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The calming effect of Indiana sweeps over you when you stand in front of its outdoor basketball goals.

The wind brushes through the cornfields with a soft swish. Cars drive by on a nearby U.S. highway. The sun is relentless.

These hoops have seen their share of Indiana life, some more than others. The 40- and 50-year-old hoops, showing their wrinkles in a rusty chain net or a chipped backboard, have seen bad weather, homes built around them, folks gazing at them from their cars.

Most importantly, they've helped create hoop dreams for kids like home-state hero Steve Alford, now the University of New Mexico men's basketball coach. Teenagers' basketball aspirations are fostered on rims like these. Shooting on them is like therapy.

Hoops help put the heart in this piece of the heartland.