Author of III Grew Up With Basketball where he makes a strong case for his hometown, Herkimer, N.Y., as the site of the first organized game in 1891. Frank Basloe devoted much of his long and productive life to the promotion of basketball in Central New York and across the country.

Born in Vienna, Austria in 1887, he came with his family to the United States in 1891 and settled in Herkimer. In 1903 at age sixteen, he organized, promoted and played for a Herkimer independent team that netted $300 on a tour of northern New York towns. He promoted Pro basketball until 1923.

One of his clubs, the Basloe Globetrotters, operating at various times out of Mohawk and Oswego, made their first cross-country tour in 1914. Another, the 1911 31st Separate Co. of Herkimer, handed the great Buffalo Germans their first loss after 110 straight victories. In 1912, after defeating the Germans again in a series, the Basloe Globetrotters claimed the title "World Champions." His teams won 1,324 games and lost 127, traveling 94,800 miles in the process.

Basloe owned and managed the Mohawk Indians of the New York State League from 1923-29 and was president of the league from 1937 until 1941. He was named commissioner in 1947-48 and retired at the end of the season. He has been referred to as lithe father of basketball.

Winner of a civic award from Colgate University in 1958 as "an outstanding citizen of Central New York," Frank Basloe started in vaudeville but quickly became a realtor for many years, doing much to stimulate and retain industry in Herkimer County. He was instrumental in the development of his fellow citizen from Herkimer, Lou Ambers, as Lightweight Champion of the World, and he continued to encourage and sponsor athletics throughout his life.