SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Hair flying and legs pumping, 10-year-old Kaitlin Denney soared through the air again and again as flashing lights marked her successes and misses.

"It's very cool,'' she said of the new $36 million basketball-shaped Basketball Hall of Fame. "I like all the games.''

The new high-tech museum opened Saturday with memories and the omnipresent sound of bouncing basketballs as visitors tested their skills at interactive exhibits and lingered reverently over old jerseys and video clips.

The celebration began with 2,700 schoolchildren passing a basketball along a three-mile route leading from Springfield College -- where the game was invented by James Naismith in 1891 -- to dozens of Hall of Famers lined up on the walk leading to the new building.

A delegation of the game's best, including Larry Bird, Rick Barry and David Thompson, presented the ceremonial ball to Hall of Fame chairman Dave Gavitt.

And minutes later the three-story museum, which rises in rings from an open basketball court where you can shoot at peach baskets as well as modern backboards, was filled with the sound of laughter, old broadcasts of championship games and bouncing basketballs.

"There's a feeling of great reverence,'' said Wayne Embry as he strolled around the top floor Honors Ring with fellow Hall of Famers Pete Newell and Ann Meyers-Drysdale.

Rows of lighted photos of the 226 individuals and five teams enshrined in the Hall of Fame curve high above the Honors Ring. Below are biographical displays and video screens where you can see some of the greats in action.

"So many good friends, so many memories,'' said Newell, who coached the University of San Francisco, with Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956 and, at 87, is still teaching the game to young people.

Downstairs in the souvenir shop Latvian star Uljana Semjonova, the 7-foot center who twice led the Russian women's team to Olympic gold was buying a tiny stuffed tiger in a basketball jersey.

And Evelyn Johnson, of East Granby, Conn., a lifelong NBA fan, quietly settled herself on the bleachers just off the court.

"I'm just sitting here taking it all in,'' said Johnson, who brought her grandchildren to the opening. "It's just an honor to be here.''

A few feet away, George Yardley, who in 1957-58 became the first player in the NBA to score 2,000 points in a season, was signing autographs.

And 13-year-old Matt Wisnesky of Enfield, Conn., was shooting free throws.

Wisnesky also found the new Hall of Fame to be a "cool'' place.

What was the best thing about it?

"You get to shoot baskets,'' he said. "And you don't have to get the rebound.''