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Hoosier Hardwoods

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The love of basketball can take you many places, but at some point those searching for the heart of the game will find themselves traveling a back road to a small town in Indiana. James Naismith, had invented the game of basketball at the YMCA International Training school at Springfield, Mass. in 1890, but it was Indiana that refined the game. Even Naismith himself confessed, “Basketball may have been invented in Massachusetts, but it was made for Indiana.”

Built in 1921, the Kingstown Gym is like walking back in time, but it was also like walking onto a movie set. The gym served as the Kingstown High School gym for 44 years. It was also used in the 1985 film, Hoosiers, as the homecourt of the Hickory Huskers. What is now known as Hoosiers Gym is viewed through the peep hole created for the box office ticket seller to view the game on April 1,, 2025.
Built in 1921, the Kingstown Gym is like walking back in time, but it was also like walking onto a movie set. The gym served as the Kingstown High School gym for 44 years. It was also used in the 1985 film, Hoosiers, as the homecourt of the Hickory Huskers. What is now known as Hoosiers Gym is viewed through the peep hole created for the box office ticket seller to view the game on April 1,, 2025.Read moreCharles Fox / Staff Photographer

Basketball and Indiana was an ideal pairing. Many small schools in the state struggled to field sport teams that required a large number of players. Only 20 of their 250 high schools were able to field a football team. Basketball was a perfect fit. Five players and a couple of reserves and you had a team. The enthusiasm for the sport quickly spread through the state. Being a winter sport, it didn’t interfere with fall harvests and spring planting in the predominantly rural state. And it was inexpensive. It was Indiana that replaced peach baskets with metal hoops, brought in the concept of dribbling and free throws, and reduced the number of players on the court to 5 on each team. A winter's night game in a warm gym became the social event of the week. Currently, nine of the ten largest high school gyms in the United States are in Indiana. Looking ahead to 2026, it will be the perfect time to make a basketball pilgrimage to Indiana – the land of John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, and Chuck Taylor, the man who helped design the canvas Converse All-Stars that bear his name. The eyes of the college basketball world will focus on Indianapolis as it hosts the NCAA Division 2 and 3 championships, the NIT, and the men’s Division 1 NCAA Final Four and Championship.

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