History of the Detroit Vagabond Kings and Dayton Rens

The Detroit Vagabond Kings and Dayton Rens shared one of the most unusual franchise situations in the history of the National Basketball League. The Detroit Vagabond Kings began the 1948-49 NBL season as a new franchise in Detroit, Michigan, but financial problems, poor attendance and a disastrous record caused the organization to collapse after only 19 games.

The NBL then turned to one of the most famous basketball organizations in American history: the New York Renaissance, better known as the New York Rens. The legendary all-Black team owned by Bob Douglas took Detroit's place in the league, moved its NBL home base to Dayton, Ohio, and became the Dayton Rens.

Detroit had gone only 2-17 before folding. Dayton subsequently went 14-26 in the games it actually played. Because the Rens inherited Detroit's record for league-standing purposes, the combined franchise was listed at 16-43.

The Rens' entry was historically significant far beyond wins and losses. One of the greatest all-Black teams in basketball history had finally been admitted into one of the country's major professional leagues during the final season before the creation of the NBA.

The Final Season of the National Basketball League

The 1948-49 season was the twelfth and final season of the National Basketball League.

The league had undergone enormous changes before the season began.

Four major NBL organizations had left for the rival Basketball Association of America: the Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons and Indianapolis Kautskys, who became the Indianapolis Jets.

The departures deprived the NBL of several of its strongest teams and forced the league to rebuild its membership.

Among the new organizations was the Detroit Vagabond Kings.

Professional Basketball in Detroit

Detroit already had a substantial history of professional basketball before the Vagabond Kings appeared.

The city had hosted independent teams, industrial clubs and the Detroit Eagles during earlier decades.

The Detroit Gems had competed in the NBL during the 1946-47 season before the franchise was purchased and moved to Minneapolis, where it became the Minneapolis Lakers.

The Detroit Falcons also competed in the Basketball Association of America during 1946-47.

The Vagabond Kings therefore represented another attempt to establish a lasting professional basketball organization in Detroit.

The Detroit Vagabond Kings Are Formed

The Detroit Vagabond Kings were organized for the 1948-49 NBL season.

The franchise was associated with businessmen Ernie Pabis and C. King Boring.

Boring had previously been involved with the Detroit Gems organization.

The "Vagabond Kings" name reflected the barnstorming style that would eventually become associated with the organization after its brief NBL experience.

Del Loranger

Del Loranger served as Detroit's player-coach.

Loranger was a 6-foot-3 forward-guard who had played at Western Michigan.

Like many NBL coaches of the era, he combined playing responsibilities with managing the team.

He faced an extremely difficult assignment because the Vagabond Kings were attempting to build an entirely new professional organization while competing against established teams such as Anderson and Syracuse.

The 1948-49 Eastern Division

The NBL Eastern Division originally included:

• Anderson Duffey Packers
• Syracuse Nationals
• Hammond Calumet Buccaneers
• Detroit Vagabond Kings

The Vagabond Kings entered the season clearly behind Anderson and Syracuse in talent, organization and financial stability.

Detroit's Opening Game

The Vagabond Kings began their NBL schedule on October 30, 1948.

Detroit faced the Oshkosh All-Stars, one of the oldest and most successful organizations in NBL history.

The beginning of the season quickly demonstrated that the new Detroit team was going to struggle.

A Traveling Home Schedule

One of Detroit's major problems was the lack of a stable home.

The Vagabond Kings played games at multiple venues in the Detroit area rather than developing a consistent relationship with one arena and one local fan base.

Attendance remained poor.

Even some of the better-attended games reportedly struggled to attract much more than 1,000 paying spectators.

Without substantial gate revenue, operating a professional basketball team became increasingly difficult.

Oliver Shoaff

Oliver "Ollie" Shoaff became Detroit's leading scorer.

The 5-foot-10 guard had played college basketball at Southern Illinois.

Shoaff scored 260 points during Detroit's 19-game NBL existence.

His scoring made him one of the few consistent offensive bright spots on the roster.

