HARRY E. HUMPHREYS JR.

President

U.S. Rubber Co.

No. How could a basketball coach justify barring a student merely because of his height? Any competitive game should be played by those who can play it best. Why not move the baskets higher? How much higher would depend on the experts. The present height isn't mandatory.

JOHNNY JORDAN

Basketball coach

Notre Dame

Yes, and I mean yes. I'm not like some others who say limit the size until they get a big man. There can't be more than 30 top-notch players 6 feet 8 inches or over. They're putting a million kids under 6 feet out of action because basketball is one game where one man can win for you.

W. H. SHUPERT

Philadelphia

Investment counsel

It's unfair to bar anyone, but height has gone to a ridiculous extreme. Many fans have lost interest. The game should be changed to take away the tall man's advantage by raising the basket and eliminating the backboard. Also by establishing a zone from which shots can't be made.

HOWARD CANN

Basketball coach

New York University

No, but I'd go for raising the basket to 12 or 13 feet. The present height of 10 feet was only a convenience when the game was invented at Springfield College by Dr. James Naismith. A higher basket wouldn't hurt the smaller men, but it would lessen the value of the seven-footers.

FRANK McGUIRE

Basketball coach

University of North Carolina

No. It's true that we've gone overboard for big men, but every coach realizes that he can have a better team with a six-footer that I like to call a quarterback. The ideal team is three big men for the rebounds and two smaller players. The St. Louis Hawks proved that when they got Slater Martin.

EDMUND L. ZALINSKI

Vice-president

Sales Administration

John Hancock Mutual

We'd have a better and more interesting game with a height limit. Basketball then would become a much greater test of individual skill and teamwork. Now, a team of smaller men playing against a team with three or four big fellows can't possibly show to advantage.

TAPS GALLAGHER

Basketball coach

Niagara University

It's as unfair to discriminate against the big man as it is not using the small man. However, some of the big fellows can't get out of their own way, while smaller men have speed and drive. Putting the basket out six inches farther to stop tap-ins would lessen the big man's advantage.

NED IRISH

Executive vice-president, Madison Square Garden Corp.

No. Basketball is the only sport where these very tall players can compete freely with players less than 6 feet 5 inches. Smaller men are not really discriminated against because they can compete in sports that are not suitable for these basketball giants. No limit should be set.

ARTHUR WILKINS

Assistant basketball coach, Iona College

Certainly. The tall players are taking the game away from smaller men. It's all right to say that you shouldn't discriminate against the big fellows, but how about discriminating against small men? For every tall man who makes a team, many smaller men are barred from competition.

TEN PHOTOS

NEXT WEEK:

If the Caribbean countries had a team in the major leagues, how would it do?