Tefft, a former Kansas University professor, and his business partner, Merlin Brown, are striving to build a memorial to commemorate the history of basketball. The memorial would stretch across a couple of acres and include a garden resembling a basketball court, surrounded by sculptures of people who played a part in creating the sport.

To kick off the project, Tefft is in the beginning stages of creating a life-size statue of the game’s inventor and former Kansas University basketball coach, James Naismith.

“I worked very carefully with information about Naismith and gathered many photographs so I could have a pretty accurate model of Naismith,” Tefft said.

This past weekend, Tefft and his son, Kim, poured a 10-inch bronze miniature version of the future statue. Now that the statuette is finished, Brown will begin the fund-raising effort. Brown plans to offer a limited edition of Naismith statues to donors.

Adam Buhler/Journal-World Photo

“It will take a lot of support to pull off. It will be a unique memorial to that game and to that founder,” Brown said.

Brown plans to take the finished model and the statuette to the Douglas County Commission and Lawrence City Commission within the next six months. He also is looking higher up the ranks.

“I plan on going to the state. They’re looking to bring in tourism dollars, and this project will be valuable to the state as a whole.” Brown said. “I think it’s time for the state of Kansas to step forward and do something. It’s a real opportunity for Kansas to bring something in.”

Brown says an engineering firm has shown interest in doing pro bono work for the memorial site.

Tefft and Brown hope to find a site for the memorial along Interstate 70 or Kansas Highway 10. They also are looking at land in the Kansas City area, but they want to keep the memorial close to Lawrence.

“Naismith had indicated that if he ever wanted a memorial for him it should be in the Lawrence area,” Tefft said.

Brown also has talked with Naismith’s grandchildren, and he says they support the memorial being in Lawrence.

“He was very happy in Lawrence. His gravesite is here. It became a home to him. He came here to start the basketball program and be a chaplain here,” Brown said.

6News video: Sculpter proposes to memorialize basketball’s inventor Artist forms plan for sculpture garden dedicated to what Naismith started (12-13-02)

Brown said Lawrence offered one other key feature. “Another important point is that Lawrence is geographically in the center of the country. There are several other things in our favor.” Brown said. “It just needs to catch people’s attention and catch fire.”