The College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Missouri, is Not like Other Sports Museums

The College Basketball Experience, featuring the National Collegiate College Basketball Hall of Fame, in Kansas City, Missouri, is a college basketball museum unlike other sports museums. That's because although the Hall of Fame does honor former players and coaches, like other sports museums, it also is designed to allow fans the experience of what it is like to enter an arena and actually play in a college basketball game.

The College Basketball Experience opened in Kansas City on October 10, 2007. The building cost was $24 million. The fan interactive facility is owned and operated by the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation and is connected to the Sprint Center. The museum has the Entry Experience, the Fan Experience, Half Time, and the Hall of Honor. It was designed by ESI Design and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

When visitors leave the Entry Experience, they may feel like a college basketball star entering a game. They are greeted by the cheers of a crown, flashing lights that might resemble photographers there to cover a game for a newspaper, and they will also hear the sounds of a coach encouraging them before the start of a game.

When they visit the Fan Experience or Center Court, visitors will get the chance to role play different situations in a college basketball game. They will participate in a variety of high energy level activities, computer based situations, and multi media displays. The ceilings are 20 feet high.

Visitors to the College Basketball Experience will first leave the Tip Off Tunnel to the cheers of the crowd. At Center Court they will have the chance to participate in a shoot around, pickup game, or basketball clinic. They will have a chance to dunk a ball and show off their skills, as there are baskets designed for people of all heights. If they desire, they can then play in a game of 3 on 3. You will have the chance to make precision passes in a race against the clock. You will have a chance to call the game winning play in the ESPN broadcast booth. You also can receive up to the minute highlights and scores.

At Half Time visitors can talk about their favorite players, coaches, and moments of all time. Key moments in college basketball history are highlighted.

In the Hall of Honor in the College Basketball Experience you can see the players who have been inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame including: the 2006 class of Oscar Robertson; Bill Russell; Dean Smith; John Wooden; and the family of James Naismith and 175 other individuals; the 2007 class of Lefty Driesell; Phog Allen; Adolph Rupp; and Henry Iba; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Austin Carr, and others. Those enshrined for 2008 include Charles Barkley, Danny Manning, and Nolan Richardson.

Oscar Robertson not only was one of the greatest NBA players of all time, he also scored 33.8 points a game for the University of Cincinnati, the third highest scoring average in college history. Bill Russell not only led the Boston Celtics to 11 NBA championships, he helped lead the University of San Francisco to two national championships and 55 straight victories, as he and his teammates often had to ignore racial jeers. As head basketball coach, Dean Smith led the University of North Carolina to 879 wins in 36 years, 11 Final Four appearances, and 2 national championships. He won 77.6 percent of his games. John Wooden led UCLA to 10 national championships in 12 years and was the first person enshrined in the National Basketball Hall of Fame at Springfield Massachusetts as a player and a coach.

Tickets for the College Basketball Experience are $12 for those 18 and older, $9 for those 6-17, and free for children 5 and younger. There are special rates for school and other groups. The museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Citations: The College Basketball Experience , no author listed, Collegebasketballexperience.com

College Basketball Experience, no author listed, Enwikipedia.org