Johnny Sebastian

Johnny Sebastian was another important backcourt player.

The Southern Illinois product averaged more than 10 points per game during his time with Detroit.

Sebastian's scoring helped give the Vagabond Kings another legitimate offensive threat.

Anthony Kaseta

Center Anthony "Tony" Kaseta was one of the biggest players on the roster.

At approximately 6-foot-8, Kaseta provided size that was becoming increasingly important in professional basketball.

The rise of players such as George Mikan had made interior size a major priority throughout the professional game.

Dillard Crocker

Dillard Crocker played forward and guard for Detroit.

The Western Michigan product later continued playing professional basketball after the Vagabond Kings left the NBL.

Ben Schadler

Ben Schadler was another member of the Detroit roster.

The former Northwestern athlete played forward and contributed to an organization that used numerous players during its short existence.

Other Detroit Vagabond Kings Players

• Art Bakeraitis
• Fred Campbell
• Doyle Cofer
• Dillard Crocker
• Hal Devoll
• Paul Juntunen
• Tony Kaseta
• Dave Latter
• Del Loranger
• Ben Schadler
• Johnny Sebastian
• Ollie Shoaff
• Dick Shrider

Detroit's First Victory

The Vagabond Kings recorded their first victory on November 9, 1948.

Detroit defeated the original Denver Nuggets 56-48.

The victory temporarily provided hope that the new organization might begin improving.

The Losses Continue

Instead, Detroit continued losing at an alarming rate.

The defense became the greatest problem.

Opponents regularly produced some of their highest-scoring games of the season against the Vagabond Kings.

Detroit struggled to keep games competitive and fell rapidly toward the bottom of the NBL standings.

Detroit's Second and Final NBL Victory

Detroit's only other victory came on December 7, 1948.

The Vagabond Kings again defeated Denver, this time by an 86-76 score.

Those two wins against the Nuggets were the only victories of Detroit's NBL existence.

The Worst Defense in the League

The Vagabond Kings allowed 1,428 points in only 19 games.

That amounted to approximately 75.2 points per game.

Detroit's defensive average was easily the worst in the NBL.

The club scored only 1,161 points, approximately 61.1 per game.

The resulting point differential made continued losing almost inevitable.

Detroit Vagabond Kings Team Statistics

The Financial Situation Collapses

The losing record was only part of Detroit's problem.

Poor attendance meant the Vagabond Kings could not generate enough ticket revenue to support their operations.

Constant movement among Detroit-area venues made it difficult to build a stable fan base.

The team had reached a point where remaining in the National Basketball League was no longer financially realistic.

December 16, 1948

The Detroit Vagabond Kings ceased NBL operations on December 16, 1948.

The team had played only 19 games.

Its final record was 2-17.

The NBL now faced a serious scheduling problem in the middle of its final season.

The League Needs a Replacement

Simply eliminating Detroit would have created major scheduling difficulties for the remaining Eastern Division teams.

NBL officials therefore searched for an organization capable of taking over Detroit's schedule.

The solution came from a basketball team that was already legendary.

The New York Renaissance

The New York Renaissance, commonly known as the New York Rens, had been founded in Harlem in 1923 by Robert "Bob" Douglas.

The Rens were one of the greatest basketball teams of the first half of the twentieth century.

They were an all-Black professional organization created during an era when racial discrimination prevented Black athletes from participating freely in many white-controlled professional leagues.

Bob Douglas

Douglas was one of the most important executives in the history of Black basketball.

He created a professional organization that offered Black athletes opportunities to earn money playing basketball while competing against many of the best teams in the country.

The Rens became nationally famous through extensive barnstorming schedules.

Douglas later became a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.

The Renaissance Casino

The Rens took their name from Harlem's Renaissance Casino and Ballroom.

The venue became the team's original home and gave the organization its distinctive identity.

Over time, however, the club became primarily a traveling team.

The Rens played thousands of games across the United States against independent teams, company clubs and white professional organizations.

