Leonard Thomas Blackburn (January 23, 1906 – March 6, 1964) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach. The

Peebles, Ohio Peebles is a village in Meigs Township, Adams County, Ohio, United States. It is sixty-four miles east of Cincinnati. The population was 1,782 at the 2010 census. History Peebles was founded in 1881 with the building of the railroad through t ...

native served as head men's basketball coach at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

, from 1947 until his death in 1964. He led the

Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-schola ...

to a championship at the 1962 National Invitation Tournament.

Early life

Blackburn was born in 1906. He was employed as a steelworker for two years before enrolling at Wilmington College where he played football, basketball and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. After graduation, he coached high school basketball for four years at

West Carrollton, Ohio West Carrollton is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. A Suburb of Dayton. The population was 13,143 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Great Miami River runs through the town and forms ...

and eight seasons at

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. It is east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Miami Valley region. The name comes from the Gree ...

Central High School, where six of his eight teams won championships, including the state title in 1942. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Blackburn joined the Navy physical education program at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. After the war, he became a golf pro in North Carolina.

Head coaching career

Blackburn became Dayton's first full-time basketball coach in 1947, inheriting a moribund team that had won seven total games over the previous two seasons. Blackburn's insistence on strict discipline within his program helped lift Dayton to national prominence in the following years. Blackburn's second team finished with a winning record and was invited to the National Catholic Invitational post-season tournament. Two years later, Blackburn's Flyers would receive the first of 10 NIT invitations. Blackburn established Dayton as a national college basketball powerhouse through the 1950s and early 1960s, advancing to the NIT Finals six times in what at the time was regarded as the more prestigious post season college basketball tournament. Blackburn had a 352–141 record (.714) in 17 seasons as the Flyers head coach, held a 22–12 record (.647) in postseason play, and won an NIT championship in 1962. Blackburn fell ill with cancer during the 1963–64 season, but coached the Flyers through all but the final three games before stepping down. Assistant coach

Don Donoher Donald Donoher (born January 21, 1932) is an American retired college basketball coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Dayton from 1964 to 1989, compiling a record of 437–275. His ...

served as interim coach for the rest of the season, though Dayton credits the entire season to Blackburn. Blackburn died on March 6, 1964, eight days after his last game on the Flyers bench."Tom Blackburn is Dead at 58; Coached Basketball at Dayton", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', March 7, 1964, page 23.

Awards and recognition

The University of Dayton inducted Blackburn into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 1969, and named the playing court at the

University of Dayton Arena University of Dayton Arena (commonly known as UD Arena) is a 13,409-seat multi-purpose arena located in Dayton, Ohio. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams. From 2001 to 2010, the facility host ...

after their former coach. The winner of the annual Dayton- Xavier basketball game is awarded the Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy, named for the two former basketball coaches at each university.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Tom 1906 births 1964 deaths Basketball coaches from Ohio American men's basketball players Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio Basketball players from Ohio Dayton Flyers men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Ohio People from Adams County, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Sportspeople from Xenia, Ohio Sportspeople from Dayton, Ohio Wilmington Quakers baseball players Wilmington Quakers football players Wilmington Quakers men's basketball players