1896-98
1896
Interest
In Basketball Started Early At Kansas
An item from the Dec. 2, 1896 Lawrence Journal: "There is talk of
organizing a basketball team at Kansas University and challenging teams in
Kansas City and other places where the game has become popular. A great many of
the members of the faculty and students of the University are playing the game
now and it promises to become even more popular."
Source: A Century of Basketball
1898
Kansas' First
Coach Was The Game's Inventor
In 1898, the University of Kansas Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, as the school's physical education director and religious director. The University had hired Field H. Yost as it's football coach but were unhappy to find that Yost was unable or unwilling to carry out the religious leadership role on campus. Naismith was a graduate of theological school and had experience as a physical instructor at the Springfield and Denver Y.M.C.A.s.Naismith was recommended for the job by Amos Alonzo Stagg, football coach at the University of Chicago. Naismith accepted the job for $1,300 per year. His contract made no mentions of coaching basketball as there was no KU basketball team yet. Naismith came to Lawrence with wife Maude and three daughters and lived at 1219 Tennessee Street.
Source: A Century of Kansas Basketball.