One of Basketball's Greatest Teams

During their peak years, the Rens were considered one of the best basketball teams in the world.

Their rosters included legendary players such as Tarzan Cooper, Fats Jenkins, John Isaacs, Willie Smith, Puggy Bell and Pop Gates.

The team developed a sophisticated style based on passing, defense and coordinated team play.

The Famous 88-Game Winning Streak

During the 1932-33 season, the Rens produced one of the most famous winning streaks in early professional basketball history.

The team won 88 consecutive games.

The streak established the Rens as one of the most dominant basketball organizations of the era.

The 1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament

The greatest formal championship in New York Renaissance history came in 1939.

The Rens competed in the inaugural World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago.

The tournament brought together elite professional and independent teams from across the country.

New York defeated the Oshkosh All-Stars in the championship game and became the tournament's first champion.

Black Basketball and the Professional Leagues

Despite their success, the Rens spent most of their existence outside the major professional leagues.

Racial discrimination limited opportunities for Black teams and Black players.

The National Basketball League had employed individual Black players during the early 1940s, but no all-Black organization had previously competed as a full league member.

The collapse of the Detroit Vagabond Kings finally created that opportunity.

The NBL Contacts Bob Douglas

NBL officials approached Douglas about taking over Detroit's place in the league.

League leaders included commissioner Doxie Moore and influential Anderson Packers owner Ike Duffey.

Douglas accepted the opportunity.

The Rens would join the NBL immediately.

Why Dayton?

Although the organization came from New York, placing the team in Harlem would have created significant travel difficulties for the Midwestern-based NBL.

The league therefore established the team's NBL home base in Dayton, Ohio.

The New York Renaissance became the Dayton Rens for league purposes.

December 17, 1948

The Dayton arrangement came together almost immediately after Detroit's collapse.

The Vagabond Kings ceased operations on December 16.

The Rens took their place beginning the following day.

It was one of the fastest midseason franchise replacements in professional basketball history.

Detroit's Record Follows Dayton

The NBL ruled that Dayton would assume Detroit's existing place in the standings.

That meant the Rens effectively began NBL competition already carrying a 2-17 record.

However, modern statistical records usually separate the performances of the two teams.

Detroit is listed at 2-17.

Dayton is listed at 14-26.

The league's combined standings record was 16-43.

A Historically Important Moment

The Rens' admission represented an important milestone in American professional basketball.

An all-Black, Black-owned organization was now competing directly within one of the country's major professional leagues.

This occurred before the newly created NBA placed its first Black players on the court in 1950.

Pop Gates

William "Pop" Gates became the Dayton Rens' player-coach.

Gates was one of the great players in New York Renaissance history.

The 6-foot-2 forward-guard combined scoring, passing, defense and leadership.

He had spent years competing against many of the strongest professional teams in America.

Dayton's Leading Scorer

Gates appeared in all 40 games played by the Dayton Rens.

He scored 448 points.

His average of 11.2 points per game led the team.

In addition to playing, Gates was responsible for coaching the team through one of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

George Crowe

George Crowe became the Rens' second-leading scorer.

Crowe played forward and center and appeared in all 40 games.

He scored 437 points, averaging 10.9 per game.

A Two-Sport Star

Crowe later became even better known for baseball.

He played Major League Baseball for the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Redlegs and St. Louis Cardinals.

Crowe became a National League All-Star and was one of the notable athletes to compete at high levels in both professional basketball and baseball.

Jim Usry

Jim Usry became another major scoring option.

The forward was one of the more productive members of the Rens roster and averaged more than nine points per game.

Usry remained connected to basketball for decades after his playing career.

He later became mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Hank DeZonie

Hank DeZonie played center and forward.

At approximately 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, he gave Dayton valuable size and physical strength.

DeZonie later reached the NBA with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.

He became one of the first Black players in NBA history.

William Brown

William Brown was another regular frontcourt player.

The Howard University product played forward and center.

