KU to Give Naismith Basketball Rules an Expensive Home

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – The University of Kansas plans to build an $18 million building that will be connected to Allen Fieldhouse and become home to James Naismith’s original rules of basketball. The three-story facility will also provide dining and meeting facilities for students, faculty and visitors on the south part of campus. It will be known as the DeBruce Center in honor of Paul and Katherine DeBruce, who have donated the bulk of the private funding. In 2010, Kansas alumnus David Booth purchased Naismith’s original two-page document outlining the rules of basketball at an auction for $4.3 million. Booth’s intended for the rules to reside at Kansas, where Naismith founded the school’s basketball program. The story of Booth purchasing the rules was the subject of an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary.