Wesley Cox, former Louisville basketball star, hits milestone in long health battle

Wesley Cox is getting a new set of legs Friday, and the competitive streak that made him a beloved member of the Louisville men's basketball team during the 1970s has resurfaced.

"The doctors gave me until Christmas to start learning how to walk," Cox said Monday inside his room at Masonic Homes' Sam Swope Care Center. "I told them I will prove them wrong."

It would be unwise to bet against Cox, a 68-year-old Louisville native battling diabetes and kidney problems who in the past 11 months has had both of his legs amputated below the knee due to poor circulation. To do so would be to doubt someone who posted a double-double against UCLA in the 1975 Final Four despite a severe hamstring injury, someone who was once called "Superman" by former Marquette coach Al McGuire.

Cox, a Male High School grad, didn't let exercise-induced asthma stop him from reaching All-American status and leaving U of L in 1977 as one of the top scorers in program history with 1,578 points across 113 games. When the condition cut short his NBA career after just two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, he didn't let it define him and moved back to his hometown to raise his three sons while working for Metro Parks and as a paralegal.

And after nearly a year of limited mobility and independence — in his words, "house arrest" — he is determined to master the prosthetic limbs he will receive Friday so he can get back to the most fulfilling version of his life.

"I got a bunch of nieces and nephews around the same age," Cox said. "I want to see them grow up, have a good time, go to a lot of family reunions and all that kind of stuff. I can still do things, but it takes me a while to get around."

When Cox underwent his first amputation procedure last September, he asked the doctor if he could see his foot. He held it in his hands, a New Balance shoe hiding a gruesome scene, and pondered his new reality.

"I said, 'I'll never get it back,'" Cox told The Courier Journal. "That hit me right there. I said, 'Golly, this is what it is.'"

Cox does not, however, subscribe to a woe-is-me mentality. Instead, he's thankful the circulation issue was identified when it was, during a trip to the hospital due to an irregular heartbeat, so it could be addressed before threatening his life.

He takes his cues from his mother, the late Ida Cox, who went decades without telling him about her bout with diabetes before she, too, had a leg amputated. Her message then is his message now: "There's always somebody worse off than you are."

Cox didn't have to look far for an example. The television in his room at Masonic Homes was tuned to MSNBC's coverage of the devastating fires in Maui, Hawaii, where the death toll has surpassed 100 and more than 800 people are still missing.

"It ain't, 'Why me?'" he said.

That explains why Cox told only family members and a small circle of friends about his first amputation and asked them not to spread the word. He even kept a low profile when he checked into the Sam Swope Care Center earlier this year. That ended when another resident Googled his name.

"It's not about me; that's how I roll," Cox said. "If everything was about me, then you'd get tired of all that after a while."

Cox's secret became harder to keep when dozens of former Cardinals returned to Louisville for Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum's funeral in May. He couldn't leave the assisted-living facility to attend the ceremonies at Southeast Christian Church and the KFC Yum! Center but said Crum is "not gone or forgotten in my heart."

Before his second amputation a few weeks after Crum's death, Cox could use a walker to travel short distances on one leg. Since then, he's been confined to a wheelchair.

Cox expects to be "a little wobbly" Friday when he stands up under his own power for the first time in close to a year. "Like a baby," he'll string as many steps as he can together on the prosthetic limbs at Masonic Homes before falling down and repeating the process until his mind and his body are in sync again.

When that happens, Cox knows where he'll go first: Highland Park Missionary Baptist Church. He'll pray with his brother, Rev. Byron Cox, offering up thanks and asking for strength to get him through physical therapy and a health battle that is far from over.

He undergoes dialysis three times a week. A kidney transplant may be in his future, although an infection forced him off the waiting list the first time he applied and he must restart the process. He will need his prosthetics tuned up every six months as what's left of his legs adjust to the hardware, and his home needs to be adapted for these new physical demands.

His insurance won't cover all of the expenses, so a GoFundMe page was launched Aug. 15 to help. As of Wednesday afternoon, 329 donations had raised $33,242 — roughly 16% of the $208,000 goal.

One donor who have left a comment on the page remembers Cox as "a superhero" on the court. Another said they worked with him after his playing days were over and cherished his "big, kind spirit." A third said he is "a role model through his work ethic."

For them, Cox is grateful.

"I wish I could thank everybody personally," he told reporters last week. "It's a blessing to know that you're in a community that really cares about you."

When Cox gets moving on his own again, he'll try to pay it forward by returning to the Sunday school class he teaches at Highland Park Missionary Baptist Church. His favorite story to share with the group of middle schoolers is the tale of Jesus Christ walking on water.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Wesley Cox: Inside health battle of Male High School grad, UofL great