The Capital of Basketball: A History of DC Area High School Hoops - Hardcover

McNamara, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1626167206 ISBN 13: 9781626167209

Publisher: Georgetown University Press, 2019

Synopsis

The celebration of Washington D.C. basketball is long overdue. The D.C. metro area stands second to none in its contributions to the game. Countless figures who have had a significant impact on the sport over the years have roots in the region, including E.B. Henderson, the first African-American certified to teach public school physical education, and Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to take the court in an actual NBA game. The city's Spingarn High School produced two players - Elgin Baylor and Dave Bing - recognized among the NBA's 50 greatest at the League's 50th anniversary celebration. No other high school in the country can make that claim.These figures and many others are chronicled in this book, the first-ever comprehensive look at the great high school players, teams and coaches in the D.C. metropolitan area. Based on more than 150 interviews, The Capital of Basketball is first and foremost a book about basketball. But in discussing the trends and evolution of the game, McNamara also uncovers the turmoil in the lives of the players and area residents as they dealt with prejudice, educational inequities, politics, and the ways the area has changed through the years.

About this title

Review:

It's a story of civil rights heroes and NBA legends. It's 328 pages of history few others could have accomplished, but John, who was born in Washington and never left the area, dedicated his life to it.

--Washington Post

About the Author:

Gary Williams (Naismith Hall of Fame inductee 2014) began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Terrapins in the fall of 1968, after playing at the University of Maryland. The young coach moved up the coaching ranks taking positions at American University, Boston College, and Ohio State before returning to Maryland to start the decade of the Nineties where the Terrapins captured the program's first ever NCAA national championship in basketball. Williams won more than 600 games in his career at four different universities, but for the coach who played at Maryland and returned to his alma mater more than 20 years later, victory never tasted so sweet as that 2002 championship.

About this edition

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1626167206
• ISBN 13: 9781626167209
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312