Cutting down the nets
{{short description|Celebratory tradition in basketball}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
File:BriceJohnsonUNC2016.jpg cuts down the nets after winning the 2016 ACC tournament with North Carolina.]]
Cutting down the nets is a celebratory tradition in basketball wherein a coach or player removes the net from one of the backboards after winning a game. In college basketball in the United States, it is usually done after winning a conference tournament, regional title, or national championship game.{{cite news |last1=Tracy |first1=Marc |title=A Ladder, Sharp Scissors and a Basketball Net. What Could Go Wrong? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/sports/ncaabasketball/ncaa-tradition-cutting-down-nets-comes-with-a-snip-of-danger.html |accessdate=14 July 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=29 March 2017 |language=en}}
History
File:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar NCAA Championship.jpeg (then known as Lew Alcindor) cuts down the nets after winning the 1969 NCAA Championship with UCLA.]]
Sports historians believe the tradition of cutting the nets first started in Indiana high school basketball in the 1920s and 1930s.{{cite web |last1=Cato |first1=Tim |title=Why do NCAA champions cut down the nets after winning the tournament? |url=https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2018/4/2/17091956/why-do-ncaa-champions-cut-down-the-nets-after-winning-the-tournament |website=SB Nation |accessdate=14 July 2020 |language=en |date=2 April 2018}} The tradition first came to men's college basketball in 1947, when the NC State Wolfpack won the Southern Conference Championship. Following the tournament win, Wolfpack coach Everett Case had his players hoist him up so he could cut down the net to keep as a souvenir. Case had previously coached in Indiana, where he had cut down the nets on four occasions.{{cite web |last1=Wilner |first1=Jon |title=NCAA basketball: How cutting down nets became a championship tradition |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/04/04/ncaa-basketball-how-cutting-down-nets-became-a-championship-tradition/ |website=The Mercury News |accessdate=14 July 2020 |language=en |date=4 April 2013}} The tradition then began to spread to the rest of college basketball.{{cite web |last1=Wilco |first1=Daniel |title=Why basketball teams cut down the nets |url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2019-03-30/why-basketball-teams-cut-down-nets |website=NCAA.com |accessdate=14 July 2020 |language=en |date=31 March 2019}}
In the 1980s, NC State coach Jim Valvano was said to have his players practice cutting down the nets in order to mentally condition them to be winners. Valvano's Wolfpack team went on an unlikely run as a 6-seed to win the 1983 NCAA tournament.
In 2008, Werner Co., a ladder manufacturer, began sponsoring the NCAA tournament and providing all the ladders used for cutting down the nets in the tournament.{{cite web |title=Werner to Become the Official Ladder of the NCAA Basketball Championships |url=https://www.wernerworldwide.com/en/news/read/2008/04/01/Werner-is-Official-Ladder-of-NCAA-Basketball-Championships |website=Werner Co. |language=en |type=Press release |date=1 Apr 2008 |access-date=24 Dec 2020}}
In other countries
In the Philippine Basketball Association, the tradition of cutting the nets are being done since the league's establishment in 1975. This is usually done before the champion team was awarded with the championship trophy.{{cite web |title=Champs forgot about net-cutting ritual - until Sol saved the day |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/pba/champs-forgot-about-net-cutting-ritual-until-sol-saved-the-day-a793-20180810 |website=Spin.ph |language=en |type=News |date=10 August 2018 |access-date=31 March 2025}} This ritual is also followed by collegiate leagues UAAP and NCAA.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline}}
{{NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament navbox}}
Category:Basketball terminology