Chris Smith - Chasing Indianas Game: The Hoosier Hardwood Project

Foreword

In Indiana, basketball is inextricably a part of our states history, heritage, and identity. From our greatest legendsincluding the likes of Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, and John Woodenwho achieved the greatest of successes at the highest levels of the game, to the broad appeal of the film Hoosiers, which further increased awareness of the Indiana high school basketball story, Indiana has come to be known for the sport.

But the genesis of that identity began long before Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double in the NBA, prior to Larry Bird carrying Indiana State University to the 1979 NCAA national championship game, and earlier than John Wooden coaching ten UCLA teams to national titles.

The igniting spark that fueled the phenomenon to become known as Hoosier Hysteria really came from hundreds of places around the state at local basketball games on Friday and Saturday nights in celebrated venuesIndiana high school gymnasiums.

In the time when nearly eight hundred communities across our state had their own schools, Indiana high school basketball was a source of community identity. Previous to the consolidation wave that occurred in the 1950s, it seemed that every tiny town, village, or burg had their own school, and no matter the enrollment of those schools, they could almost all pull together a group of local students for a high school basketball team.

These teams gave the locals bragging rights among county rivals and became a unifying bond between community members with little consideration to their differences in race, religion, or social status. Games became the center of the social scene on Friday and Saturday nights.

As the appeal, interest, and passion that high school basketball incited grew in Indiana, another important element was elevatedthe gymnasium. In our state, where a high school basketball game once drew a world-record crowd of 41,046 spectators, local high school basketball gyms became figurative places of worship. Before bland, cookie-cutter facilities became common, each gym had its own character, feel, look, and ambiance. Some were goliath, some intimate, some elaborate, and some more Spartan, but each had its own unique characteristics.

The first time I met Chris Smith and Michael Keating, their drive, passion, and creativity were electric. I had already been made aware of their blog, where they posted crisp photographs of gymnasiums they had visited. It was instantly apparent they were onto something impressive.