Basketball Belief: How the 16 Teams Left in March Madness Reflect Spirituality

MIDWEST

Kansas: Who was the Jayhawks’ very first basketball coach? James Naismith, the inventor of the game, of course. He was also a devout Christian who believed in a “muscular Christianity” fully compatible with rough-and-tumble sports, and blending sports with spirituality was one of the reasons he created the game. “It says on his application [to a YMCA training school] that he was applying to develop Christian principals in young people’s lives,” grandson Jim Naismith said. “He had this strange idea that competitive sports would be more helpful to young people than talking or preaching to them.”

Purdue: You wouldn’t know it, but it’s a bit of a miracle that sophomore star Caleb Swanigan—one of the most talented players in the Sweet 16—ever started playing basketball at all. In eighth grade, he was homeless and weighed more than 360 pounds and, in the words of CBS News’ Steve Hartman, “The only thing the kid could dunk was a cookie.” His mother waived parental rights in 2011, and Swanigan was adopted by Roosevelt Barnes. And when Swanigan showed an interest in basketball, Barnes encouraged him when, in Barnes’ words, he couldn’t jump over a piece of paper. Was Barnes just trying to boost the boy’s confidence? “No I wasn’t,” Barnes said. He knew he could be great. “I was speaking faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”

Oregon: Ducks coach Dana Altman is reportedly Christian, and Ducks themselves may be mentioned in the Bible. But perhaps Oregon’s most notable expression of faith comes from Phil Knight, founder of Nike, Oregon graduate and the Oregon athletic department’s most generous booster. Knight doesn’t sound particularly Christian, but he does have a strong appreciation of faith. From his book Shoe Dog: “Have faith in yourself, but also have faith in faith. Not faith as others define it. Faith as you define it. Faith as faith defines itself in your heart.”

Michigan: Coach John Beilein is a Catholic, though he admits that his spiritual side doesn’t always show up in the heat of the action. “I’ve had to go to confession after a few practices,” he joked earlier this month with The Detroit Free Press. But while he may yell at his players, it’s only because he loves them. Beilein says that he treats them like his own children, and he wants them to excel both on and off the court. “It’s not the deal to be the super cool coach that’s always nice to you,” he said. “I’m demanding, I’m really demanding on them because I want them to be at their best one day.”