Wood, Keith Brian. Memphis Hoops: Race and Basketball in the Bluff City, 1968–1997. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. 218. $35.00 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The first integrated high school game in Memphis took place on September 15, 1965, between all-white Catholic High and all-black Father Bertrand High. The game functions…
Stueve, Spencer, and Johnson, Marques (forward). UCLA Basketball Encyclopedia: The First 100 Years. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 2019. Pp. 281. Photos, black & white. No index. $26.99 paperback. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales Before the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA became global phenomena, there was the UCLA Bruins collegiate men’s basketball team. The Bruins recruited…
Kemper, Kurt Edward. Before the Madness: The Wars For the Soul of College Basketball. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2020. Pp. xiii, 273. Notes, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Murry Nelson One is immediately impressed by the extraordinary research done for this Before the Madness: The Wars For the Soul of College Basketball. Kurt Edward Kemper…
Gryzbowski, David. Mr. All-Around: The Life of Tom Gola. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2019. Pp 181. Foreword by Bill Raftery, introduction, appendices. Reviewed by Murry Nelson Mr. All-Around: The Life of Tom Gola is a pleasant little book. However, David Gyrzbowski’s biography of Gola is more geared to general readership, especially those with Philadelphia interests,…
Bolin, James Duane. Adolph Rupp and the Rise of Kentucky Basketball. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. 2019. Pp. 394. Bibliography and index. $40 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. There are not enough adjectives to describe Adolph Rupp, but author James Duane Bolin gives it a good try. “Successful, colorful, crusty and controversial,” (p. 17)…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on October 25, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. If you want to keep up with intercollegiate athletics these days, it would be wise, to keep your eyes on…
Snell, David Kingsley. The Baron and the Bear: Rupp’s Runts, Haskins’s Miners, and the Season That Changed Basketball Forever. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. xii + 312. 20 unnumbered pages of plates and index. $29.95 hardcover, $14.99 e-book. Reviewed by Tony Calandrillo In The Baron and the Bear: Rupp’s Runts, Haskins’s Miners,…
Nelson, Murray R. Big Ten Basketball, 1943-1972. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017. Pp. 256. Appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $39.95 softcover. Reviewed by Andrew McGregor March has arrived, much to the glee of basketball fans. Conference tournaments are in full swing across the country, helping solidify the fates of those teams living on the bubble before…
The 2016-2017 college basketball season is in full swing. Conference play began this week, signaling the beginning of the “true season” in the minds of many fans. Many of the conferences appear wide open, promising competitive races from Tobacco Road to the Pacific coast. According to the NCAA, over 27 million fans flocked to roundhouses, barns, and arenas…
Gildea, Dennis. Hoop Crazy: The Lives of Clair Bee and Chip Hilton. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2013. xx+322. Notes, bibliography, index, and appendices. $34.95 clothback. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Every basketball fanatic should read this book. Not because Hoop Crazy: The Lives of Clair Bee and Chip Hilton is well researched and written;…
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