In the 1940s, "March Madness" became the state's nickname for its basketball tournament. This would include when the team from little Hebron, Illinois, won the championship in 1951. In 1977, the IHSA made it official, licensing the phrase to companies like Pepsi and Wilson Sporting Goods. Other states could use it for a $10 fee.
Henry V. Porter, who started his career as teacher and coach at Athens High School in central Illinois, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 and died in 1975.
This week, the IHSA announced that it had discovered in Porter's personal collection thee earliest video of the IHSA boys basketball tournament, including action from the 1932-1936 state finals.
How It Came to Mean College Next. --Cooter
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