Kentucky Wesleyan College, who called Winchester home for 61 years, will return to their old eight-acre campus on Saturady, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. ET to play an exhibition women's basketball game "The Shorty Combs Purple-White Game" in their former Spencer Memorial Gymnasium [now called College Park Gym]. The exhibition game is free and open to public.
“We are thrilled to becoming back to Winchester to play in this historic contest," said KWC head women's basketball coach Ron Williams. "The legacy of basketball at Kentucky Wesleyan College started in Spencer Gym and to honor a Kentucky pioneer of women's basketball and a 1922 graduate of KWC, Virginia 'Shorty' Harris Combs, is very fitting that we come back to honor Winchester and her memory."
"Former KWC legendary basketball coach Robert 'Bullet' Wilson's granddaughter Jessica Wilson is a member of our team and the opportunity to play in the building where her grandfather coached and built the championship tradition is monumental."
Combs pioneered girl’s high school basketball in Kentucky by coaching one of the first teams in history at Whitesburg High School in 1923 and 1924. She was a starting forward on the state championship girl’s basketball team at Kentucky Wesleyan when they defeated Louisville in 1921. In 1997, Combs was inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletics Hall of Fame as a pioneer in girls’ sports.
"We appreciate the generosity of the City of Winchester and the Parks and Recreation Department in making this historical event possible," said Ron McCracken, KWC vice president for advancement. "We continue to celebrate and preserve our rich heritage of the years Kentucky Wesleyan occupied the campus in Winchester from 1860 to 1951."
The Winchester campus, located on College Drive, is now called College Park. The gym currently serves as offices for the Winchester Parks and Recreation Department's along with their multi-use of indoor activities. The building was built in January, 1926 for $100,000..
