James Carter was head basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 at the University of Dayton

University of Dayton

The University of Dayton is a private Roman Catholic university operated by the Society of Mary located in Dayton, Ohio...

, in Dayton, Ohio

Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...

, USA, from 1939 until 1947.

Carter came to Dayton when head football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach Harry Baujan

Harry Baujan

Harry Clifford "Blond Beast" Baujan was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Dayton from 1923 to 1946, compiling a record of 124–64–8...

 hired him as an assistant football coach. Carter, a Purdue

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 graduate and varsity football standout, had no experience with basketball, but was nonetheless installed as the head basketball coach for the 1939-40 season. Although he had to share football responsibilities with his new basketball duties, Carter quickly moved to expand the Flyers' profile. In his first season he scheduled an ambitious five game east coast road trip against such prominent teams as Rhode Island

University of Rhode Island

The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...

, St Joseph's

Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball

The Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team represents Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Its home court is the Hagan Arena. The team's only Final Four appearance in 1961 was removed from the NCAA records due to a gambling scandal. Through...

, St John's and Long Island University

Long Island University

Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...

. Later, he scheduled other high profile opponents such as Kentucky

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball

The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...

 and Ohio

Ohio Bobcats men's basketball

The Ohio Bobcats men’s basketball team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Ohio University. The team represents the university as a member of the Mid-American Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the Division 1 level...

 during his coaching tenure. Carter is noted for starting an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 player on his 1946-47 squad. Carter led the Flyers to winning records in his third and fourth seasons, but the two year World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 suspension between 1943 and 1945 derailed this progress. Following consecutive 3-13 and 4-17 seasons, the University decided to hire Tom Blackburn as its full time basketball coach in 1947. Carter's six season record was 41-75. Carter lives in Anderson, IN and was recently recognized as the oldest living Purdue Boilermaker

Purdue Boilermakers football

The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...

.