History of the Cleveland Chase Brassmen

The Cleveland Chase Brassmen were a short-lived professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, that competed in the National Basketball League during the 1943-44 season. The team had developed out of an industrial basketball program sponsored by the Chase Brass and Copper Company and entered the NBL at a time when World War II had dramatically reduced the league's membership.

Cleveland finished its only NBL season with a 3-15 record, placing fourth and last in the league. Because the NBL had only four teams that season, however, the Brassmen still qualified for the playoffs, where they were swept by the powerful Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons.

Despite the poor team record, the season produced one of the league's great individual performances. Mel Riebe led the NBL with 323 points, averaged 17.9 points per game, earned First Team All-NBL honors and shared the league's Most Valuable Player award. Cleveland also made an important contribution to the racial integration of professional basketball when it signed former New York Renaissance center Willie "Wee Willie" Smith late in the season.

Industrial Basketball in Cleveland

The Chase Brassmen grew out of Cleveland's rich tradition of industrial and amateur basketball.

During the 1930s and early 1940s, company-sponsored teams were among the most important basketball organizations in the United States. Corporations hired talented athletes, gave them regular employment and sponsored teams that competed in local industrial leagues, Amateur Athletic Union competition and independent schedules.

The Chase Brass and Copper Company operated within that system.

Its Cleveland-area basketball team was already well established before entering the National Basketball League.

Chase Brass and Copper Company

The Chase Brass and Copper Company was a major manufacturer of brass and copper products.

During World War II, companies involved in industrial production became even more important to American athletics because many athletes needed defense-related employment to avoid losing their basketball careers entirely to wartime military service.

Industrial teams gave players a way to continue competing while also holding essential jobs.

The Cleveland Chase Copper Brass Team

Before entering the NBL, the organization was often identified as the Cleveland Chase Copper Brass team.

The club had competed for years in Amateur Athletic Union and industrial basketball circles.

By the early 1940s, Cleveland had developed into one of the stronger amateur industrial teams in the region.

That reputation ultimately helped the organization earn a place in the National Basketball League.

World War II Changes the NBL

The NBL had been expanding before the United States entered World War II.

The war changed everything.

Players entered military service, travel became more difficult, sponsors withdrew and several franchises disappeared.

By 1943, the league had contracted dramatically.

Only a handful of stable organizations remained.

The NBL Needs Another Team

After the 1942-43 season, the NBL needed additional teams simply to maintain a viable schedule.

The Chicago Studebaker Flyers and Toledo Jim White Chevrolets were gone.

The league turned to Cleveland's established Chase Brass industrial team.

The club moved from amateur industrial competition into the National Basketball League for the 1943-44 season.

Only Four NBL Teams

The 1943-44 NBL consisted of only four teams:

• Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
• Sheboygan Red Skins
• Oshkosh All-Stars
• Cleveland Chase Brassmen

It was the smallest league membership in NBL history.

Cleveland therefore entered professional basketball during one of the most difficult and unusual seasons the league ever experienced.

Public Auditorium

The Chase Brassmen played many of their home games at Cleveland Public Auditorium.

The arena was substantially larger than many traditional NBL gymnasiums and gave the team access to a major downtown Cleveland venue.

Later in the season, Cleveland also played games at smaller local gyms, including Euclid Shore High School.

The postseason was played at Cathedral Latin High School.

Vito Kubilus

Vito Kubilus began the season as Cleveland's player-coach.

Kubilus was a 6-foot-1 guard who had previously played professional basketball and was familiar with the industrial basketball environment.

He coached the first 12 games of the season.

The team struggled badly, going 1-11 during his time as coach.

Bill Brownell Takes Over

Late in the season, Bill Brownell took over coaching responsibilities.

Brownell also played center.

Under Brownell, Cleveland went 2-4.

The modest improvement was not enough to lift the Brassmen out of last place, but the team became slightly more competitive down the stretch.

Mel Riebe

The clear star of the Cleveland Chase Brassmen was Mel Riebe.

The 5-foot-11 guard-forward produced one of the greatest scoring seasons in early NBL history.

Riebe appeared in all 18 regular-season games and scored 323 points.

He averaged an extraordinary 17.9 points per game.

That scoring average was enormous in a league where most teams averaged barely more than 40 points per game.

The NBL Scoring Champion

Riebe led the entire National Basketball League in total points.

His 323 points represented more than 42 percent of Cleveland's entire team scoring total.

No player was more important to his team's offense during the 1943-44 season.

Most Valuable Player

Riebe's individual performance was so dominant that he shared the NBL Most Valuable Player Award with Fort Wayne superstar Bobby McDermott.

McDermott led the championship-favorite Zollner Pistons, while Riebe carried a Cleveland team that won only three games.

The shared award demonstrated how extraordinary Riebe's season had been.

