History of the University of Dayton Flyers basketball program
DAYTON, Ohio — The UD Flyer name is a reference to Daytonians Orville and Wilbur Wright who as we all know pioneered heavier-than-air flight in 1903. Coincidentally, basketball at UD also began in 1903 when the school was known as St. Mary’s Institute. It wasn’t until 1947 that the team had its first full-time coach — Tom Blackburn — and the team’s National emergence began. UD reached number 13 in the National poll in 1951 and reached the famed NIT finals the following year. The Flyers won the NIT in 1962 and reached the finals six times in the 50s and early 60s. In 1956 the Flyers were ranked number two in the country.
Don Donoher continued the tradition of excellence in 1964. The Flyers made it to the 1967 NCAA Finals against the fabled UCLA Bruins and Lew Alcindor. (Today famously known as Kareem Abdul Jabar) Flyer fortunes slumped in the early 1990s, but consistently rebounded strong under the leadership of Oliver Purnell, Brian Gregory, Archie Miller and current head coach Anthony Grant.
The UD Basketball Flyers are a recognized top-tier National program and have regularly done well in national post-season tournaments. Over the years they have beaten national powerhouse teams such as Ohio State, Syracuse, West Virginia, Stanford and North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, and won the NIT tournament a second time as recently as 2010.
“The season that might have been” was in 2020, when COVID shut down the NCAA Tournament at the last minute when the Flyers had lost only two games all season to ranked teams, including to top-ranked Kansas early in the season, were ranked number two in the country and were positioned by most experts to be a number one seed in their bracket. In fact, several National commentators confidently predicted that the Flyers were a great choice to win the entire championship that year. Unfortunately, it was the season that never was.
Many Flyers have gone on to successful professional careers around the world and in the NBA, including Jim Paxson who graduated from UD in 1979 and starred with the Chicago Bulls. Currently, Obi Toppin from the 2020 team is enjoying a fine NBA career. (Obi was named National College Player of the Year in that fateful 2020 season.)
The history of the University of Dayton Flyers basketball program is not complete without mentioning the fabulous UD Arena itself and the wonderful, supportive, loud and assertive fan base. The UD Arena is a modern, 13,409-seat facility with a reputation of continual sell-outs, year after year. Over fourteen million fans have attended Flyer basketball games since the arena was opened in 1969. For many years the arena has hosted the NCAA play-in game. Overall, the arena has hosted more men’s NCAA division 1 basketball tournament games than any other venue. (As a side note, UD Arena has also hosted many international entertainment acts over the years, such as Elton John, Elvis, and other worldwide acts making it a popular and well-attended regional Miami Valley entertainment center as well.)
The Dayton area is indeed fortunate for the tradition, history & heritage, success and ongoing excellence of the successful University of Dayton Flyer basketball program!!
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