Dr. James Naismith would no doubt be astounded to see the degree to which the game he invented in the late nineteenth century has changed and evolved. As it was, Naismith—during his remarkable life—saw the game transformed from one in which people tried to throw a ball into a peach basket to one in which athletic players competed at an extremely high level. As Glenn Dickey has noted in his book The History of Professional Basketball Since 1896, basket-ball is "the only true American game," as there existed nothing even remotely resembling basketball until Naismith invented the game in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith's invention grew out a need to help fulfill a curriculum requirement at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Training School where he taught; students there were required to exercise for one hour per day. While students played football in the...