Interview with Adolph Rupp, May 1, 1971
Project: University of Kentucky Athletics: Adolph Rupp Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Adolph Rupp begins the interview by recalling Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, who remained at the University of Kansas after his protege "Phog" Allen, took over coaching duties in the 1919-1920 season (Rupp's first year as a student at KU). Specifically, Rupp remembers Naismith's belief that basketball would never become a popular sport with fans, and his part later on in surprising Naismith and his wife with a trip to the 1936 Olympics to see basketball played as an Olympic sport for the first time. Rupp then discusses various coaching positions at Burr Oak, Kansas, and Marshalltown, Iowa--where he also coached the wrestling team--and talks extensively about his time coaching at Freeport High School (Illinois). He concludes the interview with an explanation of how he came to know about the opening at the University of Kentucky.Interview Accession
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Interview LC Subject
Basketball--Coaches--Biography Basketball--History Boyd County (Ky.) Freeport (Ill.) Rupp, Adolph, 1901-1977 Rupp, Adolph, 1901-1977--Interviews Universities and colleges--Kentucky--Lexington University of Kansas--Basketball University of Kentucky--Basketball--History University of Kentucky--Sports--HistoryInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries.
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Rupp, Adolph Interview by Russell Rice. 01 May. 1971. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Rupp, A. (1971, May 01). Interview by R. Rice. University of Kentucky Athletics: Adolph Rupp Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Rupp, Adolph, interview by Russell Rice. May 01, 1971, University of Kentucky Athletics: Adolph Rupp Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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