Plus I think it was one of the first times we had the tournament. "I can shut my eyes and see that," John Bucklew said. Memorable tournament games stand out, such as the 1975 regional final between Kentucky and Indiana, when the Wildcats ended the Hoosiers' 34-game win streak. UD season ticket holders since 1969, the Bucklews estimate they've missed fewer than 10 home games in those years. "The town has changed quite a bit," Hauschild said, "but it's still that appreciation for the honest effort and watching young people achieve what they can."įor 45 years, John and Carol Bucklew have been among those fans. The city's love for basketball took hold. For those who moved from Kentucky or Indiana during the 1950s and 1960s, those successful Flyers teams gave fans someone to root for in days when every game wasn't televised and play-by-play delivered by tweets. Longtime sports information director Doug Hauschild points to the blue-collar work ethic of Daytonians. Only 17 games drew fewer than 10,000 fans, and Dayton has sold out 28 tournament sessions. Dayton has ranked in the top 35 in attendance since the arena opened and has never been less than half full in any of its NCAA tournament games. Local basketball fans have come out in droves to support the games. "And I don't know who the bigger winner was." "More than anyone else, Tom brought the tournament to Dayton and brought Dayton to the tournament," said Bill Hancock, who was the longtime director of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship and is now the executive director of the College Football Playoff. A bowl design with great sight lines, UD Arena today seats 13,455. It's catching."įrericks modeled the Dayton arena after The Pit, where the University of New Mexico plays. "And that competitive edge is in everybody who grew up here or who's just been here for a few years. "We've grown up in this shadow of industrial greatness," said Brady Kress, president and CEO of Dayton History. Today, the city of 143,000 is home to the largest single employer in Ohio, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and a growing number of jobs in defense, science and technology fields. Like many industrial cities, Dayton's manufacturing sector fell victim to globalization. As recently as 1990, it was home to a handful of Fortune 500 companies, including NCR and Mead. It's a sense of pride for the community, something the community values."īy the time Frericks was traveling the country looking for ideas for Dayton's new arena in the late 1960s, the city had become an industrial center. "It's definitely given us much more, for the size of our community, a much larger national exposure because of the First Four. "It's part of who we are," Mayor Nan Whaley said. Once a center of manufacturing and innovation, Dayton now draws pride and recognition for being the center of college basketball's premiere event. That's in part thanks to a long-term commitment from the university to fulfill the vision of Tom Frericks, the late athletics director who brought the NCAA to Dayton after the arena opened in 1969.īut it's also a credit to a fan base whose love extends not only to the Flyers - who will be in one of the play-in games this year - but to all the teams that open the tournament here every March. Known for decades as the Gem City, Dayton has become a gem of the NCAA tournament, having hosted more tournament games - 105 - than any other site.īefore it became the home of the opening round and later the First Four, Dayton had a solid reputation for hosting tournament games. McCans may have the long view of Dayton's rich NCAA tournament history, but the pride he feels is universal in this mid-sized town 60 miles north of Cincinnati. "And we've had so many teams come through here to get to the Final Four." When you go through, it's just amazing," McCans said. "Just the great coaches that have come through here - Jud Heathcote, obviously Bobby Knight, Dean Smith. President Obama came in 2012 with British Prime Minister David Cameron. In 1986, Scott Skiles led Michigan State over Georgetown with a no-look pass that still stands in Dayton lore. Pembrook Burrows and Artis Gilmore, a pair of 7-footers dubbed the Twin Towers, came with Jacksonville that same year. Austin Carr's record 61 points for Notre Dame in 1970 came in the first tournament game played in the University of Dayton Arena, where McCans was just starting his career after graduating from UD a year earlier. DAYTON, Ohio - Gary McCans has had a front row seat to NCAA tournament history for the past 45 years.
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