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April 30, 1946.

My. Ce. E. MoBride, ‘Sports Editor,
The Kansas City Star,
Kansas City, Missouri.

Hy dear Mac:

: I am sending you a carbon copy of Henry Iba's letter
to me regarding a game in the Auditoriun next winter and a copy of
my reply to him. Prankly, there is no use with the Big Six eligibility
rules as they now are, of a team competing with Henry Tba's outfit.

_ ZT am not at all afraid of meeting him, but when you have
7 ft. and 7 ft. & in. boys competing against sixefooters =~ well, that
Just isn't basketball, or cricket. :

The ten foot basket is making the hunt for the 7 ft. and
7 ft. 3 in. boys more manifest. The moment they raise the basket to
12 feet the hunt for the big boy will be practically over because no
more could he stand and merely flex his fingers and push the ball in
‘the basket. The poorest place in the world for a 7 ft. boys is directly —
under the basket. You have no idea the difference that it makes. We
had 12 ft. basketb installed here and have had them for 15 years, and
we have tried it out. But the majority of coaches are so dumb that they
still desire the drive-in and the lay-up for their shorter boys in plead-
ing for a 10 ft. basket. And at the same time they give ‘the coach the
exceptional advantage of scouring the land for 7-footers, and this 7+
footer defeats the efforts of the five other medium-sized boys.

Cecil Hankins and Bob Kurland, together with three ordinary
basketball. players, oan beat a five of scintillating start, none of the
five stare being over 6 ft. 4 in. The only tcams that got into any of
the finals or semi-finals for the championship play had a man taller
than 6 ft. 7 in. That shows that it is the low 10 ft, basket, and not
the tall 6 gy. 7 in. fellow that wins the ball game. Or would win the
ball game if they had a 12 ft. basket.

I don't want you te give any publicity to this, but I am
trying to convert you to this thought ~ that the hunt would be definite-
_ ly over for these extra tall boys if the rules conmittes would do some-

thing about the height of the basket. I realize, Mac, that you think
I am overzealous on.this point, but I give you my word and definite
convisction that I have tried this out with tall men and they cannot
score under a 12 ft. basket with enything comparable to the dunking
methods they now pursue. :