Professor finds rare audio of basketball inventor Naismith
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A University of Kansas researcher has uncovered an audio recording of James Naismith talking about setting up the first game of basketball in 1891 in Massachusetts.
The school says it is believed to be the only known recording of basketball's founder. Associate professor Michael Zogry found references to a 1939 interview with Naismith on a New York radio program ''We the People'' while researching a book and obtained the roughly three-minute recording in November.
He says Naismith's description of roughhousing among 18 players in the first game sheds new light on the creative process that led him to draft the 13 original rules.
Naismith moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1898 and became the first basketball coach at the University of Kansas.
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Online:
Link to the audio: http://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/show/naismith150/collections/radio-interview
