Cleveland Allmen Transfers

Originally, the franchise first existed within the Amateur Athletic Union by as early as 1935 with the sponsorship of the Chase Brass and Copper Company, though they would first play as the Cleveland Chase Copper Brassmen instead of the more well-known Cleveland Chase Brassmen that they would later go by. Not much would be known about that team during that period of time, though it can be inferred that they weren't considered one of the better known AAU teams in the area during that period of time. Despite that fact, when the NBL was struggling to survive by 1943, they would ask for the Cleveland Chase Copper Brassmen to join the NBL for the 1943–44 season; while they ultimately would accept, they ended up becoming the Cleveland Chase Brassmen instead, with only Mel Riebe and John Poncar from the original run of teams joining up on their professional roster.^[2][3] The Chase Brassmen's first season would turn out to be a horrible season for them when they entered the NBL, as they would only win three different games against the Oshkosh All-Stars (out of 18 total games played) despite having Wee Willie Smith as a last-minute addition to the team, with six of their games against the remaining three NBL teams being cancelled for whatever reason and their usual home venue being switched around late in the season for high school venues instead.^[4] Despite the poor results at hand, Cleveland would still qualify for the NBL Playoffs that season (albeit by default), with them being swept by the eventual champion Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons not long afterward (despite the best efforts from leading NBL rookie scorer Mel Riebe). Following the first season's considerable failures, Chase Brass would sell off the team to the local Allmen Transfer & Moving Company, rebranding the team into the Cleveland Allmen Transfers for the rest of their existence not long afterward.

For their second professional season and their first under the Allmen Transfers name, this Cleveland team would perform a fair bit better this time around due to the new head coach of the team, Joseph J. Carlin, informing the undisputed star of the team, Mel Riebe, that he had to do more for his team than just score if they needed to win more games in the NBL.^[5] This advice would prove to be a mixed bag for the team during this season; while they would have their best season in terms of results provided (to the point of being considered a legitimate playoff team this season after the NBL added two new teams this season in the Chicago American Gears and the Pittsburgh Raiders this season and brought back divisions this season), they would still have a losing record and have to compete against the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the NBL Playoffs due to the Allmen Transfers being forced to compete in the Eastern Division. Similar to the previous season, the Zollner Pistons would end up not only sweeping the Cleveland team, but also become the eventual NBL champions in the process. Not only that, but Mel Riebe would also be named a member of the All-NBL First Team as well.

With the third and final season in the NBL, the Allmen Transfers would turn out to compete for most of the season without Mel Riebe competing with the team due to him entering U.S. military service for this season, despite the fact that the World War II would officially be over with by that point in time. Because of that fact, the team would only end up having one more win than their only season while playing as the Cleveland Chase Brassmen, but would ultimately have a worse overall season than that season with a 4–29 record, with one of their games against the Indianapolis Kautskys (who would return to the NBL alongside the joining of two new teams in the Rochester Royals and Youngstown Bears and the removal of the Pittsburgh Raiders following a hiatus that related to the escalation of conflicts that related to World War II in the first place) ultimately being cancelled in the process.^[6] This would unsurprisingly lead to them missing out on participating in the NBL Playoffs this time around, though it would surprisingly be the only time they missed out on the NBL Playoffs in general despite their poor history in the NBL. Following this season's conclusion, the Allmen Transfers would fold operations in the NBL altogether, leading to five NBL teams entering the league that season with the Anderson Duffey Packers, Buffalo Bisons (later Tri-Cities Blackhawks), Detroit Gems, Syracuse Nationals, and Toledo Jeeps being the new teams entering the league for the 1946–47 NBL season, with Syracuse in particular replacing the Allmen Transfers in the process.^[7]