Long ago, she sat in James Naismith’s pews. Thursday night, she sat next to James Naismith’s court for the first time.

Among the thousands of fans who turned out to watch Kansas University’s men’s basketball game Thursday night was 93-year-old Baldwin resident Katharine Kelley. She was a 5-year-old churchgoer at Vinland Presbyterian Church south of Lawrence when Naismith, the inventor of basketball, began preaching there in 1914.

“What I remember is standing out in this church yard. Dad said to me, ‘I want you to shake hands with this man because he’s the man who invented basketball,'” Kelley said Thursday. “I do remember reaching up and shaking hands with a big, tall man.”

The fact that Kelley has ties to such a historic figure probably doesn’t surprise people who know her well.

Kelley, with her tennis shoes, walking cane and under-5-foot frame, is an unofficial historian of Baldwin and Douglas County.

She volunteers almost every day at the Baldwin public library, where she maintains shelves full of obituaries, photos and other historical documents. She taught grade school in the Baldwin area for about 40 years before retiring in the early 1970s, and she recalls teaching exactly 1,002 pupils.

She also loves KU basketball.

“I know she goes home and watches the games. She knows the schedule,” said Phyllis Braun, a staff member at the library who had Kelley as a teacher in the fourth and fifth grades in the early 1940s.

93-year-old Katharine Kelley talks with Rockie Browning before the Kansas vs. UNC Asheville game at Allen Fieldhouse. Kelley remembers hearing sermons as a child from the Rev. James Naismith -- the inventor of basketball and KU's first basketball coach. Thursday was Kelley's first time at Allen Fieldhouse for a KU game. Browning is the husband of Kelley's niece and accompanied Kelley at the game.

Until Thursday night, Kelley had never been to a game at Allen Fieldhouse, where the court bears Naismith’s name. The crowds seemed too big, and she never had tickets.

Still, she’s not exactly an introvert. This summer she found herself on stage at the Vinland Fair talent show, talking about Naismith.

“I admit I can’t say I remember any sermons or anything of that nature,” Kelley said. “I knew him so long ago.”

In addition to her vague memories of him, Kelley has a copy of a church record book that shows the church regularly paid Naismith for sermons from 1914 to 1916.

Kelley spoke at the fair at the urging of Matt Kirby, a Baldwin resident who used to live in the Vinland Presbyterian Church, which still stands. He and his wife, Chanette, a KU library assistant, would like to see the building on the National Register of Historic Places.

“I thought it would be a really neat thing to get Katharine Kelley before witnesses saying how she met James Naismith,” Kirby said.

¢ 6News video: Fan’s love of basketball started with James Naismith¢See game analysis, stats, audio from the coach, photos and video highlights of the KU vs. Asheville men’s basketball game

Kirby knew Kelley had never been to a game, so he arranged to get two seats through the KU athletics department at Thursday’s game. Equipped with a handicapped parking pass, Kelley took in the game with a family member, Rocky Browning.

“We beat ’em!” an excited Kelley said when she answered the phone at her home after the game.

She said the fieldhouse was smaller than she thought it would be. She said she didn’t do the Rock Chalk Chant, though she did a lot of clapping.

“Frankly, I enjoyed the crowd — the reactions of the crowd and all the extra goings-on on the court,” she said. “As far as watching the game was concerned … on television you can see a lot more of the real action.”

Even though it was Kelley’s first visit to the fieldhouse, she handled the parking situation with savvy.

“We left just a few minutes early,” she said. “We got out in nothing flat.”