To the Officers of the National Basket-
ball Committee of the U.S. and Canada

Gentile men:

The writer desires to report on the increasing num-
per of tall players in intercollegiate basket ball this past year.

Whereas players six feet five were rare a few years
ago, they are now common. Now the player who is six feet ten is
not so uncommon.

This increase in average height is due to the con-
stant search for tall players, and the encouragement to become
basket ball players offered boys who have not had any particular
liking for the game. Even in junior high schools, the extra tall
boy finds a source of satisfaction in being able to capitalize on
his height, and does so.

For several years, I have advocated that the baskets
be placed 12 feet instead of 10 feet from the floor, making all
players - tall or short - perform the same scoring act, shooting
for the basket rather than having the extremely tall man hover
over the basket and either tip the ball in or dunk the ball into
the basket. By having the higher basket the are of disbursement
or rebound of the ball comes further out on the court, making it
extremely difficult for a husky, altitudinous guard to block op-
ponents away from the basket and still capture the rebound.

Much research work has been done by using the 12 ft.
basket placed 4 ft. inside of the end-line. This arrangement
strikes hard at the zone defense because a guard is utterly useless
camping underneath a 12 ft. basket. As a matter of fact a forward
under a 12 ft. basket is in the poorest scoring position of any
player on the floor.

The writer is not promoting unduly a 12 ft. basket
for this year but he desires to have the Rules Body scan the fol-
lowing list of tall college and university players who are now
playing this year, with a view of looking far enough into the
future to find the six-six and six-seven basket ball player a very
common occurence.

Kansas had a player playing in his second year this
past season who not being an adept at scoring was placed under the
opponent's basket. Anyordinary arch shot that did not strike the
backboard for a rebound could be either captured or batted away
from the opponent's basket.