I’m not sure they’re any more likely to be reading this blog today than to have been watching my Twitter account yesterday, but just in case Roy Williams or Jay Wright is looking for an edge before their North Carolina Tarheels and Villanova Wildcats face off tomorrow night for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship…
I had a little fun yesterday sharing some quotations and photos from Rupp’s Championship Basketball: For Player, Coach, and Fan, a guide written in 1948 by University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. (Thanks to my colleague Sam Mulberry for sharing it with me just in time for the Final Four.)
Now, Rupp (who had just won his first of four titles with Kentucky when the book came out) is both legendary and somewhat controversial, as one of my tweets hinted:
But for the most part, I just wanted to have some fun with a book that can seem rather quaint when viewed from the early 21st century:
And that’s before we get to Rupp’s now-amusing, surprisingly plentiful advice on nutrition, hygiene, and other off-the-court factors:
But some of the advice is timeless — or, at least, quite consistent with contemporary coach-speak:
And it’s almost moving to see how basketball fit within Rupp’s larger philosophy of education:
Best wishes to both coaches and teams tomorrow. Just don’t linger on the court after the final buzzer — it’s time for the Republic to focus its collective attention on an even better game. More on that tomorrow.
The Pietist Schoolman 
All of this advice for white men only, not incidentally.
Well, see the second tweet in the list.
I lost all respect for the man after he refused to shake hands with the Texas western players and gave them no credit for beating his team in the championship game. I was at the regional in Iowa city that year when Kentucky beat an outstanding Michigan team. I thought that was the national championship game. I was wrong, and it was enjoyable watching the replay of the Texas western win recently. Was rupp simply a man of his time? Opinions will vary. Always enjoy reading your postings.