Friday Afternoon Follies, Basketball Edition

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Melissa Kean

This was taken during a game in the original fieldhouse–we have very, very few of these pictures and I don’t have any good way to date it.

I feel uneasy just looking at this contraption. I guess the dunk hadn’t been invented yet.

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8 Responses to Friday Afternoon Follies, Basketball Edition

  1. Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
    December 31, 2011 at 8:31 am

    Wooden Infrastructure and mattress padding:
    Before my time: 1952 —>

    Reply
  2. Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
    December 31, 2011 at 8:36 am

    BTW, you are correct, the dunk was NOT done by the time I was in school (1952-56).
    And Bill Russell played against Rice while I was “considering a function”. He could surely have dunked.
    I have heard one of the older college-later pro players say they could have done it but it was considered inappropriate.
    After my time at Rice, some college players began dunking, and I think it was banned by the rules for some years, but later made legal.

    Reply
  3. Mike Ross says:
    January 2, 2012 at 9:06 am

    Rice played the University of San Francisco only twice, both times in 1981, long after Bill Russell had played for them (1954-56). (Source: Rice Basketball Fact Book, pp. 146 & 177: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/rice/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2012RiceBasketballFactBook.pdf )

    Reply
    • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
      January 2, 2012 at 5:55 pm

      Mike,
      My mind’s eye holds the picture of Bill Russell trapping a ball against the backboard in a game I witnessed at “Autry Court”.
      You must be correct, yet … somehow …
      gp

      Reply
      • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
        January 3, 2012 at 9:48 am

        Having analyzed my mind’s eye, I now think I remember King Hill of Rice Institute trapping a basketball high against the right side of the backboard at Autry Court. I think I previously had seen that done by Bill Rusell, perhaps on TV but possibly in a newsreel.
        My id, ego, and superego probably morphed those 2 images together.

        (I would NOT have had such problems if I could have gotten a date at Rice I.)

        Reply
  4. Mike Ross says:
    January 2, 2012 at 9:08 am

    Dunking was banned from NCAA college basketball games from 1967-76.

    Reply
    • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
      January 2, 2012 at 5:59 pm

      Well, I got something right.
      Do I get anything for that? A free parking spot for the baseball games perhaps?

      Reply

  5. Pingback: Where Did Rice Play Its Basketball Games Before Autry Court Was Built? | Rice History Corner

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