Good Question: Why Do College Basketball Teams Cut Down The Net?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's a tradition that's almost as old as the tournament itself.
Every year, March Madness ends with the new national champions cutting down the nets -- we saw Duke players do that Monday night.
Believe it or not, there is a coach and a team that are credited with starting the tradition that's spread to all levels of college basketball.
It's a college tradition that actually started in high school.
The Big Dance ends every year with just one team left dancing, and their one shining moment wouldn't be complete without a ladder and scissors.
Kelly Roysland was part of the Gopher Women's team who beat Duke in 2004 to make it to the Final Four.
"From what I remember I got to keep just a little strand," she said.
But even Roysland isn't sure exactly how the net cutting tradition began.
"At the moment, no. I really didn't have any idea," she said.
Basketball scholars say it actually started more than half a century ago in Indiana at the high school level. Everett Case coached the Frankfort boys basketball team to three state titles. After each championship, he encouraged his players to cherish the moment and take home a memory -- that was usually the net.
Years later in 1947, as the head coach of North Carolina State, Case celebrated a conference championship by remembering his Indiana roots, and took the net with him.
Other teams quickly caught on, and a tradition was born.
"You're up there, you're in the moment. You're picking out what piece of the net you want to cut down and everybody's watching you and is excited for you," Roysland said. "It's something I'll remember forever."
When Everett Case cut the nets down at NC State, they didn't have a ladder in the gym so his players put him on their shoulders.