First Team All-NBL

Riebe was also selected to the First Team All-NBL.

He joined players such as Bobby McDermott, Buddy Jeannette, Ed Dancker and Clint Wager on the league's top team.

For a franchise that existed under the Chase Brassmen name for only one year, having an MVP and First Team All-NBL player was a remarkable accomplishment.

Bill Riebe

Bill Riebe, Mel's brother, also played for the Chase Brassmen.

The guard appeared in all 18 games and scored 111 points.

He averaged 6.2 points per game.

Bill was Cleveland's second-leading scorer.

Pete Lalich

Pete Lalich played forward and became another important scoring option.

The former Ohio University player appeared in 17 games and scored 109 points.

He averaged 6.4 points per game.

Ned Endress

Ned Endress was a versatile forward-guard who had played at the University of Akron.

He appeared in 16 games and scored 65 points.

His ability to play multiple positions made him useful on a roster that had limited depth.

Willard Swihart

Willard Swihart played forward and center.

The former Toledo player appeared in 15 games and scored 39 points.

Swihart gave Cleveland additional size and frontcourt depth.

John Poncar

John Poncar appeared in all 18 games at center and forward.

He scored 30 points.

Poncar was one of the team's most durable interior players.

Frank Garcia

Frank Garcia appeared in seven games at guard and forward.

He scored 23 points.

Hal Cihlar

Hal Cihlar played forward and center.

The former Case Reserve player appeared in four games.

He was one of several local Ohio players associated with the Chase Brassmen.

1943-44 Cleveland Chase Brassmen Roster

Willie "Wee Willie" Smith

The most historically important midseason addition was Willie "Wee Willie" Smith.

Smith was a 6-foot-5, 230-pound center who had spent years playing for the legendary New York Renaissance.

The Rens were one of the greatest all-Black basketball teams in American history.

Smith was known for his strength, rebounding and interior defense.

Continuing the Integration of the NBL

The National Basketball League had first used Black players during the 1942-43 season.

The Chicago Studebaker Flyers and Toledo Jim White Chevrolets signed several Black players, many from the Harlem Globetrotters.

Both teams disappeared after that season.

When Cleveland signed Willie Smith late in 1943-44, he became the only Black player in the NBL that season.

His presence continued the slow process of racial integration in professional basketball.

Smith's Four Games

Smith appeared in four games for Cleveland.

He scored 24 points, averaging 6.0 per game.

Although his NBL stay was brief, his appearance carried substantial historical significance.

He soon returned to the New York Renaissance.

The Importance of Willie Smith

Smith's time with Cleveland came years before the NBA formally integrated.

His appearance demonstrated that Black players could compete successfully in the same professional league as white athletes.

Players such as Smith, Pop Gates, Dolly King and others helped establish the foundation for the integration of the modern NBA.

A Strong Offensive Team by League Standards

Despite its terrible record, Cleveland was not the weakest offensive team in the NBL.

The Chase Brassmen scored 757 points in 18 games.

That amounted to 42.1 points per game.

The figure tied Oshkosh and ranked second among the four NBL teams.

Mel Riebe's scoring was the primary reason Cleveland remained respectable offensively.

The Worst Defense in the League

Cleveland's real problem was defense.

The Brassmen allowed 871 points.

That was an average of 48.4 points per game, the worst defensive figure in the NBL.

The team was outscored by 114 points over the course of the season.

Cleveland Chase Brassmen Team Statistics

The 1943-44 NBL Standings

An Unbalanced Schedule

The league originally intended each team to play 24 regular-season games.

Cleveland completed only 18 games.

The Brassmen skipped two scheduled games against each of the other three NBL clubs.

As a result, Fort Wayne, Sheboygan and Oshkosh each finished with 22 games instead of 24.

The shortened Cleveland schedule was another example of the operational difficulties facing professional basketball during World War II.

Three Wins

The Chase Brassmen won only three games.

Two of their victories came late in the year under Bill Brownell.

The club spent the entire season at the bottom of the standings.

Yet the league's tiny membership meant Cleveland remained eligible for postseason competition.

Everybody Made the Playoffs

With only four teams in the NBL, all four qualified for the postseason.

That gave Cleveland a playoff berth despite its 3-15 record.

The Brassmen were matched against the first-place Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons.

The Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons

Fort Wayne was the dominant team in professional basketball.

The Zollner Pistons featured Bobby McDermott, Buddy Jeannette, Jake Pelkington and Jerry Bush.

McDermott was one of the best scorers of the era and shared league MVP honors with Mel Riebe.

The difference between the two teams was enormous.

The 1944 NBL Semifinals

Fort Wayne swept Cleveland in two games.

The Brassmen were eliminated from the NBL playoffs without winning a postseason contest.

Fort Wayne went on to win the league championship.

