James Naismith named in his honor, Naismith Drive, which runs in front of Allen Fieldhouse (the official address of Allen Fieldhouse is 1651 Naismith Drive), the university's basketball facility. The university also named the court in Allen Fieldhouse "James Naismith Court" in his honor, despite Naismith having the worst record in school history. Naismith Hall, a college residential dormitory, is located on the northeastern edge of 19th Street and Naismith Drive. In 1898, Naismith became the first basketball coach of the University of Kansas. He compiled a record of 55–60 and is ironically the only losing coach in Kansas history. Naismith is
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