The Monroe County History Center presented its new exhibit, "Where Hoosiers Found Hysteria: Monroe County High School Basketball" on Friday.
The exhibit features letterman sweaters, programs, tickets, team photos and other memorabilia from county high schools, the center’s education manager Andrea Hadsell said.
There are also four state champion trophies from the local high schools — one from the original Bloomington High in 1919, one from Bloomington North in 1997 and two from Bloomington South in 2009 and 2011, exhibits manager A.J. Gianopoulos said. The most current item on display is the 2011 trophy.
Some of the schools included are in Smithville High School, Unionville High School, Edgewood High School, Bloomington South and North and Stinesville High School, Gianopoulos said.
The exhibit does not feature boys teams alone. It also includes early girls teams.
“One of the nice things about basketball is that it only requires a team of five, and so even the smallest schools could participate pretty early on," Director Susan Dyar said
The fact that teams only needed five members, opened up the opportunity for girls to play, Dyar said. Unlike football, which requires many players, basketball only required a few people to express interest.
The exhibit has information about athletes such as former Bloomington North players Kiley Jarrett and Jared Jeffries and former Bloomington South players Jordan Hulls and Beth Cunningham.
The exhibit was formed by members of a sports history committee working with the history center and with help from the various high schools it features, Dyar said. The preparation took eight-to-nine months including research, Gianopoulos said.
The idea came from the sports history subcommittee of their board of volunteers last April after the history center had an anniversary reception for the Bloomington High School boys team 1919 victory in the state championship, Gianopoulos said.
“Basketball is just a part of the community’s identity,” Gianopoulos said. “In one way or another, you can relate to the history of basketball and especially Monroe County basketball.”
“I like to make sure that people know that we’re telling their story,” Dyar said.
Dyar said the center is organizing a bus tour in March of local high school basketball historical landmarks with Bob Hammel, a Bloomington sports writer.
The exhibit will be open until May 30th.People can visit Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free for kids 6 and under, $1 for kids aged 6-18 and $2 for adults over 18.
