 |
 After
a half day’s drive from Peoria to Lawrence, Kans., I hopped
out of my rental car and piled into another vehicle to join in a
road trip with Ian Naismith, the inventor’s grandson, and John
McLendon, the Hall of Fame coach and African-American pioneer who
had studied at the University of Kansas under Doc Naismith himself.Both Ian and John are utter originals. Ian still is; he lives in Chicago, where he heads a foundation pledged to keeping alive the spirit of his grandfather. Alas, John died of cancer within a year of that day we spent together. But he touched basketball at virtually every level during his career. Between the two of them I got a privileged glimpse into the Naismith doctrine of original intent. Here McLendon strikes a pose mimicking his old professor.  ELEVEN:
EL PASO |
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Big Game, Small World from
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