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Plenty of Promise. Other N.I.B.L. teams try the same lures with equal success. The Phillips team has been able to add the lure of travel—some of its stars went to the Olympics in 1948, 1952 and 1956. Understandably, such "amateur" proselytizing irritates the pros. "At least we admit we're pros," says National Basketball Association President Maurice Podoloff. But the A.A.U. keeps close tabs on the industrial players and has yet to see any crass commercialism in the operation.
"Everybody thought A.A.U. ball was dying," says Trucker Coach Dee, "but now it's coming back strong. There's plenty of room for both of us, the pros and A.A.U. ball." And as long as Dee and Groom continue their active recruiting, there is plenty of promise that the Truckers will climb out of their third-place position in the league and fulfill President Kolowich's dream of going to the 1960 Olympics.
*Milwaukee's Allen-Bradleys, Peoria's Cats, Akron's Goodyear Wingfoots, Wichita's Vickers, and the 66ers, who have won the N.I.B.L. championship eight times in eight years in the league.