Mereh 5, 1941

Mre Harold Claassen

Sports Editor, Associated Press
The Kansas City Star Building
‘Kansas City, Missouri

Dear Harold:

I have noted some reaction over the country to my idea of a
so-called nine«man basketball gamee I am writing you so that you can perhaps
clear up & few points which some of the boys have lost sight of when they
have written about this feature. This nine#man basketball game is a long
way off in our vision of seeing the game develope ;

Now I am only speaking of college basketball and not high school
basketball. When I say that the 12-foot basket will come, and it will, I mean
that it will come to college basketballe There is no need of a 12«foot basket
in a high sehool because the boys’ coordination has not been developed to the
point that they can consistently dunk the ball into the baskets I have made
this statement: In ten years or so we will have enough large auditoria over
the coumtry that a court can be laid out 110 feet in length and 60 feet in width
without handicapping the seating area or playing space. ‘This space will be right
for sevenewan basketballs , : |

I have made the point that basketball crowds will only be limited
by the size of the building and the playing area. Naturally as many spectators
@s possible desire to be along the side lines and not the ond lines, and that is
the reason for increasing the length of the playing floors

I have said that as the seveneman game is developed that it is
thinkable that the game court will be enlarged to 130 feet in length and 80 feet
in widthe Such space would provide ample playing area for nine men on a teame

I have never spoken about high sehool basketball teams being
enlarged because that is not necessarye The normal enrollment is not so large
bat what the regular playing length of the court in the high school gymasium is
ample to answer the high school needs. In colleges the alumni of both teams
and friends total a far greater mumber of spectators and followers than they do
in a high schools therefore, there is greater need for a larger playing and spectator
areae I was looking ahead 25 to 40 years when I mentioned the nine=man teame

the fundamentsls such as dribbling, pivoting, and passing will be
exactly the sam@e Looking into the future, it might be possible to put an ad-
ditional line across the court, saying that only so many defensive men can play in
certain areas with the start of the game, such as we have in football in the kickoff.