Event: Media is invited to view James Naismith’s original rules of basketball, which are on loan to The University of Texas at Austin, and discuss them with Longhorns coaches Rick Barnes and Gail Goestenkors and former coach Jody Conradt.
When: Friday, Oct. 28, 1010:45 a.m.
Where: The Great Hall, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum on The University of Texas at Austin campus.
Excellent Visuals for TV and print.
(Bright camera lighting is not permitted near the rules. The existing lighting in the Great Hall should be sufficient for all video and photography.)
Background: In 1891, James Naismith, a YMCA physical education instructor in Springfield, Mass., developed the new game of “Basket Ball” to keep his students active indoors. The typed and annotated rules formed the foundation for today’s game but were also different in many ways (dribbling had not yet been introduced).
Suzanne and David Booth, friends of The University of Texas at Austin, recently purchased the original rules and are sharing them with the university community for the next year. The rules will be on display at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Oct. 28-Jan. 29 and again at the university’s Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports next year.
Media are invited to view them this Friday.
Coaches Barnes, Goestonkors and Conradt will be on hand to discuss the rules and how basketball has evolved over the past 120 years. Terry and Jan Todd, directors of the Stark Center, will also be available to discuss the historical significance and context of the rules.
