Historic Hoosier Gyms: Discovering Bygone Basketball Landmarks

by Kyle Neddenriep

Kick snow from your shoes and step into the warmth of the old Hoosier high school basketball gym, where farmers in overalls line the court and students heckle referees from planks above the bleachers. Revisit a unique era when nearly every town had a high school and its own basketball team. The gyms featured here no longer host high school games, but once they were home to the Ladoga Canners, the Mecca Arabs, the Roll Red Rollers, the Arlington Purple Breezes, the Warren Lightning Five and dozens more. Now they are elementary schools, community centers, fire stations, churches. Some are homes. Sadly, others are wasting away. But once again, the ball thuds in these gyms. The screams reverberate. The whistles blow. Join the Indianapolis Star's Kyle Neddenriep on this tour of one hundred former Hoosier high school basketball gyms.

Genres: Nonfiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2010

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book through an online series of articles produced by the Indianapolis Star. The author went to great lengths to photograph and write a brief history with anecdotes of each gym. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate well to print. The photos are too small, and the mapping is almost non-existent. (I grew up in Indiana and have no idea where 95 percent of the places are located.)

The articles are meant to be read one or a few at a time, but the stories get repetitious when read from cover to cover, and the gyms lose their individuality. I'd recommend this to someone who is interested in Indiana basketball history, but I wouldn't recommended reading it all.

[Sarah Alawami · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very depressing read to me.