Did you know the singing duo Sundy Best’s members were sports stars before becoming music stars?  Read on, please.  We’ll keep it short but informative because it is Sunday.

Nick Jamerson was a star football player at Prestonsburg High School, and he is tied with two other players for the KHSAA record for put returns for touchdowns, with nine.  He signed and played for the Pikeville Bears beginning in 2005.  In an interview, Nick stated the bears were ranked in the top 10 that year.  They made the national playoffs for the first time in the Bears’ history.

Bears and Jamersons seem to go together, as Nick’s grandfather was Wilbur “Shorty” Jamerson, the player who scored the only touchdowns in UK’s greatest football victory: a 13-7 win over number one ranked Oklahoma in the 1951 Sugar Bowl game.  This was Bear Bryant’s most notable victory as the wildcats’ head coach.

The other half of Sundy Best is Kris Bentley, who played basketball for Shelby Valley and helped them win the 2005 15th Regional basketball championship.  They defeated Paintsville in a double-overtime opener and then beat Prestonsburg and finally Belfry in the championship game.  They fell to Henry Clay in the Sweet Sixteen.

Kris Bentley took his basketball game beyond high school, playing at Centre College.  Having mostly been a role player in his first few years, he got a starting nod as a senior.  His pinpoint accuracy at the three-point range made the 5’11 Bentley a danger to opposing teams.  UK’s Jon Hood stated that Bentley may have been the best H.O.R.S.E. player around because of his deadeye accuracy in banking shots.

Wasn’t this a nice, short column about local sports heroes as well as outstanding musicians?  Not long or boring for today either.

Easy.  Easy like Sunday morning.

The post Our Sunday Best first appeared on Mountain Sports Hall of Fame.