Founded: 1935 Joined NBL: 1937 Folded: 1938 Location: Dayton, OH Arena: Montgomery County Fairgrounds Coliseum Built in: 1922 Capacity: 4,200 Titles: 0

The Dayton Metropolitans was a professional basketball team in Dayton, Ohio. The team was one of the founding organizations of the National Basketball League, which formed in 1937. The Mets were founded in 1935 as a member of the Midwest Basketball Conference, where they played until joining the NBL in 1937.

The Mets struggled in their first season in the Midwest Basketball Conference winning just four of ten games and finishing in last place of the MBC's eastern division.

During the 1936-37 Midwest Basketball Conference season the team was known as the Dayton London Bobbys and were sponsored by Miami Valley Brewing Company.

In their final year in the MBC they would do much better but would lose their division by forfeit. In one of the strangest events in basketball history the London Bobbys were scheduled to host the Fort Wayne General Electrics, but just hours before the game the Bobby's manager, Ray Lindemuth called Electrics manager Bill Hosket and told him the game would not be played, and when Hosket inquired as into why, Lindemuth hung up the phone.

The refusal to play was likely due to traveling costs. Unfortunately, not everyone was on the same page and center Norm Wagner drove the 100 plus miles from Dayton to Fort Wayne.

Following the 36-37 season the team would be once again called the Metropolitans as it joined the newly founded NBL.

The Dayton Metropolitans played for just one season (1937-1938)in the NBL. During the season, the team finished last in the the National Basketball League’s Western Division. The Metropolitans won just two and lost eleven games. Due to its dismal performance, the Metropolitans disbanded at the end of the season.

This team should not be confused with the Dayton Metropolitans that existed in the late 1940s. That team was an all-black barnstorming team that also became the Dayton Rens during the last days of the NBL.

Big Bill Hosket
A star at Ohio State Bill Hosket played and coached the Mets for a breif time in the NBL. His son Bill Hosket Jr. played in the NBA for the New York Knicks and Buffalo Braves. Sadly, Hosket Sr. died of cancer in 1945.
Wilmer Hosket Obituary

14 fouls:
The standard MBC game allowed only 5 fouls, but during certain exhabition games that rule could be waived. Such was the case when the Dayton London Bobby's hosted the original Celtics in December 1936.

Celtics center Pat Herlihy committed 14 fouls and 1 technical foul trying to gaurd Bobby's center Leroy "Cowboy" Edwards. The 14 fouls is by far and away the most fouls ever committed in a basketball game. The NBA regular season record is 8 by Don Otten and the NBA summer league which lacks a foul out limit record is 10.

Standings
Year    League   W   L   %
1935-36 MBC      4   6   .400
1936-37 MBC      9   3   .750
1937-38 NBL      2  11   .154



1937-38 NBL Dayton Metropolitans Roster


Player 
Pos. 
	Birth Date
		Height
	Weight
	College 

Robert Colburn
	F
	March 23, 1911	
	5'10"
	190
	Ohio State

Beryl Drummond
	G
	June 16, 1918	
	6'1"
	185
	none

Wilmer Hosket
	C
	February 19, 1911
	6'5"
	 
	Ohio State

Curtis McMahon
	G
	January 26, 1915
	6'0"
	150
	none

Bud Moodler
	G
	 	
		6'3"
	215
	Defiance

Glenn Roberts
	C-F
	October 25, 1912
	6'5"
	200
	Emory & Henry

Wyman Roberts
	F
	September 27, 1915
	5'11"
	160
	none

Louis Rutter
	G
	August 4, 1914
		6'2"
	180
	Otterbein

Glenn Schlechty
	F
	March 31, 1912
		6'6"
	185
	Findlay

Howard Stammler
	G-F
	July 23, 1911
		5'10"
	155
	Ohio Wesleyan

Clovis Stark
	F
	October 6, 1914	
	6'4"
	175
	Ohio Wesleyan

Norman Wagner
	C
	February 5, 1912
	6'5"
	200
	Missouri