 He credited his father, a transportation manager at a local coal mine and a standout point guard at Clay County High School in 1963, with developing his basketball acumen.As an eighth grader, Farmer played basketball for his grade school basketball team, as well as the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams at Clay County High School.He played sparingly during the varsity team's regular season but received 68 seconds of playing time – scoring 2 points – during the Tigers' victory over Owensboro High School in the 1984 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) State Basketball Championship.