James Naismith deeply involved with the members, serving as Chapter Counselor for sixteen years, from 1923 until his death in 1939. He eventually married SigEp's Housemother, Mrs. Florence Kincaid. Members interviewed from that era remembered Dr. Naismith: "He was deeply religious" "He listened more than he spoke" "He thought sports were nothing but an avenue to keep young people involved so they could do their studies and relate to their community" "It was real nice having someone the caliber of Dr. Naismith so involved ... he helped many a SigEp!" In 1935, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (created by Naismith's pupil
James Naismith could help its track athletes to keep in shape and explicitly emphasized to "make it fair for all players and not too rough." In his attempt to think up a new game, Naismith was guided by three main thoughts. Firstly, he analyzed the most popular games of those times (rugby, lacrosse, soccer, football, hockey, and baseball); Naismith noticed the hazards of a ball and concluded that the big soft soccer ball was safest. Secondly, he saw that most physical contact occurred while running with the ball, dribbling or hitting it, so he decided that passing was the only legal option.