Centennial moments, 1905-1910

In recognition of the NCAA Centennial, the following events helped shape the NCAA from 1905 through 1910.

* 1905 (October 9) — Theodore Roosevelt invites leaders of collegiate football, including representatives from Harvard, Princeton and Yale, to the White House for a discussion of reform or abolition of the game during a season that produces 18 deaths and 149 serious injuries attributed to the sport.

* 1905 (December 9) — After the White House conference yields no response, 13 football-playing institutions accept New York University Chancellor Henry M. MacCracken’s invitation to a “reform conference.”

* 1905 (December 28) — The second football reform conference, involving 62 football-playing institutions, is conducted; Capt. Palmer E. Pierce of the U.S. Military Academy leads delegates in formation of Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, as well as a football rules committee for members.

* 1906 (March 31) — The first constitution and bylaws of the IAAUS are issued.

* 1906 (December 29) — The first Convention of IAAUS at Murray Hill Hotel in New York City (first report of Football Rules Committee).

* 1907 — James Naismith, credited with the invention of basketball, steps down as men’s basketball coach at the University of Kansas, where his teams compiled a 55-60 record beginning in 1898.

* 1909 — IAAUS football rules change in response to 33 football-related deaths; movement to abolish the sport is stopped.

* 1910 (December 29) — IAAUS changes name to National Collegiate Athletic Association.

 Source: “In the Arena: The NCAA’s First Century,” by Joseph N. Crowley.