For NCAA's First Four, Dayton's gym a tourney gem

DAYTON, Ohio — Gary McCans has had a front row seat to NCAA tournament history for the past 45 years. 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.

Pembrook Burrows and Artis Gilmore, a pair of 7-footers dubbed the Twin Towers, came with Jacksonville that same year. In 1986, Scott Skiles led Michigan State over Georgetown with a no-look pass that still stands in Dayton lore. President Obama came in 2012 with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Just the great coaches that have come through here — Jud Heathcote, obviously Bobby Knight, Dean Smith. When you go through, it's just amazing," McCans said. "And we've had so many teams come through here to get to the Final Four."

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. 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.

Before it became the home of the opening round and later the First Four, Dayton had a solid reputation for hosting tournament games. 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.

But 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.

Once a center of manufacturing and innovation, Dayton now draws pride and recognition for being the center of college basketball's premiere event.

"It's part of who we are," Mayor Nan Whaley said. "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 a sense of pride for the community, something the community values."

Dayton loves hoops

By 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. As recently as 1990, it was home to a handful of Fortune 500 companies, including NCR and Mead.

Like many industrial cities, Dayton's manufacturing sector fell victim to globalization. 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.

"We've grown up in this shadow of industrial greatness," said Brady Kress, president and CEO of Dayton History. "And that competitive edge is in everybody who grew up here or who's just been here for a few years. It's catching."

Frericks modeled the Dayton arena after The Pit, where the University of New Mexico plays. A bowl design with great sight lines, UD Arena today seats 13,455.

"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. "And I don't know who the bigger winner was."

Local basketball fans have come out in droves to support the games. 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. Only 17 games drew fewer than 10,000 fans, and Dayton has sold out 28 tournament sessions.

Longtime sports information director Doug Hauschild points to the blue-collar work ethic of Daytonians. 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. The city's love for basketball took hold.

"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."

For 45 years, John and Carol Bucklew have been among those fans. UD season ticket holders since 1969, the Bucklews estimate they've missed fewer than 10 home games in those years. 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.

"I can shut my eyes and see that," John Bucklew said. "It was so exciting. Plus I think it was one of the first times we had the tournament. It was just such a sensational game."

For Carol, who kept score of Dayton games by the radio in the 1950s, basketball is part of life. When they were raising their children, neighbors would give extra tickets so the whole family could go. Basketball games are on television in their home each night.

"I think it just gives you a sense of pride in knowing we've had more NCAA Tournament games played here than any other arena," she said. "I think it speaks well for the community to embrace that."

'Buzz in the building'

In 2000, the NCAA was looking to expand the tournament by one to 65 teams. As luck would have it, Dayton was hosting that year and during a site visit, Hancock floated the idea of UD also hosting a play-in game to start the tournament.

"We wanted a tournament quality experience for the athletes, and part of that tournament experience comes from playing in front of a large and appreciative crowd," Hancock said. "And we just knew we would get that from Dayton, and we did."

By that time, Dayton had already had 55 tournament games under its belt. What changed was the quick turnaround. The UD staff learns on Selection Sunday which teams are coming and must have everything ready for arrival the next day and a game on Tuesday.

"I truly don't think there's any place in the nation that could do that," McCans said, who semiretired last year and serves as UD's director of event services.

UD has made some strategic facilities decisions with the NCAA tournament in mind. When the arena was renovated, the football locker room was designated as a multi-purpose space and the lockers put on wheels to be moved in and out. That's allowed Dayton to accommodate around 200 news media to cover the tournament.

When the field expanded to 68 in 2011 — launching the First Four — Dayton was the natural choice, and is set to host the event through 2018.

"The buzz in the building and the energy in the building is very real," says Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's vice president for men's basketball. "That's what gives it a tournament feel.

"Any misconception that it's not truly the start of the tournament has been debunked completely in just a few years that we've had the First Four there. I think Dayton takes a lot of pride in that and should."

That energy comes from fans who often buy tickets before they know which teams are coming, although invariably the crowd self-divides with half supporting each visiting team.

That will be different this year, with Dayton among the First Four as one of the last teams to make the field. While the NCAA logo will be on the floor Wednesday night, the crowd that helped the Flyers go 16-0 at home won't be dividing to cheer for Boise State.

For the other six teams in Dayton, a welcoming crowd awaits.

"People in town, they don't care who's coming," Hauschild says. "They care that the NCAA is coming."

Getting bigger

Since 2012 the local organizing committee, The Big Hoopla, has expanded the festivities in Dayton beyond the confines of the arena.

On Selection Sunday, it hosts The Hoopla Four Miler, a community fun run. The same day, Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School hosts The Hoopla STEM Challenge. Local students see science, technology, engineering and math demonstrations by local businesses. Once they've collected enough stamps, they get tickets to the NCAA games.

Since 2012, more than 17,000 tickets have been donated to those students, as well as to military families at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Committee chair JP Nauseef estimates the committee has received between $6 million to $8 million in cash and in-kind donations since 2012. While he credits his fellow committee members, who represent a cross-section of Dayton businesses, for committing to organize the events, they point to the vision he had to tie the tournament so closely with the community.

"For us, that maps very nicely to the way our community feels about ourselves," Nauseef says. "We can compete globally. We just need the chance and the opportunity to do it. No one's going to give it to us. We just need to do it. It's very Midwestern."

Committee members credit the UD staff for being welcoming of the partnership. With an established record of hosting the tournament, university officials certainly didn't have to take a risk on new events. But McCans says UD was grateful to the committee for opening some doors the staff couldn't.

"We really needed some new ideas and new energy around our hosting," Dayton Athletic Director Tom Wabler said.

Perhaps the touch that most surprises teams coming to Dayton is the welcome mat that the committee, UD and the Dayton Convention and Visitors Bureau lays out when they arrive.

Teams arrive to find the First Four carpet literally rolled out for them at the airport, their flags and banners of the bracket on the hangar and billboards along their route to the hotel welcoming them and the NCAA. Hotel lobbies are decorated in their school colors – from balloon trees to the hotel staff – and often include bagpipers playing.

"In terms of the First Four, we really want to make the student-athlete experience feel every bit as wonderful as if they were going to the Final Four," says Jacquelyn Powell, who heads the convention and visitors bureau. "I think they're really surprised."

Last year, then-Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin initially questioned his team's seeding that had the Vols starting their eventual Sweet 16 run in Dayton.

"We got an incredible welcome at the Dayton Marriott! Moments like that are what make the tournament so special," he tweeted as the team arrived last year.

Permanent home?

Such positive feedback build the city's case to be the permanent home of the First Four. Supporters would love to see the event planted in Dayton in the same way the College World Series is played annually in Omaha.

Dayton's central location – with 53% of the U.S. population and 60% of Division I schools within 600 miles – and ease of travel to get there have been an assets, although it won its most recent bid against Indianapolis, which can boast the same.

"I think the NCAA is doing the right thing by looking around," Hancock said. "They have an obligation to do that, but I just can't imagine a better city for the opening round than Dayton."

Dayton's NCAA tradition has been so successful that the notion of the town as a Cinderella host is overwhelmingly rejected by the people who love the city – and the fans who enjoy their visit when their team plays here.

"I think we've been at the ball long enough that the slipper fits," McCans said. "We're long past the Cinderella days. I think we've arrived."