The First Team The First Team The First Team were the first players known to have played the sport of basketball, having been taught the game in 1891 by James Naismith, who is recognized as the inventor of the sport. The team comprised 18 players who were studying in Springfield, Massachusetts, to become executive secretaries of the YMCA and who, as part of their coursework, studied physical education with Naismith, who is said to have invented the game to teach teamwork skills to his charges. The team was inducted as a group into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of
James Naismith Instead, he was more interested in his physical education career, receiving an honorary PE Masters degree in 1910, patrolled the Mexican border for four months in 1916, traveled to France, published two books ("A Modern College" in 1911 and "Essence of a Healthy Life" in 1918). He took American citizenship in 1925. In 1909, Naismith's duties at Kansas were redefined as a Professorship; he served as the "de facto" athletic director at Kansas for much of the early 20th century. In 1923, Dr. Naismith was a founder of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at the University of Kansas. Naismith was