Basketball roots in Wilcox County, Alabama go back more than a century

Basketball inventor James Naismith.

High school basketball is in full swing in Wilcox County, and I know a lot of readers enjoy the sport of basketball, myself included. James Naismith invented basketball during the winter of 1891 as a game to be played between the football and baseball seasons. Eventually, the game caught on and spread in popularity around the world, including in Wilcox County.

Looking back through old editions of The Wilcox Progressive Era, the first reference to the sport of basketball that I could find was in the July 17, 1895 edition in an advertisement for the North Carolina Normal & Industrial School. This women’s college featured a gymnastics department that offered a wide variety of activities, “all tending to strengthen and to the physical development of young women,” including basketball. Today, we know this college as the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

The earliest reference to basketball being played locally was in the Oct. 7, 1909 edition of The Progressive Era. That paper included a community news column from Lower Peach Tree, written by a correspondent named Mary Jane. She reported that “basketball is all the rage now. The High School girls played quite an interesting game Saturday morning.”

This two-sentence sports report leaves us with several unanswered questions. What high school was she referring to? Who did they play and where? Who played in that game, who won and what was the final score?

Another early reference to basketball that I found was in a Dec. 8, 1910 article about Southern University, which was located in Greensboro in Hale County. The writer of that article noted that “the prospect for a good basketball team is very high, fine varsity players having returned this year, and we hope to continue our record, made for the last two years, that is, win everything.”

Southern University was founded in 1856 and remained in Greensboro until 1918. In 1918, Southern University and Birmingham College merged into what we now call Birmingham-Southern College. Southern Academy, which is located in Greensboro today, takes its name from the old college that was once located there.

The earliest reference to basketball that specifically names two Wilcox County high schools was in the Dec. 31, 1914 edition of the newspaper. That edition included a community column from Pine Hill that said, the “boys of Pine Hill High School, accompanied by the faculty and a number of students, went to Peach Tree last Saturday for a game of basketball. The score was 8 to 4 in favor of Pine Hill.” This is also the earliest reference that I could find to boys basketball being played in the county.

The earliest reference to basketball being played at Wilcox County High School was in the Jan. 28, 1915 edition of the paper. In that week’s paper, it was reported that the junior and senior girls were scheduled to play on Fri., Jan. 29, at 3 p.m. More than likely, this intramural game was played on an outdoor court.

Later editions of the paper noted that the juniors won, 25-4. Players in that game included Margaret Miller, Mittie Harris, Margaret Tait, Kathleen Pharr, Reba Hart, Mary Tait, Marcella Moore, Myrtle Fail, Kittie Burford, Mildred McDowell, Bonnie Cook and Ellie McSills. Mary McMillian was the referee.

In the end, let me hear from you if you can shed any additional light on the history of basketball in Wilcox County. It would be especially interesting to know when the first gym was built in the county and where.