For all of us who follow college or even high school basketball the month of March is like Christmas in December is for kids. As a an All-State basketball player from Illinois, a college player,  a coach at every level for 20 years, and a history buff I thought I would offer up a little “March Madness” history.

The term “March Madness” was first used back in the 1930s to commemorate the excitement and craziness that went on around the Illinois state high school basketball tournament in “ole” Huff gym on the campus of the University of Illinois. Huff Gymnasium would seat about 7,000 fans but when the final “Sweet 16” high school teams invaded Champaign (actually U of I is in Urbana) there might be 8,000 fans in the place. At least it would seem that way. Back in those days there was only one class of schools in the state. A school with 100 students could play a school with over 3,000 students. That was part of the excitement and mystique of the tournament. In 1952 the “impossible” happened when “David” (Hebron High School) with an enrollment of 98 students played “Goliath” (Quincy High School) with an enrollment of over 1,500 students for the state title. Hebron led by brothers Paul and Phil Judson, who both went on to star at the University of Illinois, defeated Quincy 64-59. March Madness broke out all over the state. Henry V. Porter, the Illinois High School Association assistant executive director wrote an essay titled March Madness in the “Illinois Interscholastic” back in 1939 to commemorate the tournament. Porter was a pioneer and visionary for basketball. He was later elected to the Illinois Hall of Fame for all his contributions to the sport. Brent Musberger, long time sports broadcaster for CBS, began using the term during the 1982 NCAA Basketball Tournament. The IHSA sued the NCAA over the use of the term and the trademark of “March Madness” but eventually agreed to share the term with the NCAA.

Nostalgia always kicks in for me during March. I have been around basketball for over 70 years and can remember listening to the Illinois state basketball tournament in the 1950s long before the games were televised. In my schools in Galatia, Il almost every teacher would allow the students to listen to the games during the day. I have been fortunate to witness many great teams and games in the Illinois state tournament and the NCAA Final Four Tournament. The greatest state championship game I ever saw was in 1961 when am undefeated high school team from Collinsville, Il beat an outstanding Harvey Thornton team 84-50 to win the state championship. The Kahoks were led by two great players, Bogie Redmond and Fred Riddle. One of the winningest high school coaches to ever coach in Illinois, Vergil Fletcher, coached that team to a 32-0 season. The best, not the most exciting, NCAA Championship game I saw was the 1979 matchup between Indiana State with Larry Bird and Michigan State led by Magic Johnson. The anticipation to that game in Salt Lake City between two of the greatest players to ever play the game catapulted the basketball Final Four into one of the most watched sporting events of the year. (Magic is #5 and Bird #7 in my book of the Top 75) Their careers and rivalry rejuvenated the NBA in the 1980s. There are several great sporting events, but my favorite is the Saturday semi-final games at the NCAA Final Four. The anticipation and excitement are memorable. I have so many great memories of March Madness and look forward to the 2024 games and an “underdog” team blowing up a bracket.