Chmielewski, 6 feet 10, \uFEFF\uFEFFplayed for the University of Dayton and led the Flyers to an NIT championship in 1962. He rebounded strongly, scored spectacularly with graceful hooks and short jumpers, passed off expertly and defended meticulously. Although he’s now turned to fishing, he said he misses basketball, the game that initially took him from a heralded prep career in Detroit to UD, where he teamed with Brooklyn schoolboy sensation Roger Brown, Chuck Izor, Gordy Hatton and Jimmy Powers to give the Flyers one of the most talked about freshmen teams — first-year players weren’t allowed to play varsity — in the nation. But the exasperated Dukes continued to claw and clutch, and the game eventually deteriorated into a fist-swinging brawl before St. John's won 75-65. Chmielewski scored 11 points in the next 10 minutes, and Dayton led 35-29 at half time. “Chmielewski Quits UD, Leaves Town!” blared one Dayton Daily News headline. Season: 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017-2018 2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2012-2013 2011-2012 2010-2011 … They had picked up the desultory Flyers in midseason, brought them into the NIT with a string of seven straight and then hustled them past Wichita and Houston in the early rounds. Dayton Flyers 19,088 views. “We were 36-4-1 that year,” Chmielewski said. The superbly disciplined Bearcats, who were out to prove for a second time that they were better than neighboring Ohio State, did it convincingly enough, 71-59, in the NCAA finals at Louisville (see page 20), while Dayton's elegant Flyers beat St. John's 73-67 to win the NIT championship in New York. Bill Chmielewski, left, playing for the Hamilton Ohio Eagles, goes after a rebound in a Senior Olympics game against the New Jersey All-Stars at the Petersen Events Center. PUBLISHED CAPTION: John Beale/Post-Gazette “The photographers all said they wanted to take a picture and I asked ‘Whaddya want me to do with the cup?’, “They said put it over your head and, well, I put it over my head all right, but it wasn’t what they meant. The official athletics website for the University of Dayton Flyers Then Big Chimmy went to work. "The best team I've ever had," said Blackburn.
They remained independent of athletic conferences for most of their history, including the period from 1977 to 1992 when they joined Division III of the NCAA.Beginning in 1993 they joined the Pioneer Football League in Division I-AA/FCS play as a founding member.. They won 11 straight, the last four at Madison Square Garden to take the NIT crown. And Saturday night, he was at the Columbus Convention Center with several of his old teammates, part of an impressive Dayton contingent being inducted into the Ohio Hoop Zone Basketball Hall of Fame and Museum. That may have worked on a lot of fronts — including his somewhat tempered stance on Blackburn, whom he still says “would make Bobby Knight look like a saint” — but he had trouble letting go of basketball. The Redmen, operating diligently behind LeRoy Ellis, a skinny 6-foot-10 leaper with a deft touch, rode out a bristling late-game burst by Jack Foley, Holy Cross' snappy jump shooter, to beat the Crusaders 80-74. The aggressive Dukes, relying upon their usual clawing, clutching man-to-man and the eye-catching drives and jump shots of Willie Somerset, had St. John's beaten 30-14 after 14 minutes. The University of Dayton first fielded a football team in 1905. Without even knowing it, I’d made a smart move. You learn to let some things go.”. “It’s kind of funny how it happened,” Chmielewski said Saturday. Until troublesome knees sidelined him this past season, he was playing regularly for rec teams and traveling Senior Olympics squads, so much so that Saturday night he also was inducted into the Miami Valley Senior Olympics Hall of Fame. The move sent shock waves through the local sports scene. With help from 6-foot-7 Harold Schoen and 6-foot-6 Roggenburk, who drifted off their men at every opportunity, he contained Ellis on defense and snapped rebounds away from him underneath both boards. The precise Flyers' defense forced St. John's into haphazard shots in the second half, and the Redmen never could catch up. People wanted to see us and the varsity.”. A moment later, exuberant Dayton fans swarmed out of the stands with a rush that made the Garden floor look like Normandy on D-day. They pounded backs black and blue, hoisted weary but happy Flyers to their shoulders and cheered Blackburn enthusiastically.