Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1975
It might seem trite to say it, but Johnny King was a tennis player’s tennis player. He was a master on the court, and lived up to his name by never losing an Ohio Valley Conference match from 1956-59. He was king of the court, and during his four years here, Murray State won three OVC tennis titles in ’56, ’57 and ’59.
The Paducah native managed six individual OVC championships under Coach Rex Alexander while at Murray and along with another Hall of Fame member, John Powless, helped put Murray State on the map as far as tennis was concerned.
In 1956, King’s freshman year, he won the Class B singles title, and then repeated the feat in 1957. Playing in the Class A division in 1958, King walked off with the championship and then teamed up with Joe Orr to win the doubles in that class.
Today, Johnny King is a certified public accountant for Ernst & Ernst Accounting Firm in Lexington, Ky. His duties as manager-in-charge of the Lexington office don’t allow him to play as much tennis as he would like. “I still play periodically,” he says. (Murray State Alumnus, July 1975)
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