Brown added depth to a Rens lineup that frequently had to deal with the exhausting demands of both league competition and additional barnstorming games.

Johnny Isaacs

Veteran Johnny Isaacs remained associated with the Renaissance organization during this period.

Isaacs had been one of the great players on the championship Rens teams of the 1930s.

His connection to the final Rens era tied Dayton directly to the organization's legendary past.

Other Dayton Rens Players

• Pop Gates
• George Crowe
• Jim Usry
• Hank DeZonie
• William Brown
• Johnny Isaacs
• Longie Powell
• Sonny Wood
• Tom Sealy
• Willie Smith

Dayton Rens Leading Scorers

A Better Team Than Detroit

The Dayton Rens immediately proved more competitive than the team they replaced.

Detroit had won only two of 19 games.

Dayton won 14 of the 40 games it played.

The Rens therefore had a .350 winning percentage in their own games.

That remained below .500 but represented a substantial improvement.

A Stronger Defense

The greatest improvement came defensively.

Detroit had allowed 75.2 points per game.

Dayton allowed only 61.5 points per game.

That was actually one of the better defensive averages in the NBL.

The Rens' experience, passing and defensive discipline immediately made them more competitive.

Dayton's Offensive Problems

Offensively, the Rens struggled.

They scored 2,267 points in 40 games.

That amounted to only 56.7 points per game, the lowest average among NBL teams.

Despite Gates and Crowe scoring consistently, the club lacked the depth necessary to keep pace with stronger organizations.

Dayton Rens Team Statistics

Continuing to Barnstorm

Joining the NBL did not completely end the Rens' independent schedule.

The organization had spent more than two decades surviving through barnstorming.

League games alone did not always generate enough revenue to keep the operation financially stable.

As a result, members of the Renaissance organization continued playing additional games during the season.

A Split Basketball Operation

The need to continue barnstorming created an enormous challenge.

The Rens sometimes had to divide their available talent between NBL obligations and independent games.

This weakened the Dayton lineup and made an already difficult league schedule even harder.

It was another example of the economic disadvantages faced by the organization.

Playing in Dayton

Dayton proved to be a difficult home for the Rens.

The city had a deeply segregated history, and an all-Black professional sports organization did not receive the same level of local support that a white team might have expected.

The Rens frequently struggled at the gate.

Some home games were also played outside Dayton as the organization searched for better attendance and financial opportunities.

Racial Barriers

The Rens' difficulties cannot be separated from the racial environment of the United States in the late 1940s.

Black athletes faced discrimination in hotels, restaurants, transportation and public accommodations throughout the country.

The players had spent years dealing with those obstacles while barnstorming.

Joining the NBL did not make them disappear.

The New York Rens Had Already Broken Barriers

Long before Dayton, the Renaissance organization had repeatedly challenged racial barriers.

The Rens played white professional teams throughout the country during an era when many sports leagues remained segregated.

Their victories over major white teams made it impossible to argue honestly that Black players lacked the ability to compete at the highest professional level.

The Combined Detroit-Dayton Record

For official league-standing purposes, Dayton inherited Detroit's 2-17 record.

The combined line was therefore:

The Playoff Problem

The inherited Detroit record severely damaged Dayton's place in the standings.

Hammond finished its own season 21-41.

The Buccaneers' .339 winning percentage was actually slightly lower than Dayton's .350 winning percentage in the games the Rens themselves played.

However, Dayton's inherited Detroit losses meant the combined franchise remained behind Hammond for playoff qualification.

Dayton Misses the Playoffs

Anderson, Syracuse and Hammond qualified for the Eastern Division playoffs.

Dayton did not.

The Rens therefore never appeared in an NBL postseason series.

1948-49 Eastern Division Standings

Detroit and Dayton are shown separately above to illustrate their individual performance. For league scheduling and inherited-record purposes, the two entries were connected.

The End of the NBL

After the 1948-49 season, the National Basketball League ceased to exist.

The NBL and Basketball Association of America reached an agreement that brought the surviving organizations together under the National Basketball Association name.

