Billy Joe Adcock did it all at West High School in Nashville. Starting in 1943 through 1946 he was a three-year letterman in football, basketball and baseball. He was a member of the state basketball championship team twice and played in the All-Star Football game at Dudley Field in 1945. Following graduation from West High School, Billy Joe Adcock was offered the first basketball scholarship ever given by Vanderbilt University. He also received basketball scholarship offers from other SEC Universities, including Kentucky and Tennessee.
But Billy Joe Adcock was Black and Gold through and through. He enrolled in Vanderbilt University and immediately made his mark. He was a four-year starter at Vanderbilt. During the 1947-48 season he averaged 17.1 points per game, highest in the SEC and 13th best in the nation. Billy Joe was named to the All-SEC Basketball team three years, was named to the All-SEC Basketball Tournament team three years, was the first Vanderbilt basketball player to score over 1000 career points, he was elected team captain his senior year and was a consensus All-American selection in 1949-50, the first Vanderbilt player to receive All-American recognition. Following his graduation from Vanderbilt University, where he maintained a 3.1GPA in the College of Engineering, Billy Joe was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers). One of Billy Joe’s most memorable college experiences took place his senior year when Kentucky Coach Adolph Rupp told Billy Joe’s father following a game, “I’d gladly swap my entire squad for your son.”