welcome to Indiana basketball

The story has been repeated a hundred times - a young boy sees a photograph of an old gym and dreams of becoming a basketball player.  He works to learn the game, its history and where it is played.  He watches the film Hoosiers over & over until every line is known, every play understood.  He grows older, becomes a man, but still the love of the game lives on.  This could be the tale of any Hoosier boy born in the last 100 years but this time the story is about a boy from northern Spain, near the Basque Country.  This story is about Javier Puertas, who as a young boy saw a photo of the New Castle Fieldhouse in his text book, made himself into a 'ball' player in football (soccer) country and dreamed of coming to Indiana to see his beloved game & gyms firsthand. 

This past week Javier's dream came true as he and his family (wife Edurne and sons Aitor & Eneko) made the journey to Indiana, to the "promised land."  He was greeted by Chris May at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, written about by Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star, guided through the gyms at New Castle, Kokomo, Lebanon, Bloomington, Martinsville, Rushville, Hinkle and then finally, Knightstown.  

And at the Hoosier Gym, home to one of the greatest sports films ever, something amazing happened.  Javier was greeted by David Anspaugh (Hoosiers director) and Angelo Pizzo (the film's writer).  Imagine that, life and imagination becoming one.  This story, Javier's basketball story, had entered the realm of fairy tale.  A better ending could not have been imagined.  © Chris Smith