134 Years Ago Today, Basketball Made Important History

March is a month for basketball. 

That’s been the case for decades now as the NCAA Tournament grew from curiosity to cultural phenomenon, but did you know the first time the public got to see a game also came in the third month of the year? 

Here is all you need to know about the game’s public debut 134 years ago. 

How basketball started 

Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in Springfield, Mass., in 1891, as an athletic outlet that could be played indoors during the cold winter months (and was less physical than football).

He first taught the game to his students before it made its public debut the following year with a game between a team of students and a team of faculty members. 

According to the March 12, 1892 edition of The Springfield Republican, “over 200 spectators craned their necks over the gallery railing” to watch the game. 

It was dominated by the students, “who had the advantage in science and the score at the end.” 

The final score was 5-1. 

Celebrity player

Maybe the wildest part of this story is the involvement of Amos Alonzo Stagg, who joined Naismith as a member of the faculty team. 

Stagg scored the only goal for the teachers’ team, but it is safe to say that was not how he made his name in sports. 

Stagg was 28 at the time, but he was already well known as an All-American football player at Yale. He went on to win a record 314 games as the head coach of Springfield College, Chicago and the College of the Pacific, and Stagg is credited with numerous innovations in football. 

Those include the end-around, hidden-ball trick, fake punt, quick-kick, man-in-motion, double reverse, huddle, backfield shift, Statue of Liberty play, padded goal posts, and numbers on players' backs according to the National Football Foundation. 

As for his contribution to the first public basketball game, The Republican identified him as “the most conspicuous figure on the floor” and noted “he had a hand in every scrimmage”

Not only that, “His football training hampered him, and he was perpetually making fouls by shoving his opponents.” 

How basketball evolved into March Madness

Basketball expanded quickly after its invention, being adopted by high schools and colleges across the country and overseas in less than a decade. 

Early on, college basketball was governed by the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (yes, that is the AAU still active today) and then later the NCAA. 

The first NCAA Tournament was held in 1939 with eight teams in two regions. 

Oregon defeated Ohio State in the first national championship game, which was played March 27 in Evanston, Ill.