James Naismith at the beginning of a massive and prestigious coaching tree, as he coached Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen, who himself coached Hall of Fame coaches Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, and Ralph Miller who all coached future coaches as well. Naismith invented the game of basketball and wrote the original 13 rules of this sport as opposed to the NBA rule book which features 66 pages. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts is named in his honor, and he was an inaugural inductee in 1959. The National Collegiate Athletic Association rewards its best
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