Basketball today is one of the most popular sports played, watched and also bet on worldwide. What many do not know is how the game of hoops came into play on a cold winter day back in 1891.
The Creation Of Basketball
Basketball came into play when 31-year-old graduate student James Naismith a physical education teacher, had his students forced to conform indoors for a couple of days due to a storm. This meant that usual physical activities could not commence.
Naismith wasn’t disheartened easily and fetched the janitor for some boxes in order to make goals, thankfully the janitor only came back with peach baskets.
These baskets were nailed to the lower rail of a gymnasium balcony, one for each side. This had a total height of 10 feet. Students would then form teams and try to get the ball into the other team’s baskets.
In the only known recording of Mr. Naismith, he stated the students had begun tackling, kicking and punching each other in the crunches, and the game ended up free for all. After days of recovering it’s said the students couldn’t get enough and slowly but surely Naismith agreed to bring the game back, only this time with rules in check, these will later become the original 13 rules.
Since then many rules have changed and been modified to adapt to modern times. Today one can find basketball in almost every school globally as well as on televisions, streams and even bet on NBA games on Unibet as well as collect stickers, cards and much more.
History Of Basketball In Florida
In 1915, the University of Florida’s basketball team had its first season. Florida, like many other schools in the Southeastern Conference, has historically been recognized as a “football school.” After 3 straight NCAA Tournament appearances under Coach Norm Sloan throughout the late 1980s, the UF basketball program began to gain national attention. The first, which lasted till the Sweet Sixteen, was led by Vernon Maxwell, a future NBA star.
Lon Kruger’s tenure as head coach in the 1990s continued the momentum gained in the late 1980s. In 1994, the University of Florida Gators made their debut NCAA Final Four under Kruger’s leadership. That squad, spearheaded by both Andrew DeClerq and Dametri Hill, finally fell to Duke in the NCAA semifinals.
A new phase in Gator basketball began with Billy Donovan’s entrance in 1996. With Donovan’s innovative coaching approach and clever recruitment, the Gators have risen to the top of the SEC in just a few years, and have made eight straight NCAA tournament berths, the longest stretch in school history. Both of these years culminated in a National Championship, which was the first hoops championship for the university.
Basketball has a rich and wonderful history. Likewise, the history of basketball in Florida goes a long way to what is now one of the greatest states for professional basketball.
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