No Bricks Allowed: Kansas Hysteria Introduction
Salina, Kansas: Youth Hoops and beyond into the Prairies
As I grew up and learned more about Midwest hoops, I was fortunate to watch the Omaha-Kansas City Kings (NBA 1972) with Tiny Nate Archibald. This team then became the Kansas City Kings (1975), nearly folded, and then limped on a tight budget to Sacramento (1985) by covered wagons. The rest is history regarding the Kings NBA franchise, coming so very close to the NBA finals in 2002. One wonders how a state so engrossed in hoops allows an NBA franchise to walk away nearly bankrupt. No, it’s not this Missouri/Kansas constant battle over who is at fault when something goes wrong (Kansas City is split between Missouri and Kansas). The answer is that Kansans just enjoy fundamental hoops played well.
Mom attended K-State (Manhattan), and Dad went to KU (Lawrence). Therefore we have a mixed marriage. They both played Kansas high school and Intramural collegiate hoops and are therefore, Kansas hoop experts. The jokes and rivalry comments flow between Mom and Dad. Obviously this couple’s kids will be proficient at hoops. And therefore we have to decide now which college they’ll attend. Dad wins because the Jayhawks’ hoop tradition in Lawrence trumps Mom’s K-State Wildcats–but not by much. The family is Catholic, so the kids will obviously enroll in the Catholic leagues around Salina. The first child is born and Dad is concerned that the hoop cannot go up soon enough. Never mind it’s a girl. Girls hoops in Kansas are huge. We’re OK. The hoop goes up at age 2. None of the neighbors are alarmed. The hoop isn’t even covered within the homeowner’s association agreement. It is implicit that hoops are commonly accepted and not a subject for legal neighborhood dispute. The hoop is adjustable and will be advanced as the new emerging hoop star embarks on her growing career. Dad already has the girl on the church TEAM in his brain. However he soon discovers that there really isn’t a formal Catholic youth league in Salina or the surrounding area. Salina has adopted World Class Basketball (WCB) from Chicago. WCB begins at third grade (age 8). The heck with the Y, school ball or pickup. We’re already in club ball. Instruction and leagues are year round. Dad is happy about the Salina job transfer. Mom says we need to begin practice outside to get the “feel” of the game. Mom observes how involved Dad is with their daughter and hoops. She therefore elects a back seat approach.
There is more to hoops than money and pro sports in Kansas. Parents, families, players, coaches, cheerleaders and schools take as much pride in the sport as any state in the Union. High School, grade school, NAIA, Junior College and of course D1 college games in Lawrence, Wichita, and at Manhattan are crowded. Pickup games, AAU, hoop clubs, church leagues and even rivalries between middle schools receive considerable attention. Hoops for Kansans are very simple and entertaining. It’s not about individual players or new luxury seats in Kansas. Kansas hoops are truly about the basic fundamentals of the sport, how it’s played and competition. There’s hardly a state that has more backyard courts than Kansas. In fact, if there isn’t a hoop in the driveway, one wonders what‘s wrong with that family. Are they revolting? Don’t they get it? Do their kids have problems? Therefore let’s emulate the typical Kansas family in a typical Kansas town
Second grade comes quickly and the girl has grown and is taller than many third graders. Dad can’t hold back so he lies on the intake form and says his daughter is in third grade. This won’t hurt anyone; and besides, he can justify this in his mind by his daughter’s height. A competing parent complains about the underage girl in WCB. Dad sweats it out, but is allowed to keep the daughter in the program due to his financial and administrative support. The variably interpreted rule of being able to “play up” allows any kid to play at any level the player can successfully “hold his or her own.” Another baby is born and it’s a boy. Twelve months later another boy comes. Dad is on a roll. Two years later the final boy is delivered. Dad will have an entire TEAM for the backyard court. The family is on the move being involved with Rotary, the church, PTO and
such as Salina amidst all this Kansas hoop hysteria. 1