Dragon Hoops

A series of old-fashioned panels in black and white demonstrate that, in the second half of the 19th century, millions of immigrants came to the United States from Italy, Poland, and Croatia. This prompted the founding of many Catholic schools in response to the ethnocentric prejudice on the part of many Americans who did not want their children educated alongside immigrants in public schools. Basketball became very popular in Catholic schools because not much space was required to play it. George Mikan, the son of Croatian immigrants, was taunted for his 6’10” stature when he was a student at Saint Mary’s Croatian School, so he enrolled in a seminary in pursuit of becoming a priest. While he was playing for the seminary team, the coach at DePaul University offered Mikan a contract to play in college at DePaul University. Under the DePaul coach, Mikan learned to complement his tall stature with finesse through cross-training programs that included ballet classes. In a now-famous game that pitted the Kentucky Wildcats against the DePaul Blue Demons in 1943, Mikan blocked over one dozen shots—represented in an eye-catching block of nearly identical panels that read “SWAT!” (247)—which resulted in the rule against goaltending being adopted in 1943.