Carroll Burchett
Carroll Burchett was raised on Cantrell’s Creek, about three miles from the Flat Gap School, where he excelled in basketball and cross country. He loved running. When asked how he got home after practices in high school he said most of the time the coach would take him, but other times he ran.
Burchett was the Regional Two Mile Cross Country champion and took the team to a third place finish in the state meet. He finished seventh or eighth personally.
Burchett played basketball for the Flat Gap Greyhounds from 1955-1958. His era at Flat Gap also consisted of another great player we have previously posted an article on: Charlie Osborne. That 1954-55 team went 21-9 under Coach Francis “Bus” Stapleton but failed to advance farther than District Tournament play.
The 1955-56 team upped the win-loss record to 27-10 and went to the final game of the 59th District before falling to Paintsville 89-82. As runner up they also got to play in the 15th Regional Tournament and drew Morgan County. They defeated the Cougars rather handily, 114-60, but fell to Pikeville 84-75 in a semifinal match. Burchett’s older teammate Osborne made the All State second team that year.
With Osborne as a senior and Burchett as a junior in the 1956-57 season it seemed they were taking care of business as it was thought they would. Talk in the eastern half of the state was that most teams feared the Greyhounds and some coaches didn’t want to play them. Besides Osborne and Burchett, that team had Jesse Salyer, Donnie Butcher, Hubert ”Hugh” Cantrell and coming off the bench as a versatile able bodied relief man was Garrett Conley, who could play guard and forward. Conley sustained a concussion in the District tournament and could not participate further. Flat Gap defeated Paintsville 88-83 to win the 1957 District Tournament.
In the Regional Tournament Flat Gap played the very talented Pikeville team in the opener and felt they could be state bound until Burchett and Jesse Salyer both got into foul trouble. There was no Garrett Conley to come in to help out, as was usually the case, and the Greyhounds fell victims to the Panthers, 96-90, with Pikeville going on to defeat Paintsville in the championship game, 71-65. Flat Gap closed out possibly their finest season at 29-7. Osborne was named to the All State First Team and Burchett to the All State Second Team.
In the fall of 1957-58, Carroll Burchett entered his final year of high school play. Gone on to Western Kentucky University was the great Charlie Osborne, who would eventually make All American and go on to the NBA. Burchett would average about 30 points per game this season, but Burchett’s season lasted only six games for him as he turned 20 years old, which was at the time the limit for eligibility. Flat Gap did not fare well without him as they completed the season at 8-16. Though he played only six games, Burchett still was picked as an Honorable Mention All-State player.
Adolph Rupp had attended a game where he saw Carroll Burchett play and was interested. Later, Burchett was working at a service station and going to Mayo Vocational-Technical School, picking up some course he needed to further his education when Rupp’s assistant Harry Lancaster came to talk recruitment. He and Burchett drove to the Burchett home. Carroll’s dad wasn’t present. Carroll’s mom was having “wash day” and she was not ready for company the likes of Harry Lancaster to come calling.
Burchett signed and entered the University of Kentucky at the midterm of the 1958-59 season. All-American Johnny Cox was still at UK, and it was worked out that Burchett should redshirt rather than play just one semester. He practiced with the Cats and learned the system while playing against the All American every day.
Burchett played three years of basketball at UK. He also ran track there before his first basketball season but was told to concentrate solely on basketball.
From 1959-1961 he scored over 500 points and grabbed over 400 rebounds. He moved into a starting role in his junior season. He played forward and some center.
During his senior year at UK he shot 78.3% from the free throw line. He also gathered in 200 rebounds that senior season, just a few behind Roy Roberts who had 215, but his All American teammate Cotton Nash led the team with 345. His senior average of 11.6 ppg and 8.2 rebounds per game in addition to his great hustle play earned him a place on the SEC Third Team. That wasn’t the only accolade that year. The Kiwanis Club of Lexington awarded him the first ever 110% Award for his all around play and hustle. Once a Greyhound, always a Greyhound. He lived up to his high school’s nickname.
The four year scholarship was not wasted on the Greyhound from Cantrell’s Creek. He came back to coach the Flat Gap team in 1962-63 and 1963-64 seasons before beginning a career with Vocational Rehabilitation for the state.
