The Tourney was the brain-child of the I.U. Booster's Club after I.U. lost 15 of the first 18 games with Purdue. I.U. provided room & board and unique trophies for the participants. The winners were all from a 3-county "cradle" until 1919 when the Flu sent the tourney to Purdue. Bloomington HS with a center named Short & a team averaging 5'7" upset LaFayette for the title. Purdue ended up getting most of the recruits and dominating the Big Ten Championships (#26).
Our speaker will be Roger Robison, MD. President of the Indiana High School Basketball Historical Society. Author of "Everett Case & the Frankfort Hot Dogs" and "The Origin of Hoosier Hysteria, The I.U. -Bloomington State Tourneys: 1911-20".
Today’s Presentation
Program: Origin of the Indiana High School Basketball Tourney in Bloomington: 1911-20.
Speaker: Roger Robison, MD, President – Indiana High School Basketball Historical Society, author, Scientech Club member
Introduced By: Benny Ko
Attendance: NESC: 77, Zoom: 20
Guest(s): Ken Remenschneider
Scribe: Bill Dick
Editor: Bill Elliott
View a recording of today’s Zoom presentation at: www.scientechclub.org/zoom/1904.mp4
Today Scientech Club member Dr. Roger Robison entertained us in his “I’m just a country Doctor” style. Roger was a physician in radiation therapy in Terre Haute for many years.
Dr. Robison did a great deal of research in producing his talk on the origins of Indiana State basketball tournament. Basketball itself originated in the YMCAs of the east. Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, MA was the creator. At first, the games were played against other YMCAs, but they soon spread to high schools and colleges. The State of Indiana was one of the first to have basketball.
By 1911, Indiana high schools wanted to develop a state tournament. Early on, it was a mess, one could say. The originators were the Indiana University Booster Clubs from 1910-1920. An avid supporter was I.U. President William Lowe Bryan. I.U. in Bloomington would serve as the host with teams living in dorm rooms. The IHSAA was not involved at first.
Dr. Robison had many excellent photos and maps of the gyms and buildings used for games. The first was the I.U. gym from 1911-16. It would hold about 1,500 fans. Roger showed more photos of the IU campus where the early sites were located. Six other states had tourneys before Indiana,
Crawfordsville held the first tourney for 12 teams. Photos of early teams were projected. Some early plaques and trophies were pictured. Various ones either do not mention I.U. or the IHSAA. Lebanon held the tournament in 1912. From there, Roger took us on a tour of the various teams and cities where games were held. Interestingly, Indianapolis was not in the picture for many years.
The first decade of games were mostly held in Bloomington until 1927 when the Butler Fieldhouse was built. It was the largest in the U.S. until the early 1950’s. There is much confusion about the trophies. Some are reproductions. Some were ready to be taken to the dump after school consolidation.
It was interesting to hear Dr. Robison describe the evolution of the tournament. There were many small towns involved and many photos were shown of various teams. A.L. Trester was the first secretary and later head of the IHSAA. This trip through Indiana high school basketball history was an amazing one, with all the changes through the years. Later a better system came into being with sectional and regional and semi state games. The beginning was a little rocky but eventually Indiana had a great high school basketball tournament.
Thanks to Dr. Roger Robison for his superb research regarding the first decade of the Indiana high school basketball tournament.
Roger Roberson, MD.
