Ulyss Brock

Ulyss "Useless" Brock, six-foot forward for the 1939-40 Freed-Hardeman College basketball team, earned the world's scoring record by scoring 83 points in FHC's 101-21 victory over Bethel in February 1940. Brock sank 39 free throws and 22 field goals in the game. The record had previously been held by Freed-Hardeman's Jim Murdaugh with 78 points.

Brock's feats were immortalized in Ripley's "Believe It or Not," a popular newspaper feature of the time, with a picture and this notation: "Ulyss Brock, gangling six-foot, 135-pound cager, laid claim to the world's scoring record in a single game after burning 83 points through the hoops as Freed-Hardeman Lions defeated Bethel College, McKenzie, Tenn., in a MVC game."

According to The Skyrocket, FHC's school newspaper, "Brock set the new world's record with from three to five guards hanging from his neck and was kicked in the ribs and temporarily disabled during the third period. Although he tallied 38 points on free shots, he finished the game without a personal foul against him."

In his first year at FHC, Brock was acclaimed All-Mississippi Valley Conference forward. In the record-breaking season, he scored 467 points, averaging more than 25 points per game.