Lexington Herald-Leader sports columnist, Hall of Famer John Clay is retiring
One of the most prominent voices in Kentucky sports reporting over the last 40-plus years, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist John Clay is retiring, effective June 30.
“I never wanted to be anything other than a sportswriter,” Clay said. “To be able to do it where I grew up, writing about the teams I have always followed, for my hometown newspaper, has made me luckier than I deserve. I’ve enjoyed every minute.”
A Central Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate, Clay was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame in April.
“It’s one thing to be an outstanding writer but when you add the local knowledge John brought to the job, you have a combination that makes for an outstanding sports columnist,” UK radio play-by-play man Tom Leach, who first worked with Clay as a student reporter at the Kentucky Kernel in 1979, said. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many complaints about John’s fairness and professionalism as well. His longevity in a role for which Kentucky fans set the bar high is a tribute to how well he did his job.”
“John has a deep passion for journalism, the Herald-Leader and the state of Kentucky,” said Gene Abell, the Herald-Leader’s sports editor from 1989 to 2015. “He found and wrote the stories his readers wanted and he provided those stories both as a beat writer and a columnist. He wasn’t afraid to take on a tough and challenging topic but would do so in a professional and fair manner. The readers and the Herald-Leader will miss him. He is a pro.”
Clay’s byline first appeared for the Lexington Leader in the summer of 1980 while a student at UK. He joined The Lexington Herald staff full-time on Dec. 1, 1981, and remained a reporter through the two papers’ merger.
He worked as the Herald-Leader’s UK football beat writer from 1987-1999 before being promoted to columnist in 2000.
“John is synonymous with Herald-Leader coverage of UK sports and horse racing,” former Herald-Leader UK basketball beat reporter Jerry Tipton said. “As a columnist, he combined informed opinion with an engaging likability. Surely I will be among many who will miss reading his column. Fortunately for me, our friendship will continue.”
“I can’t imagine the Herald-Leader without John Clay there,” said UK journalism professor Jen Smith, who worked with Clay for more than 20 years as a sports reporter at the Herald-Leader. “Kentucky is losing a giant, an encyclopedia of knowledge on just about everything Kentucky sports whether it’s horse racing, UK football and basketball, high schools. Everything. John had friends in every corner of Central Kentucky and always knew who to call to get a scoop or an answer to a question. He always did it the right way, and everyone respected him for it.”
Clay has described the start of his Herald-Leader career as luck since the day he called the Lexington Herald sports editor to inquire about a job happened to be the same day the paper’s UK reporter had given notice he was leaving for a job in Milwaukee, but that bit of fortune ended up being the newspaper’s gain in the long run.
“He was a great example for a young reporter like me covering high school sports and then UK football,” Smith said. “John was almost always my first call or text when I needed advice or help figuring something out. He was a mentor, a friend, a big brother. I’m sad I won’t be reading his columns anymore or using them to teach the next generation of journalists at UK, but I’m so happy for him.”
While Clay wrote about almost every sport in Central Kentucky during his Herald-Leader career, he was best known for his reporting on UK and horse racing. Clay has covered 21 Final Fours and 44 consecutive Kentucky Derbys.
“This has got me thinking of all the years and all the pages, both paper and digital, that have gone graced with the goodness and decency and quality and talent and curiosity that those of us so lucky to know him realize are all authentic,” said former Herald-Leader columnist Chuck Culpepper, who was inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame alongside Clay in April.
His first season on the UK football beat coincided with the start of the Wildcats’ 31-year losing streak to Florida. Clay remained at the Herald-Leader long enough to not only see the end of that streak in 2018 but also a stretch of four UK wins in the series over six years.
He covered seven UK football coaches and was columnist during the reign of four men’s basketball coaches.
“John Clay has served Big Blue Nation for more than three decades — detailing every championship, electrifying individual performance and crushing defeat along the way,” UK men’s basketball coach Mark Pope said. “He has worked tirelessly and with dignity to deliver coverage that is fair and comprehensive. I want to thank John for his unwavering dedication to the business, and his thoughtful questions that allowed the audience to connect with their beloved players and teams. He is a Hall of Famer for a reason!”
In an era where newspapers were often too slow to adapt to the Internet, Clay was well known for his early adoption of new reporting and publishing tools.
He was one of the first local sports reporters to begin live blogging updates during UK games and sharing news on social media. Clay almost certainly recorded more video interviews than any other reporter at the Herald-Leader during his tenure and hosted a podcast for several years.
“I’ve rarely met a co-worker as selfless as John,” Herald-Leader sports editor Mat Graf said. “He’s always for the good of the team — always — and the Herald-Leader team has benefited greatly as a result. Countless young journalists have moved up the ladder because of the largely unseen tutelage John provides. And his collaboration skills are unmatched.”
Clay won three Associated Press Sports Editors reporting awards, including the 2024 column writing contest for the Herald-Leader’s division. He also won 11 USBWA beat writing awards in his career.
In his retirement, Clay plans to spend more time doting on his three young grandchildren.
“Dedicated to the highest values of traditional journalism, John Clay’s work ethic and professionalism made him a trusted source of information and well-reasoned opinion,” UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart said. “His crisp, clear writing style and his ability to ask tough questions gently made him easy to read and easy to work with.
“While staying true to his standards, John also never forgot that he was writing about people — often finding a way to write ‘the glass half full’ while also seeking to write with grace about those who fell short. A fixture of the Central Kentucky sports scene for decades, sports in the Commonwealth have been better because of John and will not be the same without him.”
