 In 1947, Tom Blackburn succeeded Carter as the school's first full-time head basketball coach.Blackburn, noted as a strict disciplinarian, recruited many former military men to his early squads and began to shift Dayton's scheduling focus from strictly local Ohio collegiate teams to a more regional focus, starting series with such programs as Louisville in 1947–48 season.Blackburn would recruit future NBA player Don Meineke, along with local standouts Junior Norris & Chuck Grigsby in 1948 to form the nucleus of the school's first nationally recognized teams.