March 1939: Before the Madness

Frei, Terry. March 1939: Before the Madness - The Story of the First NCAA Basketball Tournament Champions. Lanham, Md.: Taylor Trade, 2014.

This is the story of the road to the first NCAA tournament. The author who has a connection with the Oregon Ducks (who were called the Webfoots back then) did tend to focus on their story more than on the story of the other teams that advanced in this first tournament, but it was still a very interesting story. In addition to including what was going on in the basketball world, the author also included paragraphs giving an overview of what was happening in the World in regards to World War II. The author had also followed through with additional information about the post-tournament life of each Oregon player and how World War II and/or the Korean Conflict affected them. It's very readable. I can envision this book being a hit with many college students who are somewhat reluctant recreational readers. This review is based on an advance e-galley of the book provided by the publisher through NetGalley with the expectation that a review would be written.