Only Playoff Appearance

The two-game loss became the only playoff series ever played under the Cleveland Chase Brassmen name.

The team finished its NBL season with three regular-season victories and no postseason wins.

1943-44 Season Summary

Mel Riebe's Historic Season

One of the Great Individual Seasons on a Losing Team

Riebe's 1943-44 campaign remains one of the most remarkable examples of individual dominance on a losing professional basketball team.

Cleveland won only 16.7 percent of its games.

Yet the league still recognized Riebe as one of its two most valuable players.

His scoring production was simply too significant to ignore.

The Up-and-Under Shot

Riebe was also known for an offensive move that resembled what later became known as the up-and-under.

He used body movement and fakes to get defenders off balance before finishing around the basket.

Techniques of this kind later became common among skilled post players and forwards.

Riebe's style made him one of the more innovative scorers of his era.

What Happened After the Season?

Chase Brass and Copper did not continue as the team's sponsor after the 1943-44 season.

The Cleveland NBL operation continued under new financial backing and a new name.

The club became the Cleveland Allmen Transfers.

The Cleveland Allmen Transfers

The Allmen Transfers competed in the National Basketball League during the next two seasons.

They went 13-17 in 1944-45 and qualified for the playoffs.

The following season they collapsed to 4-29.

Basketball-Reference and several statistical histories treat the Chase Brassmen and Allmen Transfers as successive identities of the same Cleveland NBL franchise. Because early NBL ownership and franchise continuity could be informal, however, the safest historical description is that the Allmen Transfers were the direct successor to the Chase Brass-sponsored Cleveland team rather than claiming a modern-style corporate franchise transfer.

Players Who Continued With Allmen Transfers

Several Chase Brassmen players remained with the Cleveland organization under the Allmen Transfers name.

That player continuity included important figures such as Mel Riebe.

The repeated use of many of the same players supports the historical connection between the two Cleveland teams.

Mel Riebe After the Brassmen

Riebe remained one of Cleveland's most important professional basketball players.

He continued with the Allmen Transfers and later played in the Basketball Association of America.

His later professional stops included the Cleveland Rebels, Boston Celtics and Providence Steamrollers.

That career connected the old industrial NBL era directly with the BAA.

The Cleveland Rebels

The Cleveland Rebels became a charter member of the Basketball Association of America in 1946.

The Rebels were a separate organization from the Chase Brassmen and Allmen Transfers.

However, several Cleveland-area professional players moved among the city's different teams.

This makes Cleveland's pre-NBA franchise history particularly complicated.

The Allmen Transfers and Syracuse Nationals

Some modern statistical databases connect the Chase Brassmen and Allmen Transfers franchise entry with the later Syracuse Nationals.

That connection should be treated carefully.

The Syracuse Nationals were organized in 1946 under owner Danny Biasone, and there was little direct player continuity from the final Allmen Transfers roster.

For that reason, many historians treat Syracuse as a new organization rather than a straightforward relocation of the Cleveland team.

The Chase Brassmen are therefore best understood on their own terms as a Cleveland industrial team that briefly entered the NBL, continued under a new sponsor as the Allmen Transfers and then disappeared from Cleveland's professional basketball scene.

Cleveland Chase Brassmen NBL Franchise Record

Chase Brassmen and Allmen Transfers Statistical Line

Head Coaches

Home Arenas

Major Honors

Notable Cleveland Chase Brassmen Players

• Mel Riebe
• Bill Riebe
• Pete Lalich
• Ned Endress
• Willie "Wee Willie" Smith
• Vito Kubilus
• Willard Swihart
• John Poncar
• Frank Garcia
• Hal Cihlar
• Bill Brownell

A Rare MVP From a Last-Place Team

Mel Riebe's MVP award is one of the most unusual accomplishments associated with the Chase Brassmen.

Most major professional basketball MVPs come from winning teams.

Cleveland finished last at 3-15.

Yet Riebe was so individually dominant that the league still recognized him alongside Bobby McDermott.

That makes his season one of the great overlooked performances of the pre-NBA era.

Cleveland and the Integration of Professional Basketball

The Chase Brassmen also deserve recognition for signing Willie Smith.

The move was especially important because the NBL had lost the two integrated teams from the previous season.

Without Cleveland's decision to sign Smith, the 1943-44 NBL would have returned completely to racial segregation.

Smith's four appearances therefore represented more than a roster transaction.

They helped preserve an important step toward permanent integration.

The Importance of the New York Renaissance

Smith's connection to the New York Renaissance gave Cleveland another link to one of the most important basketball organizations in American history.

The Rens had spent decades proving that Black players could compete against the strongest white professional teams.

Players moving from the Rens into the NBL helped break down longstanding racial barriers.

A Team Created by Wartime Circumstances

The Brassmen probably would never have entered the NBL under ordinary circumstances.

