James Naismith and there were calls to call this new game "Naismith Ball", but Naismith refused. By 1893, basketball was introduced internationally by the YMCA movement. From Springfield, Naismith went to Denver where he acquired a medical degree and in 1898 he joined the University of Kansas faculty at Lawrence, Kansas. The family of Lambert G. Will has claimed that Dr. Naismith borrowed components for the game of basketball from Will to dispute Naismith's sole creation of the game, citing alleged photos and letters. The University of Kansas men's basketball program officially began following Naismith's arrival in 1898, which was six years
Town ball with the A's, dropped out of major match play in 1864, and many of the members went back to playing town ball. New Englanders usually called their game "base" or "round ball" (from running 'round the bases). The "Massachusetts game" or "New England game" was a formalized version with many clubs active in the Boston area. A set of rules was drawn up by the Massachusetts Association of Base Ball Players at Dedham, Massachusetts in 1858. This game was played by ten to fourteen players with four bases 60 feet apart and no foul territory. The ball was considerably smaller