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Joyce Sports Research Collection

RBSC's Joyce Sports Research Collection is one of the largest accumulations of sports-related print and manuscript matter in the world, facilitating scholarly inquiry into the history, sociology, and economics of American sports and their antecedents abro

Basketball Annuals - Guide Format Overview

The Joyce Sports Research Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Libraries holds many of the annual guide books covering basketball in the United States that have been published since the early twentieth century. The dates that follow the guides listed on this page indicate the span of years a given title was published; available holdings are indicated in the linked catalog record or finding aid. This guide highlights annual guides held by the Joyce Sports Research Collection, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Notre Hesburgh Libraries.

Of particular note are the holdings of the Spalding (1894/95-1940/41), Barnes (1941/42-1949/50), and National Collegiate Athletic Association (1951- ) annual men's basketball guides, which are generally regarded as the key annuals on men's college basketball — though in the early years Spalding covered other levels of the amateur game as well. Other notable guides include Reach and  AAU guides. The Reach guides are particularly important for their coverage of the early professional game, something Spalding ignores. The collections also holds considerable runs of Spalding (1900-1937/38) and AAHPER (1938/39- ) annual women's basketball guides.

College and Amateur Men's Basketball Guides

Title: Spalding's Official Basket Ball Guide
Publisher: New York: American Sports Publishing Company
Publication History: Annually, 1894-1941
Notes: Continued by The Official National Basketball Committee Basketball Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885 .S72


Title: Spalding's Official Collegiate Basket Ball Guide
Publisher: New York: American Sports Publishing Company
Publication History: Annually, 1905/06 - 1914/15

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885 .S7


Title: Reach Official Basket Ball Guide
Publisher: Philadelphia: A. J. Reach Company
Publication History: Annually, 1901/1902 - 1926/1927

Location: Department of Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885 .R43


Title: Official A.A.U. Basketball Guide
Publisher: New York: American Sports Publishing (1936/37-1940/41); New York: Amateur Athletic Union of the U.S. (1941/42- )
Publication History: Annually, 1936/37 to ?. Title varies

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885.45 .O55


Title: The Official National Basketball Committee Basketball Guide
Publisher: New York: A. S. Barnes and Company
Publication History: Annually, 1941/42-1949/50
Notes: Continuation of Spalding's Official Basket Ball Guide; continued by The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885 .S72


Title: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Guide
Publisher: New York: National Collegiate Athletic Bureau, 1951-1966; Phoenix AZ: College Athletics Publishing Service, 1967-1972; Shawnee Mission, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association Publishing Service, 1973-1976; Shawnee Mission, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1977-1979
Publication History: Annually, 1951-
Notes: Continuation of The Official National Basketball Committee Basketball Guide; continued by NCAA Basketball

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Large GV 885.45 .N38


Title: NCAA Basketball
Publisher: Shawnee Mission, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1980-1981
Publication History: Annually, 1980-1981
Notes: Continuation of The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Guide; continued by Official NCAA Basketball

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Large • GV 885.45 .N38


Title: Basketball Records
Publisher: Mission, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1982
Publication History: Annually, 1982
Notes: Continuation of NCAA Basketball; continued by NCAA Basketball
Call No.: Rare Books Large • GV 885.45 .N38

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library


Title: NCAA Basketball
Publisher: Mission, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association; Overland Park, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association
Publication History: Annually, 1983-1994
Notes: Continuation of Basketball Records; continued by NCAA Basketball: The Official College Basketball Records Book

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Large • GV 885.45 .N38


Title: NCAA Basketball: The Official College Basketball Records Book
Publisher: Overland Park, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association
Publication History: Annually, 1995-1997
Notes: Continuation of Official NCAA Basketball; continued by NCAA Basketball: The Official College Basketball Records Book

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: .Rare Books Large • GV 885.45 .N38


Title: NCAA Basketball: The Official Men's College Basketball Records Book
Publisher: Overland Park, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association
Publication History: Annually, 1998-
Notes: Continuation of NCAA Basketball: The Official College Basketball Records Book

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Large • GV 885.45 .N38

Women's Amateur Basketball Guides

Title: Spalding's Official Women's Basket Ball Guide
Publisher: New York: American Sports Publishing Company
Publication History: Annually, 1900? to 1937/38. Title varies. Early editions (to 1905) entitled Basket Ball for Women
Notes: Continued by Official Basketball Guide for Women and Girls

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885.4 .B37


Title: AAHPER Women's Basketball Guide
Publisher: New York: A. S. Barnes and Company (1938/39-1948/49); Washington DC: American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (1949/50- )
Publication History: Annually, 1938/39 to ?. Title varies. Published for National Section on Women's Athletics (1938/39-1952/53); National Section for Girls and Women's Sports (1953/54-1956/57); Division for Girls and Women's Sports (1957/58-1972/73); National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (1974/75- ).
Notes: Continuation of Spalding's Official Women's Basket Ball Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885.4 .B37

 

Professional Men's Basketball Guides

Note: This section descrines Sporting News NBA and ABA guides.

Title: National Basketball Association Official Guide
Publisher: St. Louis, MO: The Sporting News
Publication History: Annually, 1958/1959 - 1980/1981
Notes: Continued by Official NBA Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Medium GV 885 .N26


Title: Official American Basketball Association Guide
Publisher: St. Louis, MO: The Sporting News
Publication History: Annually, 1968/69-1975/76

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Small GV 885 .A52


Title: Official NBA Guide
Publisher: St. Louis, MO: The Sporting News
Publication History: Annually, 1981/1982 - 1990/1991
Notes: Continuation of National Basketball Association Official Guide; continued by The Sporting News Official NBA Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Medium GV 885 .N26


Title: The Sporting News Official NBA Guide
Publisher: St. Louis, MO: The Sporting News
Publication History: Annually, 1991/1992 - 2002/03
Notes: Continuation of Official NBA Guide; continued by Sporting News Books Official NBA Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Medium GV 885 .N26


Title: Sporting News Books Official NBA Guide
Publisher: St. Louis, MO: Sporting News Books
Publication History: Annually, 2003/04-
Notes: Continuation of The Sporting News Official NBA Guide

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 102 Hesburgh Library
Call No.: Rare Books Medium GV 885 .N26