Can’t Wait for Next Monday?

Neither can we – so here are some great reads to get you to the finals, even if your bracket turned out  to be a bust.

 

ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men’s Game
by The Editors of ESPN

The game, the schools, annual reviews and records and rankings.

 

 

The Last Amateurs: Playing for Glory and Honor in Division I College Basketball
by John Feinstein

America’s favorite sportswriter takes us on a thrilling and unforgettable journey through the world of college basketball.

 

 

The Final Four
by Paul Volponi

In this YA novel, four players at the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament struggle with the pressures of tournament play and the expectations of society at large.

More recommendations for great YA basketball fiction can be found on TATAL, our Teen Blog.

 

 

Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball
by Tom Graham and Rachel Graham Cody

In 1947, the same year Robinson broke the color line in major league baseball, Bill Garrett integrated big-time college basketball when he joined the program at Indiana University and broke the gentleman’s agreement that had barred black players from the Big Ten. Although he endured taunts from opponents and pervasive segregation at home and on the road, Garrett became the best player Indiana had ever had, an all-American, and, in 1951, the third African American drafted in the NBA.

 

 

Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery
by John Feinstein

For middle-grade readers. After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game.

Middle school basketball fans should also check out Hardcourt Comeback, Play Maker and Planet Middle School.

 

 

The Men of March: A Season Inside the Lives of College Basketball Coaches
by Brian Curtis

What it means, and what it takes, to be a head coach in the college arena of the new millennium: recruiting, graduation rates, hirings and firings, media relations and the influence of volatile social issues such as race and religion on the game’s participants and leaders.

 

 

The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds that Changed Basketball
by Gene Wojciechowski

March 28, 1992. The final of the NCAA East Regional, Duke vs. Kentucky. The 17,848 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and the millions watching on TV could say they saw the greatest game and the greatest shot in the history of college basketball.

 

 

Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich
by Mirk Kriegel

The life and achievements of the troubled 1970s basketball star, from his relationship with his obsessive father and unbroken college scoring record to the personal demons that challenged his life and his evangelical Christian faith.

 

 

Underdawgs: How Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs Marched Their Way to the Brink of College Basketball’s National Championship
by David Woods

The story of the Butler Bulldogs college basketball team and their improbable run to the 2010 NCAA National Championship game under the leadership of their young coach and his unique philosophy of basketball and life.

 

 

To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever
by Will Blythe

A Thoroughly Obsessive, Intermittently Uplifting and Occasionally Unbiased Account of the Duke-North Carolina Basketball Rivalry.