Gene Rhodes, former Louisville high school and Kentucky Colonels coach, dies at age 90

Gene Rhodes, a three-sport star at Male High School who went on to coach basketball at the high school, college and professional levels, died Saturday. He was 90.

Rhodes played football and baseball but made his biggest mark while playing basketball at Male, receiving All-State honors as a junior (1944-45) and senior (1945-46). He helped the Bulldogs win the state championship in 1945, beating Central City 54-42 in the final.

He also played for Male’s baseball team that won the state title in 1944.

Rhodes went on to play basketball and baseball at Western Kentucky University —scoring 1,029 career points in basketball — and played one season in the NBA (1952-53) with the Indianapolis Olympians.

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Rhodes coached on the high school level at Trinity, St. Xavier and Male, leading the Tigers to the 1958 state championship with a 60-49 victory over Daviess County.

“Daviess County had a better team than us, but we won because we had the best coach,” said Eddie Schnurr, a player for the Tigers.

Rhodes’ 1963-64 Male team was ranked No. 1 in the state but lost to Seneca on a last-second shot by Jesse Kirk in the Seventh Region final.

Rhodes served as an assistant coach at WKU under John Oldham and coached the American Basketball Association’s Kentucky Colonels from 1967 until being fired in November of 1970. He later became general manager of the Colonels.

“He was a fierce competitor,” said Lloyd Gardner, who was the Colonels’ trainer when Rhodes was head coach. “He was very creative and a great defensive coach. His intensity rubbed off on everybody who played for him.”

Rhodes was inducted into the Dawahares/Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1990, the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jasonf.