The Dayton Flyers men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Ten Conference representing the University of Dayton. They are known for a rivalry with Xavier University, playing for the Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy each year.The first collegiate basketball team began play in Dayton during the 1903-04 season. Then known as St. Mary's Institute, the school's early teams were informally nicknamed "The Saints" by local sportswriters and competed against colleges, high schools, and club teams throughout the Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and New York region. In 1920 the school changed its name to the University of Dayton and its sports teams gradually became known as the Flyers. World War II brought a two year hiatus to the basketball program between 1943 and 1945. In 1947, Tom Blackburn succeeded James Carter as the school's first full time head basketball coach.
