KU professor uncovers rare audio of James Naismith discussing the invention of basketball
An audio clip of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of basketball, describing the game's creation was discovered in the University of Kansas' audio and manuscript archives.
Dr. Michael J. Zogry, an associate professor of Religious Studies, uncovered an interview Naismith did in January 1939 with the radio show "We the People." Naismith passed away later that year.
Naismith describes to host Gabriel Heatter the moment he invented the game, as a physical education instructor at Springfield College in 1891. The three-minute excerpt can be heard here.
Naismith began coaching at Kansas in 1898 and retired in 1907. Phog Allen was hired as his replacement.
"We had a real New England blizzard," Naismith said. "For days, the students couldn't go outdoors, so they began roughhousing in the halls. We tried everything to keep them quiet. We tried playing a modified form of football in the gymnasium, but they got bored with it. Something had to be done.
"One day I had an idea. I called the boys to the gym, divided them up into teams of nine and gave them an old soccer ball. I showed them two peach baskets I nailed up at each end of the gym. I told them the idea was to throw the ball into the opposing team's peach basket. I blew the whistle, and the first game of basketball began."