WISCONSIN 1983-84 WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONS

Wisconsin Flyers
CBA 1982-1986

The Wisconsin Flyers were born out of a desire to build an entire basketball league in Wisconsin. Killian Spanbauer, the owner of a sporting good chain based in Oshkosh, had publicly stated as early as 1981 that he wanted to form a minor league baksetball circuit with 6-8 teams across Wisconsin. By the 1982-83 season, Spanbauer got his wish, as his $100,000 franchise fee payment created the Wisconsin Flyers, so named after the history of aviation in the team's home base of Oshkosh, Wisc. The Flyers joined shared rivalries with two other nearby expansion franchises, the Detroit Spirits and the Ohio Mixers, in the CBA's "Central" division.

The franchise did not start off strongly, as head coach Dave Wohl took an assistant's position with the Los Angeles Lakers before the season began. Dave Harshman was tabbed to take over the team, but the team finished its inaugural season with a 14-30 record.

For the franchise's second season, the Fyers hired Oshkosh native Gene "Torchy" Clark as head coach, who had coached Central Florida (Division II) for 14 years, but Clark quit before the Flyers' season opener, unable to comfortably make the transition to the professional game. Clarks' replacement, Bill Klucas, joined the Flyers after his previous team, the Billings Volcanos, folded.

Klucas woke the Flyers - and the league - up, as the team won 10 of its first thirteen contests. By February 16, 1984, the Byers were 23-8 and had locked up the Western Division title.

But by February 18, the Wyoming Wildcatters, fighting to make the playoffs, pounded in two victories against Wisconsin. The Flyers never recovered from those two shocking losses, and dropped nine of 13 games, including the last five of the season. They won their first playoff series against the Ohio Mixers, 3 games to 2, but were upset in the semifinal round by those same Wyoming Wildcatters.

That season, the Flyers had an array of top talent, including rs - Jose Slaughter, Greg Jones (CBA Rookie of the Year), Steve Lingenfelter (CBA Newcomer of the Year), and Kevin Graham. Graham was namd to the CBA Second-Team and the First-Team All-Defense. Slaughter was named to the Second-Team All-Defense squad.

The 1984-85 season was one that Bill Klucas would love to wipe away from the history books. The Flyers finished their season in fourth place in the CBA's Western Division with a 21-27 record, even though they started off with a four-game season-starting winning streak, and were 12-12 through January 15. But a knee injury to Wisconsin's seven-foot center Robert Armstrong crippled the Flyers' defense, and forward Joe Merten missed 23 games with nagging injuries. Wisconsin's biggest surprise, however, was the playo f two stellar rookies - McKinley Singleton, who averaged 17.1 ppg and 50% from the floor; and Bill Nelson, who signed with the Flyers after dazzling scouts at a CBA tryout camp in Los Angeles. The Flyers made the playoffs for the second straight year, and this time pushed the Wyoming Wildcatters out of the playoffs in a major upset. But all their energy was used up in the first round - they were swept in three straight games by the Detroit Spirits in the playoff semifinals. During the Flyers' third year, owner Killian Spanbauer announced the team would be put up for sale. At the end of the season, Bill Klucas left the Flyers to accept the head coaching job of the Wyoming Wildcatters; former Flyer Joe Merten, at age 26, became the Flyers' - and the CBA's - youngest head coach for the 1985-86 season.

Under Merten, the Flyers won six of their first nine games, but then lost five straight and stayed under .500 for the rest of the season. Any hope that the team might make the playoffs was dashed when their top player, guard Bryan Warrick, was signed by the Indiana Pacers - without Warrick, the Flyers dropped 15 of 17 games to finish out the year with a 16-32 mark.

Warrick wasn't the Flyers' only loss - forward Sam Mitchell, the team's leading scorer (20.8 ppg), quit the Flyers after 15 games. Guard Darrell Browder broke his finger and missed 14 games; Tommy Davis, Darryl Space and David Cooke all spent time off the court nursing injuries. At one point, Merten went from retired player and current coach, to current player-coach, just so that there were enough warm bodies on the court. Attendance dropped during this season as well; after three years in Oshkosh, the Flyers moved to Neenah, Wisconsin, to play a full slate of games in one arena (as opposed to sharing venues in the team's earlier years). The move proved disastrous; Wisconsin only drew 1,492 paying customers to its opening-day victory against the Detroit Spirits; and outside of a January loss to Wyoming that drew 3,126 fans, the Flyers barely averaged 1100 fans a night.

Bill Klucas returned to the Flyers for the 1986-87 season, and the Flyers returned to Oshkosh - well, at least two different arenas in Oshkosh and a third in nearby Appleton. In fact, that season the Flyers only played in the same building on consecutive home dates twice all year. Once again, the Flyers started out strong, as Greg Jones led the team in scoring (21.9 ppg), and McKinley Singleton was close behind, with 19.3 ppg. T. Tony Brown, a 6'9" free agent, became one of the CBA's premier rebounders and shot blockers, and earned All-Defensive Second Team honors, with 10.3 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocked shots per game. But an eight-game losing streak in mid-season cost the Flyers dearly - although the team rallied to win 11 of their final sixteen contests, they were tied with Rockford with 22 losses and 26 wins. Rockford, however, made the playoffs based on winning 12 more quarters than did Wisconsin - finishing the season with 161.5 quarter points to the Flyers' 153.5 quarter point total.

Sadly, this would be the Flyers' final season in Wisconsin - owner Killian Spanbauer announced the team was up for sale again; and this time, a buyer was found. The Flyers left Oshkosh for Rochester Minnesota, where they would retain the team nickname as the Rochester Flyers.

According to Wisconsin Flyers fan Mark Miller, Spanbauer's biggest regret was not calling the team the Oshkosh Flyers (although the team's home jerseys did say "Oshkosh" in the Flyers' first season). According to miller, CBA commissioner Jim Drucker wanted Spanbauer to call the team the "Wisconsin Flyers" for marketing appeal, so that when the team went on the road, it would be easier to sell Wisconsin to the local crowd than to sell Oshkosh).

             W   L   QW     QP   Result
1982-1983   14  30   78.0 120.0  Did not make playoffs
1983-1984   27  17  101.0 182.0  Lost in semifinals
1984-1985   21  27   91.0 154.0  Lost in semifinals
1985-1986   16  32   79.5 127.5  Did not make playoffs
1986-1987   22  26   87.5 153.5  Did not make playoffs

1982-1983 Did Not Make Playoffs
1983-1984 Won in quarterfinals over Ohio, 3 games to 2
          Lost in semifinals to Wyoming, 1 game to 3
1984-1985 Won in quarterfinals over Wyoming, 3 games to 2
          Lost in semifinals to Detroit, 0 games to 3
1985-1986 Did Not Make Playoffs
1986-1987 Did Not Make Playoffs