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
YMCA YMCA in Springfield, Mass. in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a clergyman, educator and physician. Naismith was asked to create an indoor "athletic distraction" to keep rowdy youth busy in the cold New England winter months. Luther Gulick, the head of the Springfield Y, gave Naismith two weeks to come up with a game to occupy a particularly incorrigible group. Naismith decided the game had to be physically active, simple to understand and would have minimal physical roughness. The original game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets nailed to the balcony of the Springfield Y. The