Katherine And Joe Hall At Hometown Birthday Party
while she was teaching school in Pendleton County.
"He made it a point to come by and see me at the school," she said.
But Hall wasn't content working in the industrial field and decided to enter the coaching profession. He applied through the UK Placement Service and began his
coaching career at Shepherdsville (Ky.) High School. From there the Halls went to Regis College in Denver, Colorado and Central Missouri State College in War-rensburg, Mo., before returning to UK in 1965, where Hall was hired as an assistant coach by the late Adolph Rupp.
"We did not want an 8-5 job," said Mrs. Hall. "We needed total involvement in something. It's been so interesting. It's been a great life."
The first years of marriage were tough for Mrs. Hall.
"Everybody responds to everything differently," she explained. "It isn't always easy to compromise. One person has to be dominant, with input from the other one. Joe is the dominant partner in our relationship but, believe me, he gets my input."
As time passed, she found marriage was very much to her liking.
"When I had been married for 17 years, I said, 'Gosh, marriage is fun,'" she said. "A lot of people don't work through difficult times. But, for me, it's fun, great, fantastic."
While Mrs. Hall was delighted to return home in 1965, she's never forgotten the good times the Halls spent in Colorado and Missouri.
"Colorado was marvelous," she said. "The weather, the people, everything was great. Joe and I both like new adventures."
But in the early years, Joe Hall and his family really had to work hard.
"At Regis, Not only was he the coach, but he was also the athletic director, "she said. " He would leave at 7 a.m. and not come home until around midnight. I was busy raising a family. But Joe was an absolutely
wonderful father.
"At Regis, not only was he the coach, but he was also the athletic director," she said. "He would leave at 7 a.m. and not come home until around midnight. I was busy raising a family. But Joe was an absolutely wonderful father."
The Halls have three children  Mrs. Mike (Kathy) Summers of College Station, Texas; Mrs. Rick (Judy) Derrickson and Steve of Lexington. Mike Summers is on Jackie Sherrill's football staff at Texas A&M. Steve recently graduated from college. There are two grandchildren  Jeffrey Hall Derrickson, 2, and Katharine Amy Summers, 1.
"Our family and friends are the glue that holds everything together," Mrs. Hall
said. "The children are all avid followers of UK sports. I think that if a family allowed, the father's work position could become an all-consuming experience. But Joe never wanted basketball to dominate our family. We have shelves of trophies and plaques down in the family room in the basement. That's the only place we
have them. As Joe always said, it's our home, not his. It's for our family and friends."
Mrs. Hall says her husband is a realist, while she is an idealist.
"I want a different relationship with the players," she explained. "I want the kind of relationship that made Kyle Macy (a former UK All-American) come up to our door at 10 p.m. one evening and ask to spend the night because he had a terrible cold. I am very tenderhearted and warm. I've been known to pace the floor when I knew Joe was making a player run the wall. I have expressed sympathy for them."
But Mrs. Hall doesn't let herself become too involved with her husband's job. She doesn't attend too many away games, for example.
"I'm more like (St. John's head coach) Lou Carnesecca's wife," she said. "She said she wouldn't be in the courtroom while he was defending a client. I'm more that way. I know nothing about the sport. When Joe first started coaching in high school, I told one of the players they had played a good game. Joe said later that player had played a terrible game. And I've never cried about a basketball game."
Mrs. Hall believes her husband is right about 99 percent of the time, especially when it comes to referees.
"I think it's (the coaches' box) a little ridiculous," she said. "I think they should have a box for all the sports, not just basketball. Joe's got to watch 10 people going in all directions.
Many people have said Joe's got big, broad shoulders," she continued. "Well, you need it to be a coach. There are a lot of things you don't have any control over." Like reporters.
"I think one thing that's very unfortunate is that most people believe what they read is true," Mrs. Hall said. "In truth, no one can report anything accurately. A reporter is influenced by so many factors; like past experience, other writers and his or her respective background. Some reporters may have ulterior motives for what they write. I think anybody in the public eye is seldom what they are reported tobe."
Some reporters have spread the image of Joe Hall as an uptight, intense man who doesn't let his players have any fun and therefore limits the expressive talents of the individuals donning the blue and white each season.
For example, at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Basketball Championship in 1978 at St. Louis, the media's main focus was not Kentucky versus Duke University, but on an uptight (UK) team playing a free-wheeling (Duke), young squad that had nothing to lose against Kentucky and was having all the fun.
But Mrs. Hall says her husband is not like that at all.
"He's not uptight," she said. "He's the least uptight person I've ever known in my life. He's so logical and rational in pressure situations and not at all affected by outside influences. He's very much in control. Joe doesn't have ulcers, gray hair or high blood pressure."
Mrs. Hall compares coaching to politics, only that in coaching you have an election at every game while in the political arena it's once every three or four years.
So Mrs. Hall and her famous husband begin their 20th season at Kentucky, with much hope and many expectations for the future. And she doesn't seem to mind it one bit.
"I think having an ego definitely helps," she said. "I don't need anything outside of myself. I enjoy my family and friends. Life is wonderful."