TheNational Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered inKansas City,Missouri, is an American organization of men'scollege basketballcoaches. It was founded in 1927 byPhog Allen, themen's basketballhead coach for theUniversity of Kansas.[1]
Formation of the NABC began when Joint Basketball Rules Committee, then the central governing authority of the game, announced without notice that it had adopted a change in the rules which virtually eliminateddribbling. Allen, a student of basketball founderJames Naismith, organized a nationwide protest which ultimately resulted in the dribble remaining part of the game.[2]
In 1939, the NABC held the first national basketball tournament inEvanston, Illinois at the Northwestern Fieldhouse.[1]Oregon defeatedOhio State for the first tournament championship. The next year, the NABC asked theNCAA to take over the administration of the tournament.[1] In exchange, the NCAA provided complimentary tickets for NABC members to the Finals and placed an NABC member on its Tournament Committee.[1]
NABC initiatives include establishing the originalBasketball Hall of Fame inSpringfield, Massachusetts, the format of today'sNCAA basketball tournament, and theCollege Basketball Experience andNational Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame at theT-Mobile Center indowntown Kansas City,Missouri. This facility was completed on October 10, 2007.
NABC annually names its All-District Teams, which honors the topDivision I players in each district. Regions are divided bycollege athletic conferences.