Basketball was first introduced in Massachusetts in 1891 to a group of students of the YMCA training school by James Naismith, the physical education teacher. "The game was setup with two half-bushel peach baskets fastened to the balcony railing at opposite sides of the gymnasium and played with a soccer ball"(history). The object was to get the ball into the basket. Naismith outlined 13 original rules which included, the ball could not be dribbled and the players could not move with the ball. The game later evolved, a metal rim replaced the peach basketball and the first basketball was made out of leather panels stitched together with a rubber bladder inside. Players could now dribble the ball and in years to follow, were able to shoot after they dribbled. More rules were added including limiting the number of fouls per player and a resulting free throw for the player who the foul was committed against. Basketball's growth spread in the U.S. through YMCAs, colleges, and the armed forces. Its popularity grew due to its simple equipment requirements, indoor play, competitiveness and easily understood rules.
             In May of 1901, universities and colleges formed the New England Intercollegiate Basketball League. "By 1914 more than 360 colleges offered basketball" and "by 1915 the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the NCAA, and the YMCA formed a committed to standardize rules"(history). The first national collegiate tournament was the NIT, which was held at the end of the 1937-38' season. This tournament later became known as the NCAA tournament, an 8-team tournament originally and gradually enlarged to a 64-team tournament. Meanwhile at the same time on the professional front, the American Basketball League (ABL) was established. The ABL grew out of the first professional league, the National Basketball League (NBL), and later grew into a new NBL shaped after the original. Yet another professional lea...