Anyone who has spent time in Syracuse, New York, knows that basketball season is the most wonderful time of the year. And while the local popularity of the sport is known nationwide, the region also has a long and rich basketball history. Sports historian Mark Baker traces the evolution of Syracuse's "hoops roots,"? beginning in the early days, when local, national and college basketball organizations were primitive institutions. It was during this time that one of the first teams to gain a national following was founded here by an Italian immigrant, Danny Biasone, and it was in Syracuse that the 24 second clock was invented. From the outset, Syracuse residents and fans were hooked, and this love of the game has endured, feeding the fanaticism that sustains the sport today.