The “Hoosier State” of Basketball

“In 49 states it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana”. 

A familiar quote to most Hoosiers, it conveys how much the sport means to Indiana and how much Indiana means to the sport.  Although Dr. James A. Naismith created basketball at the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA in December, 1891, Indiana is where high school basketball was born.  It was Dr. Naismith himself, who in in 1925 after attending an Indiana basketball state finals game, wrote "Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport." 

The sport grew at the high school level to become the greatest sporting event in the state, which concluded each season with the electrifying single-class basketball tournament. Indiana’s passion for basketball was evident during the 1990 state title game, at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, when Damon Bailey and his Bedford North Lawrence team won the state championship in front of a crowd of more than 41,000 people, the most people to ever attend a high school basketball game. Likewise, just skim over the list of the nation’s 20 largest high school gymnasiums and it is obvious where the game matters most. 

It was because of this distinction that we decided to visit a handful of Indiana’s most famous gyms in 2008 to see Hoosier Hysteria for ourselves.  But before we stepped foot into any gym, we had to visit an unmarked site where it all started.

Old Crawfordsville YMCA

Records indicate that in 1893, Rev. Nicholas McKay, an associate of Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, became the general secretary of the YMCA in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He brought with him the skills to operate the YMCA, but more importantly, he brought to Indiana the game of basketball.  So it was from its beginnings in Crawfordsville, that the game took off in popularity, with players from Crawfordsville spreading the word about the new game to nearby communities. As the game spread across the region, improvements began to appear as well. Backboards were installed to keep spectators in the balcony from interfering with the game and bottomless nets were hung to eliminate the need to push the ball out of the basket with a pole. 

On March 16, 1894, the first game played outside of Massachusetts between two different towns was played between the Crawfordsville YMCA and the Lafayette YMCA, which Crawfordsville won 45 -21.  On Feb. 19, 1897, Wabash College played Purdue University at the old Crawfordsville YMCA in the first official intercollegiate basketball game.  By 1911, the state had a state high school basketball tournament, which was also won by Crawfordsville.  The game continued to grow in popularity and by the 1920s and 1930s, basketball had spread throughout the state.  

Empty Bank Parking Lot - Old YMCA site

So it was two years ago in an empty bank parking lot, located on the corner of Washington and Main, that we stood and paid homage to the site of the old Crawfordsville YMCA.  It was only fitting that we started our Indiana basketball trip at the very same spot where basketball started its own journey across the state and into the history books.

It wasn’t until writing this blog entry that I read that on April 16, 2011, a historical marker was unveiled on the site of the former YMCA (also the site of the first Indiana high school basketball game) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Crawfordsville Athenians winning Indiana's first high school state title.  Although long overdue, I am glad to see that Crawfordsville is being recognized for its contributions.  So when making a trip through Indiana, make sure to set aside a few minutes to exit off Interstate 74 and stop by the bank parking lot, read the historical marker and reflect on how far the game has come. Because 118 years ago, on that same spot, Rev. McKay was envisioning the possibilities of the sport that would later set off Hoosier Hysteria and create the identity for Indiana.

Historical Marker Dedication on the former YMCA site