James Naismith

**James Naismith** (November 6, 1861&nbsp;– November 28, 1939) was a Canadian and naturalized American sports coach. Naismith invented the sport of basketball in 1891. He is also said to have introduced the first football helmet. He wrote the original basketball rulebook and started the University of Kansas basketball program. He lived to see basketball become an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

He taught at the University of Kansas and was a part-time basketball coach from 1898 to 1907. He was also the Athletic Director for the Kansas Jayhawks.

He has been made a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Sports Legends Hall of Fame, the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame, the Kansas State Sports Hall of Fame and the FIBA Hall of Fame. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was named after him.

## Early years
Dr. Naismith was born in 1861 in Ramsay Township (now Almonte, Ontario). His parents were both from Scotland. When he was nine, his parents died from typhoid fever. He was a talented and quick-moving athlete who played for McGill in Canadian football, soccer and gymnastics. He also played center on the football team, where he wore the first football helmet. He got a BA in Physical Education (1888) and a Diploma at the Presbyterian College in Montreal (1890).

The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. The teams had nine players, and used a soccer ball. The goals were a pair of peach baskets: "When Mr. Stubbins brot [sic] up the peach baskets to the gym I secured them on the inside of the railing of the gallery. This was about 10 feet from the floor, one at each end of the gymnasium. I then put the 13 rules on the bulletin board just behind the instructor's platform, secured a soccer ball and awaited the arrival of the class... The class did not show much enthusiasm but followed my lead... I then explained what they had to do to make goals, tossed the ball up between the two center men & tried to keep them somewhat near the rules. Most of the fouls were called for running with the ball, though tackling the man with the ball was not uncommon."

The first rules did not include what is now called dribbling. Since the ball could only be moved up the court with a pass, early players tossed the ball over their heads as they ran up court. Also, following each "goal" a jump ball was taken in the middle of the court. Both practices are no longer in the rules of modern basketball.

By 1892, basketball had grown so popular on campus that Dennis Horkenbach (editor-in-chief of *The Triangle*, the Springfield college newspaper) featured it in an article called "A New Game",. In these early days, most basketball games were played against nearby YMCA teams. The YMCA's across the nation played a very important part in the birth of basketball. Other common opponents were Haskell Indian Nations University and William Jewell College. With Naismith as coach, the team played only three current Big 12 schools: Nebraska (six times), Missouri (twice), and Kansas State (once). Naismith was, ironically, the only coach in the program's history to have a losing record (55–60). However, he coached Forrest "Phog" Allen, who took over as coach at Kansas. Allen was also added to the Basketball Hall of Fame. When Allen became a coach himself and told him that he was going to coach basketball at Baker University in 1904, Naismith said to him: "You can't coach basketball; you just play it." He was more interested in his physical education career, receiving an honorary PE Masters degree in 1910.  During the Olympics, he was named the Honorary President of the International Basketball Federation.

In his later years, he became Professor Emeritus in Kansas and retired in 1937 at the age of 76. Including his years as coach, he served as athletic director and faculty at the school for a total of almost 40 years. He died in 1939 after he suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage and was buried in Lawrence, Kansas. Posthumously, his masterwork "Basketball&nbsp;— its Origins and Development" was published in 1941. The university also named the court in Allen Fieldhouse, *James Naismith Court* in his honor. Naismith Hall, a college residential dormitory, is located on the northeastern edge of 19th Street and Naismith Drive. 

Basketball is today played by more than 300 million people worldwide, making it one of the most popular team sports.

## Personal life
On June 20, 1894, Naismith married Maude E. Sherman from Springfield. The couple had five children: Margaret Mason (1895), Helen Carolyn (1897), John Edwin (1900), Maude Ann (1904) and James Sherman (1913). Maude Naismith died in 1937, and on June 11, 1939, he married his second wife Florence Kincaid. Naismith suffered a major brain hemorrhage on November 19 the same year and died nine days later in his home in Lawrence, Kansas. He was 78 years old.

During his lifetime, Naismith's education and academic positions held were as follows:

## References
## Other websites
*Basketball Hall of Fame profile 
*Naismith Foundation 
*Original 13 basketball rules by Dr. James Naismith 
*FIBA Hall of Fame profile 
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