FAYETTEVILLE, WV (WOAY) – The Fayette Memorial Building boasts a rich and storied history, including its notable basketball legacy.
Some of its former players, who went on to become NBA greats, were honored by the Fayette County Lions Club and the Fayette County Commission with a plaque in the gymnasium.
According to the FCLC, many people in the community don’t realize all the basketball greats who played at the Fayette Memorial Building. They wanted to change that.
“We can’t name every great player that played in here,” said FCLC Member John Arritt. “So what we tried to do was to mention the West Virginia natives who played here. That was important to us.”
Young people will be playing on this floor, offering inspiration and the historical significance of the floor.
“Jerry West played on this floor. He was an NBA great, plus he is also in the Hall of Fame,” FCLC President Stanley Boyd said. “And, of course, Hot Rod Hundley, who played here, had a wonderful career. I went to college with Mike Barrett.“
If the floor could talk.
“There were many, many great players, great games in here,” said Arritt. “So it was something that we felt that the community should know.”
Barrett was a decorated Olympian and the first player Boyd says he saw in his lifetime who could dunk the ball with both hands. That was back in the early sixties.
“All of those names on the plaque distinguished themselves in a remarkable way,” Boyd said. “Many, many players who played on this court we didn’t name, but they were still here.”