Their promotion from industrial basketball occurred because the league was desperately short of teams during World War II.

That makes Cleveland's 1943-44 season one of the clearest examples of how wartime conditions reshaped professional basketball.

Industrial Basketball Meets Professional Basketball

The Chase Brassmen represented the collision of two basketball worlds.

They had been built as a works team around company employment and amateur-industrial competition.

The NBL required a longer travel schedule, more consistent professional talent and greater financial commitment.

Cleveland had enough talent to produce an MVP but not enough depth to compete successfully as a team.

The NBL During World War II

The league survived the war largely because industrial sponsors and wealthy team owners continued financing basketball.

Fort Wayne's Fred Zollner became especially important.

His Zollner Pistons helped stabilize the NBL financially and competitively.

Smaller company-backed organizations such as Cleveland provided the additional teams necessary to keep the league operating.

Fort Wayne's Dominance

The difference between Cleveland and Fort Wayne illustrated the widening gap between the strongest and weakest NBL organizations.

Fort Wayne went 18-4.

Cleveland went 3-15.

The Pistons featured several of the greatest players of the era and operated with strong financial backing.

The Chase Brassmen remained much closer to their industrial-team roots.

Cleveland Professional Basketball Before the NBA

The Chase Brassmen were one of several major professional teams to represent Cleveland before the modern NBA era.

Other Cleveland teams included:

• Cleveland Rosenblums
• Cleveland White Horses
• Cleveland Allmen Transfers
• Cleveland Rebels

The repeated rise and disappearance of teams demonstrated that Cleveland possessed strong basketball interest but struggled to maintain a stable long-term professional franchise.

The Brassmen Were Not the Cleveland Rebels

The Cleveland Rebels entered the Basketball Association of America in 1946.

They were a separate organization from the Chase Brassmen and Allmen Transfers.

The Rebels lasted only one season before folding.

Professional basketball in Cleveland remained fragmented until much later.

The Brassmen and the Future NBA

The Chase Brassmen disappeared before the NBA was created, but their players and league history were part of the transition that eventually produced the modern league.

The NBL survived through 1949 and ultimately joined with the Basketball Association of America under the NBA name.

Riebe later played in the BAA, while Willie Smith belonged to the generation of Black professional stars who helped pave the way for NBA integration.

Cleveland Chase Brassmen Timeline

Why the Cleveland Chase Brassmen Matter

The Cleveland Chase Brassmen played only 18 NBL regular-season games, but their historical impact was larger than their record.

They entered the league during World War II when professional basketball was struggling to survive.

They produced one of the greatest scorers of the era in Mel Riebe.

They continued the NBL's tentative racial integration by signing Willie Smith.

And they represented the industrial basketball system that helped professional basketball survive during the Depression and wartime years.

Legacy of the Cleveland Chase Brassmen

The Cleveland Chase Brassmen were one of the most unusual one-season teams in National Basketball League history.

The organization began as an industrial basketball team sponsored by Chase Brass and Copper before receiving an opportunity to join the NBL during the wartime contraction of 1943.

The transition from industrial basketball to full professional league competition proved difficult.

Cleveland finished only 3-15 and allowed a league-worst 48.4 points per game.

Because only four teams remained in the NBL, however, the Brassmen still qualified for the playoffs.

Fort Wayne swept Cleveland in the semifinals and went on to win the championship.

The team record tells only part of the story.

Mel Riebe produced an extraordinary season.

He scored 323 points in 18 games, averaged 17.9 points and accounted for more than 40 percent of Cleveland's offense.

Riebe led the NBL in scoring, earned First Team All-NBL honors and shared the league MVP award with Bobby McDermott.

Few players in professional basketball history have earned such major individual recognition while playing for a team that won so few games.

The Chase Brassmen also contributed to the racial integration of professional basketball.

Late in the season, Cleveland signed New York Renaissance center Willie "Wee Willie" Smith.

Smith appeared in four games and became the only Black player in the NBL during the 1943-44 season.

His presence helped preserve the progress that had begun the previous year when Black players first entered the league.

After the season, Chase Brass and Copper ended its sponsorship.

The Cleveland NBL operation continued under the Allmen Transfers name, with several players carrying over from the Brassmen roster.

The Chase Brassmen identity itself therefore lasted only one season.

Its official NBL history consisted of 18 regular-season games, three victories, 15 losses, one playoff appearance, no championships and one Most Valuable Player.

The numbers make the Brassmen look like a minor footnote.

The broader context makes them more important.

They helped keep the NBL alive during World War II, produced one of the league's greatest individual seasons, continued the early integration of professional basketball and represented the industrial-company basketball system that helped create the foundation of the professional game.

For those reasons, the Cleveland Chase Brassmen remain an important forgotten franchise in the history of the National Basketball League and in Cleveland's long pre-NBA basketball tradition.