James Naismith coached many notable players and future coaches. Despite coaching his final season in 1907, Naismith is still the only coach in Kansas men's basketball history with a losing record. Naismith was born on November 6, 1861 in Almonte, Canada West (now part of Mississippi Mills, Ontario, Canada) to Scottish immigrants. He never had a middle name and never signed his name with the "A" initial. The "A" was added by someone in the administration at the University of Kansas. Struggling in school but gifted in farm labour, Naismith spent his days outside playing catch, hide-and-seek, or duck on a rock,
James Dyer Ball James Dyer Ball James Dyer Ball (波乃耶) (4 December 1847 in Canton, China – 22 February 1919 in London, England) was a Hong Kong scholar and author born in Canton. He is noted for works on Chinese culture and for contributing to the development of the system of Cantonese Romanisation. Ball was the son of the Reverend Dyer Ball of Massachusetts, United States, and his much younger second wife, Scottish missionary Isabella Robertson. Apart from preaching, his father ran a dispensary and opened a school in Canton, Guangzhou. At age 7, Ball's family began three years of travel in Britain