SportsLit (Season 9, Episode 5) - Randy Mills (Retd. Prof. Oakland City University) - As if by Magic, The Story of Larry Bird's Indiana High School Basketball Days

About this episode

Randy Mills discusses Larry Bird's high school basketball days and the cultural significance of basketball in Indiana.

As one of the greatest NBA players of all-time, Larry Bird’s life has been covered extensively. Out of common roots in midwestern basketball and out of a passion for regional history, Randy Mills (Retd. Prof. Oakland City University) mines Larry Legend’s origin story. In doing so, he presents the fervent foundation for the sport that existed in Bird’s home state of Indiana, using it as a base to focus specifically on the machinations of his high school basketball playing days for the Spring Valley Blackhawks from 1972-1974. Utilizing archived stories from local reporters and tapping into a lived experience with the subject matter, Mills arrives at his latest release in a line of publications that study the midwestern United States.

People in this episode

Hosts: Neil Acharya, Neate Sager

Guest: Randy Mills

Topics covered

• Larry Bird
• high school basketball
• Indiana basketball
• regional history
• midwestern sports

Keywords

• Larry Bird
• Randy Mills
• Indiana basketball
• high school sports
• midwestern history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Oakland City University

Places: Indiana, Spring Valley Blackhawks

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