Joe Perry Pruett is known to many longtime fans for his abilities on the basketball court.
Pruett lettered in basketball at RHS from 1957 through 1959 and in baseball in 1958 and 1959.
In 1956 Joe Perry led the Blackcats in the Clay County Tournament, scoring 25 points against Knobel. The Blackcats won, 68-55, making the fourth county championship Rector won in a row.
During the 1957-58 school year Rector defeated Pocahontas, 65-52, during the district tournament and moved on to beat Monette with Pruett scoring 17 points, helping the Cats into a finals game against Manila. The Lions outplayed the Blackcats and Rector lost 70-53.
Rector qualified for the state tournament as a runnerup of district. The state tournament was played in Marianna and Rector opened against Green Forest, which was noted by the Clay County Democrat as an outstanding team from Northwest Arkansas. The Cats won 61-48, advancing to play Sheridan, which was the favored team. Sheridan won 74-48 and went on to win the tournament, but Rector put up a good fight. The CCD called the Cats "a history making team," and Pruett contributed 266 points in the season.
In the 1958 NEA tournament Rector won 72-58 against Monette and 51-50 against Manila. Pruett saved the close game by hitting two free throws to win, which qualified the Cats for the finals. In their final NEA game the Cats lost 58-56 despite going into two overtimes.
In 1959 the Rector Blackcats became known as the Cardiac Cats for winning close games at the buzzer. The Blackcats made the state tournament at Trumann. In game one Pruett scored 10 points, and the Cats beat DeQueen 51-38. In game two Pruett hit a jumper with 22 seconds left on the clock and another with six seconds to play for a total of 15 points as the Cats won 64-63. In game three Pruett hit nine points against Hoxie and won 56-53. In the final game against Ouachita the game went into overtime. Rector finished the game with a shot at the buzzer, but one referee called the shot good and the other said it was no good. After consulting the timekeeper, the Cats finished the game as runnerup. Pruett made 15 points in the final game.
Pruett made All-District and All-State in his senior year.
According to Owen Moseley, in his junior year he shot 45% from the field and also led the team in free-throw percentage at 73%.
"Joe was a very poised and confident player," coach Jess Bucy said. "He was a good leader and a very outstanding shooter with cool guard skills. He had a good habit of hitting late game shots to help win games." “He was a clutch player.”
Bob Milburn, an RHS graduate from the early 1950s, said recently: “I never got to see him [Joe Perry] play, but did hear a lot of good comments, in his behalf. Your selection team did a very good job.”
Pruett received basketball and music scholarships to attend Hendrix College in Conway. He attended Hendrix for one year before transferring to Arkansas State University.