The new league began play in 1949-50.

The Rens Do Not Enter the NBA

The Dayton Rens were not included in the new league.

The official justification centered on the franchise's poor inherited record and financial instability.

However, the exclusion remains an important and controversial part of professional basketball's racial history.

The Rens had been one of the greatest basketball organizations in America for decades and had demonstrated that they could compete with white professional clubs.

Yet the organization disappeared just as the modern NBA was being created.

The First NBA Season Was All White

The NBA began the 1949-50 season without Black players.

That changed the following year.

In 1950, the Boston Celtics drafted Chuck Cooper, the Washington Capitols signed Earl Lloyd, and the New York Knicks signed Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton.

Lloyd became the first Black player to appear in an NBA regular-season game.

Several Rens Helped Pave the Way

The integration of the NBA did not happen in isolation.

Teams such as the New York Renaissance had already spent decades proving that Black players belonged at the highest level of professional basketball.

The Dayton Rens therefore form an important bridge between the Black barnstorming era and the eventual integration of the NBA.

Hank DeZonie Reaches the NBA

DeZonie later played for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in 1950-51.

His NBA appearance made him one of the earliest Black players in league history.

His career directly connected the Dayton Rens to the NBA's first generation of Black players.

Pop Gates' Legacy

Pop Gates became one of the great figures in Black basketball history.

His career included years with the New York Renaissance, other professional teams and the Dayton Rens.

He later received recognition for his enormous contribution to the development of professional basketball.

George Crowe's Legacy

Crowe's career became particularly unusual because of his success in baseball.

After playing professional basketball, he spent years in Major League Baseball.

He became an All-Star and one of the early Black players to establish long major-league careers after baseball integration.

Bob Douglas' Legacy

Bob Douglas remains one of the most important basketball executives of the pre-NBA era.

He created and sustained an elite Black professional basketball team for more than two decades despite enormous structural disadvantages.

The Renaissance organization competed nationally, won championships and produced numerous historically significant players.

Douglas was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

The Detroit Vagabond Kings After the NBL

The collapse of Detroit's NBL operation did not completely end the Vagabond Kings name.

The organization later resurfaced as a barnstorming team.

The Vagabond Kings continued playing exhibition and independent basketball for several years during the 1950s.

The later team even included athletes who became better known in other sports.

Doug Atkins

One notable athlete associated with the later Vagabond Kings was Doug Atkins.

Atkins later became a legendary defensive end in the National Football League and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

His basketball stint illustrates the fluid nature of professional athletics during the barnstorming era.

The Vagabond Kings and the Rens Were Very Different Organizations

Although Detroit and Dayton shared a position in the 1948-49 NBL schedule, they should not be treated as the same historical organization.

The Detroit Vagabond Kings were a new Michigan franchise created for that season.

The Dayton Rens were the league version of Bob Douglas' long-established New York Renaissance organization.

The connection existed because Dayton took over Detroit's NBL schedule and inherited its standings record.

Detroit Vagabond Kings NBL Record

Dayton Rens NBL Record

Detroit-Dayton Combined NBL Record

Head Coaches

Notable Detroit Vagabond Kings Players

• Ollie Shoaff
• Johnny Sebastian
• Tony Kaseta
• Dillard Crocker
• Del Loranger
• Ben Schadler
• Dick Shrider
• Paul Juntunen
• Hal Devoll

Notable Dayton Rens Players

• Pop Gates
• George Crowe
• Hank DeZonie
• Jim Usry
• William Brown
• Johnny Isaacs
• Longie Powell
• Sonny Wood
• Tom Sealy

Major New York Renaissance Accomplishments

• Founded by Bob Douglas in Harlem in 1923
• One of the first major Black-owned professional basketball organizations
• Won 88 consecutive games during the 1932-33 season
• Won the inaugural World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939
• Produced numerous historically important Black basketball players
• Entered the NBL as the Dayton Rens during the 1948-49 season

Franchise Timeline

The Rens and the NBA's Racial History

The Dayton Rens occupy an unusual place in the history leading to NBA integration.

