern Conference in scoring each year of his career. With a total of 1,259 points, he ranks 15th on the career scoring chart, with most of them coming on his patented hook shot called "Country's Fadeaway." He also set 36 SEC records. A poll of alumni, faculty and sports writers selected him as Ole Miss' most outstanding player in basketball from 1893 to 1950.

He was chosen in 1978 by Sports Illustrated as one of the seven outstanding players in America from the 1930s. In the 1970s he was named to the All-Time Great SEC basketball players team. In 1963 he was the first basketball player inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the University of Mississippi athletic hall of fame in 1986.

Mr. Graham continues to hold the record as the winningest basketball coach in Ole Miss history with 144 victories. In 1999 he was presented the Mike Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding performance as an assistant coach in football.

Although his coaching career ended following the 1961-1963 season, Mr. Graham stayed in Oxford and continued his association with the Rebel basketball program. He always stopped by practices and attended games up until 1998. Prior to the start of the 1997-98 season, the renovated media room/players lounge at Tad Smith Coliseum was named in his honor.

Survivors include his wife, Marie Martin Graham of Oxford; one daughter, Janis Graham Dowe of Tylertown; one sister, Hattie Graham Saucier of Paducah, Ky.; two brothers, Cecil Graham of Columbus and Dee Graham of Corinth; three grandchildren, Lori Dowe Etheridge, Tracy Dowe Hubbard and Steven Dowe; and two great-grandsons, Parker Graham Hubbard and Carson Wade Etheridge. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Oxford University United Methodist Church, 424 S. 10th St., Oxford, MS 386555.

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