April 25, 1944.

Mr. Bob Collins, Mus. 1/c
Band - Navy 120,

c/o Pleet Postoffice,
New York, N.Y.

Dear Bob:

I regret that I have not answered your commmication sooner.
I have been busy with war work, and am at present serving as secretary
of our county Seleotive Service Board. I have just finished our comty
Red Cross War Fund drive, and have also served the University as chair-
man of the Third and Fourth Har Loan, Commumity Chest, and Infantile
Paralysis drives. This, together with my work as chairman of the Depart-
ment of Physical Sducation where we are conditioning Ye5, VY-12 and ASTP
units, added to my basketball coaching this past winter, have kept me |

Basketball, along with all intercollegiate sports, has suffered
mush. Naturally her outstanding mterial has gone to the war effort, as it
should. However, the placing of extremely tall boys in the 4P classifica-
ee ee ee or ee ee
affected any of the other sports.

Since each player is entitled to his own position on the floor,
the altitudinous player has enjoyed an extreme advantage in war time. The
able-bodied and physically fit men of shorter stature than six feet dix
inches have been drained into ths war effort. Therefore, the war has given

It has always been my conviction, even during the time of the
center jump, that the tall player's advantage was under the defensive and
the offensive basket. ‘The advocates of the elimination of the center jump
said - Eliminate the center jump and you will rum the ungainly, tall player
out of the game. I have always maintained that there was one way to
equitably settle the matter, and that was to raise the basket. The basket-
ball rules camittee did a lot of shader boxing this year in regard to the
tall player. A few coaches, selfishly inclined, pressured the rules comittee
to do something about the tall player on the defense. Tlwrefore, they caused