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Ex-Kentucky star Ralph Beard dies at 79

University of Kentucky's Ralph Beard (12) takes off for a shot at the basket as Hayden Riley (99) of Alabama defends, in Lexington, Kentucky, in this Feb. 16, 1948 file photo. Beard, an All-American guard for Kentucky in the 1940s and a key figure in college basketball's biggest betting scandal, died early Thursday Nov. 29, 2007 at his home in Louisville, Ky., his son, Scott, said. He was 79. (AP Photo)

Ralph Beard left the University of Kentucky’s basketball program having won national championships in 1948 and ’49 and with a reputation as one of the all-time greats on the hardwood. Beard’s promising professional basketball career only lasted two years, though, brought down in a point-shaving scandal that saw him and several of his former teammates barred from the NBA for life.

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