Amos Alonzo Stagg enshrined as contributor in 1959

Amos Alonzo Stagg

Enshrined 1959
Born: August 16, 1862
West Orange, NJ
Died: March 17, 1965

Amos Alonzo Stagg, whose roots in basketball go as far back as James Naismith and the Springfield Y, was instrumental to basketball's development during its formative years. An All-American football player at Yale, Stagg coached on the gridiron at the University of Chicago in 1899. In 1892, he brought basketball from Springfield to Chicago. While coach and director of athletics at the University of Chicago, he popularized the practice of five-man basketball. In 1917, Stagg organized the University of Chicago National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament, which, until its demise in 1931, did wonders to improve and standardize the rules and interpretation for high school play. Stagg coached the University of Chicago against the University of Iowa in the first college game played with five players on a side on January 16, 1896.