The class-driven cross-town rivalry began in 1988, playing over the years to large raucous crowds packing both school's 10,000 seat arenas. UD has declined to renew the contest each year since the 97-98 season.
Series origins
The Dayton Flyers team is a regional basketball power with a long tradition of excellence going back to the early 20th century. UD is proud to represent the leaders and elite of Dayton. Few fan bases in the country rival Dayton's for passion and ticket sales.[2]
Wright State basketball is a much younger program, playing its first basketball in the 1970s. Wright State built a scrappy fan following at the Division II level with fast, aggressive teams and its 1983 National Championship.
The coaches and administrations for both schools enjoyed close relationships leading to UD making a verbal agreement to play the suburban school once they moved to Division I.[3][4]
Series suspension
Despite having a winning record in the series, UD has declined to renew the contest each year since the 1997–98 season. This change in posture resulted from new administration coming to power at UD that did not think as highly of the cross-town institution. Without an official reason for the suspension in the series, many theories have been offered in the press and around town. Due to the dramatic social gulf between the elite private school student body and the working class state school, a considerable amount of resentment has grown around this decision.
^Abrahamowicz, Dan; Brown, Jim (26 January 2018). "Jim Brown Interview". Wright State University Retirees Association Oral History Project. Wright State Libraries. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
^Albers, Bucky (December 8, 1995). "Jam rivalry in its infancy". Dayton Daily News. Vol. 119, no. 92. Cox Media. p. 4D.
