Former Chippewa Vallian John Coy’s latest release, Hoop Genius, is his 13th book.

John Coy, a former Chippewa Valley author (he now hails from Minnesota), has written a wide variety of books with unique kid themes, 13 in total. He’s written several picture books for the young’ns, a middle grade series, and two young adult novels. His most recent published work is a picture book called Hoop Genius, which is fresh off the presses. The book is a true account of how basketball was invented.

Coy grew up in the area and was in the first class to attend Manz Elementary School, which was where he first fell in love with basketball.

Coy published his first book in 1996, a children’s story called Night Driving. Hoop Genius, which is illustrated by Joe Morse, is Coy’s first nonfiction book. It tells the riveting (and largely unknown) story of the invention of basketball. Basketball came to be in 1891 in Springfield, Mass., when a desperate gym teacher, James Naismith, needed to think of a new way to keep his students occupied. Naismith wanted a sport that would hold the attention of the boys in his class and also be safe to play indoors. By 1936, basketball had become worthy of being part of the Olympic Games, and Naismith had the pleasure of seeing the game played in Berlin. Coy’s book charts the story of basketball’s rise from an idea to keep a rowdy gym class entertained to a worldwide phenomenon. According to the book, “one of the great joys of his life was seeing a hoop in an out-of-the-way place.”

Coy got the idea to write about the invention of basketball because his daughter was attending college in Massachusetts. Coy went to Springfield, the city where the game was invented, and realized a story was brewing. While the sport’s history is lengthy, Coy managed to narrow it down to be the perfect length for a children’s book. It took him nine years to do enough historical research on the idea and write the book. Speaking of the research he conducted on Naismith, Coy says, “I really enjoyed it, and I found the guy to be really interesting.” Coy connected with Naismith because of his own love for the game. His motivation for writing the book was a desire for Naismith’s story to be told once again.

Coy says in the past the story of how basketball began was well known throughout the United States, and people just generally knew the facts. But now, the story has become a bit lost, and Coy wanted to bring it back into the American consciousness to remind people of a rich tale that is not in fact very old.

John Coy’s Hoop Genius will soon be available at The Local Store, 205 N. Dewey St. To learn more about the book and its author, visit JohnCoy.com.