THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
COLUMBUS

DEPARTMENT OF PuysicAL EDUCATION

L. W. St. Joun, Director November 14 i. 1939

Dr. Forrest C. Allen
Basketball Coach
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

Dear “Phog"s

I am in receipt of a letter from President Owens of the
NeCeA-Ae in which he has enclosed a letter from a Mr. Gilmore,
Secretary of the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference.

Gilmore had suggested in this letter to Major Griffith
that District 7 has its own elected executive committee which would
be empowered to cooperate in making the district selection. Gilmore
said in his letter, “We feel that this committee might be the logical
group either to make the selection or to designate the persons who
should. The basketball rules member for district 7 is coach of the
team which is likely to be an important contender.”

President Owens, in his letter, says this - "If it is pos=
sible to cooperate with this group in some way with selections in
this district, I feel that it would be well to do so as we need all
the support we can get in the various districts in the building up
of this tournament. I do not think it would be necessary to designate
this committee as the final selecting authority but if, without
serious interference with your plans, they could be asked to cooperate
it might prove helpful."

I am writing to you to get you reaction to Owens’ suggestion
and also to ask if you won't take a major part in the making up of all
our committees. You know as well as anybody else what we were trying
to do last year = maybe we were following the correct procedure, in
your judgment, and maybe not. At any rate, the time is here when we
should be setting up definitely the selection committees in all our
districts, and what I am trying to tell you is that I am going to lean
on you rather heavily in this comnection. In the first place, you have
both the Western playeoff and the final game on your hands. Secondly,
I know there is nobody in the whole business more interested in seeing
this tournament blossom out in a real way this season.

I have written "June" Salmon several times in connection
with tournament business but so far I have not been able to get a reply
from hin.

There was one thought expressed in the N.C.A.A. Executive
Committee meeting in New York early this Summer and that was, generally
speaking, committees which operate tournaments such as ours might well