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Tales from Indiana High School Basketball | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeff Washburn
Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $1.41
You Save: $18.54 (93%)
New (17) Used (26) from $1.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 853439
Format: Illustrated
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 200
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 1582614121
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9781582614120
ASIN: 1582614121
Publication Date: October 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Perfect condition.
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Product Description
It is often said that while Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in Massachusetts, the sport was raised and ultimately came of age in the high schools of Indiana, the state where politics, religion, and sweet corn fall in line behind the game played with the round orange ball. Tales from Indiana High School Basketball centers on those special people who have played the game--their stories, their passion, their drive for excellence, their laughs, and their tears. This is a book about Lebanon schoolboy hero Rick Mount, the first prep basketball player ever featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The year was 1966, and Mount's sweet jump shot had college recruiters flocking to the city 30 minutes north of Indianapolis. It's about Gene Cato, the Indiana High School Athletic Association's former commissioner whose father--his high school coach--would not put the young scoring phenom into a game until his team's fans demanded it. It's also about Marion's "Purple Reign"--consecutive state championships in 1985, 1986, and 1987 when the Gians were the most important game on every opponent's schedule. John Wooden, Bobby Plump, Steve Alford, Damon Bailey. It's as easy for an Indiana high school basketball fan to roll the names off the tongue as it is to find the broadcast of a high school game on AM radio on any Friday night during an Indiana winter. Tales from Indiana High School Basketball is not so much about statistics and winning streaks as it is about the personalities and emotions of those who created a phenomenon that neither a New York City cab driver nor a Malibu-based surfer could understand. These high school kids became heroes and legends. Their stories will live on throughgeneration after generation. Tales from Indiana High School Basketball is much more than a compilation of intriguing roundball stories. It is a way of life in the Hoosier State. Author Jeff Washburn, a Lafayette Journal and Courier sportswriter since 1972, has been watching Indiana high school basketball for 50 years--since his mother took him to see the great Oscar Robertson and Indianapolis Crispus Attucks when the writer was six months old. Like most Hoosiers, the game is in his blood and certainly in his heart, from which these tales flow.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Disappointing Effort December 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Readers of this book likely earned a love of Indiana high school basketball by growing up in the state and spending many winter weekends at the school gym. Or, if not native to the state, heard about the 'mystique' of Indiana high school basketball, and wanted to learn more. Unfortunately, despite having a long and rich history to work with, this book contains very little of the mystique that made Hoosier high school hoops special.
The stories are short and not well developed. Many of the stories provide little more than stats and game/season recaps. Some don't even have quotes from the principal characters. The book does not flow well from story to story, with many containing duplicative information. For instance, Damon Bailey's state record point total is referenced in several of the stories. The reference is important to the chapter on Damon, but holds little importance to another player's story.
I approached this book eager to delve into a little nostalgia, but found myself buried in unimportant facts. Give me meaty & interesting tales about player's emotions, team bus rides, devoted fans, and community spirit. The movie 'Hoosiers' captured this spirit well. Unfortunately, this book falls short.
 Great look at the great coaches, players, and teams from Hoosier HS Basketball history July 20, 2006
For the uninformed, "Tales From Indiana High School Basketball" by Jeff Washburn, will be a great way to get to know the history of the sport of basketball in this basketball-crazy state. Stories about every famous coach, player and team from the turn of the 20th Century on can be found in this quick-reading book. The names (Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, John Wooden, Rick Mount, Steve Alford, just to name a few), will be familiar to many fans. Washburn knows his stuff and has done some great research in putting this book together.
For those familiar with the Hoosier state and its love of basketball, then "Tales..." will be a trip down memory lane. One of the positives of the book is also a negative. The stories, while varied and well-done, are very short and could use some fleshing out. It would also have been nice to see more stories about some of the lesser-known greats from Indiana basketball. Maybe those stories could be told in "Tales II".
Recommended for basketball fans everywhere!
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