The Toledo Jeeps were a professional basketball team that played in the National Basketball League from 1946 to 1948. As with many other NBL teams, they owed their name to an industry of their hometown, in this case the Willys-Overland Jeep Plant. They played their games at the University of Toledo Field House. The 1946–47 team featured players such as Chips Sobek, Hal Tidrick, Jule Rivlin and rookie Paul Seymour. Rivlin served as the player-coach. It went 21–23 and qualified for the playoffs, where it lost to the

Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at ...

. It would, however, be invited to the 1947

World Professional Basketball Tournament The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an annual invitational tournament held in Chicago from 1939 to 1948 and sponsored by the ''Chicago Herald American''. Many teams came from the National Basketball League (United States), National Bas ...

, where it finished 2nd behind the

Indianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of ...

. In the 1947–48 NBL season, Sobek, Tidrick and Rivlin returned, and were joined by Dick Mehen and

Harry Boykoff Harry J. Boykoff (July 24, 1922 – February 20, 2001) was an American professional basketball player. During his career he was often referred to as "Heshie", Big Hesh", and "Big Boy". He stood at tall. Early life Boykoff was born on the Lowe ...

. The team finished with a record of 22–37 and missed the playoffs. On May 10, 1948, the Jeeps joined the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, and

Oshkosh All-Stars The Oshkosh All-Stars were an American professional basketball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Founded in 1929 by Lonnie Darling, the team was a member of the National Basketball League, a forerunner to the NBA, from 1937 until 1949. History ...

as one of six NBL teams to at least try and switch from the NBL to the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

(BAA), though like the All-Stars, the Jeeps failed to switch leagues that year and joined the aborted BAA Buffalo team and cities of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

and

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

as failed teams and locations to have teams enter the BAA that year.https://www.apbr.org/baaminutes.html The 1947-48 season later proved to be the Jeeps' last; they were replaced for what became the NBL's final season with the

Waterloo Hawks The Waterloo Hawks were a National Basketball League and National Basketball Association team based in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hawks remain the only sports franchise ever based in Iowa from any of the current Big Four Leagues. They are not affili ...

, who inherited Mehen and Boykoff from Toledo.

References

Basketball teams established in 1946 Basketball teams disestablished in 1948 1946 establishments in Ohio 1948 disestablishments in Ohio {{Ohio-basketball-team-stub