The Renaissance organization had been proving the ability of Black professional basketball players for more than two decades before the NBA existed.

They had defeated elite white teams, won national tournaments and produced some of the best players in the sport.

Their admission into the NBL represented long-overdue recognition of that ability.

Yet the organization disappeared just before the NBA began.

A Lost Opportunity for the New NBA

Had the Rens been included in the new league, the NBA could have begun its existence with an established Black-owned, all-Black professional organization already among its membership.

Instead, the league entered the 1949-50 season without Black players.

Integration occurred individually the following season rather than through the continuation of the Renaissance organization.

The Detroit Collapse Created a Historic Opening

There is a remarkable historical irony in the story.

The Detroit Vagabond Kings were one of the least successful teams in NBL history.

Their financial failure unexpectedly opened the league door to one of the greatest teams that had previously been excluded from organized major-league professional basketball.

A 2-17 expansion team therefore became indirectly responsible for one of the most important racial milestones of the NBL era.

Two Completely Different Legacies

The two organizations left dramatically different historical legacies.

The Vagabond Kings are remembered primarily as a failed NBL expansion team that lasted less than two months.

The Rens are remembered as one of the foundational organizations in Black basketball history.

The accident of scheduling connected them for one season, but their broader stories are fundamentally different.

Legacy of the Detroit Vagabond Kings

The Detroit Vagabond Kings were one of the shortest-lived franchises in National Basketball League history.

The team entered the NBL in 1948 during a period of instability caused by the departure of several major franchises for the Basketball Association of America.

Detroit struggled from the beginning.

Ollie Shoaff and Johnny Sebastian provided scoring, but the Vagabond Kings could not stop opponents defensively.

The team allowed more than 75 points per game and won only two contests, both against Denver.

Attendance problems made the situation worse.

After only 19 games, Detroit ceased operations on December 16, 1948.

The Vagabond Kings ended their NBL history with a 2-17 record.

The name later continued in barnstorming basketball, but Detroit never again competed in the NBL.

Legacy of the Dayton Rens

The Dayton Rens represented something much more historically significant.

They were not simply a replacement expansion team.

They were the National Basketball League version of Bob Douglas' legendary New York Renaissance organization.

The Rens had spent decades competing at an elite level while racial discrimination kept Black teams outside most major professional leagues.

When Detroit collapsed, the NBL finally invited the organization inside.

Pop Gates led the new Dayton team as player-coach and averaged 11.2 points per game.

George Crowe added 10.9 per game, while Jim Usry, Hank DeZonie and other experienced Rens helped create a far more competitive team than the Detroit club they replaced.

Dayton went 14-26 in its own 40 games.

The defense allowed only 61.5 points per game, a dramatic improvement from Detroit's 75.2.

However, the league required Dayton to inherit Detroit's 2-17 record.

The combined franchise therefore finished 16-43 and missed the playoffs.

The arrangement placed the Rens at a substantial competitive disadvantage from the moment they entered the league.

At the same time, the team faced serious financial difficulties and the persistent racial discrimination that had shaped the Renaissance organization throughout its history.

When the NBL and BAA came together in 1949, the Dayton Rens were not included in the new NBA.

The Renaissance organization disappeared at almost exactly the moment professional basketball entered its modern era.

The NBA remained all white during its first season under the new name before Black players began entering the league in 1950.

The historical importance of the Dayton Rens therefore extends far beyond their 14 victories.

Their presence in the NBL demonstrated that an all-Black professional basketball organization could compete within one of the country's established major leagues.

It also connected the great Black barnstorming tradition directly to the league structure that immediately preceded the NBA.

The Detroit Vagabond Kings and Dayton Rens shared only one line in an unusual NBL standings table, but together their story captures the instability, financial struggles, racial barriers and rapid transformation that defined professional basketball immediately before the birth of the modern NBA.