publicity before joining the team. Harrison later became the team's captain, coach, manager, and chief scout over the next two decades. Among visitors to Rochester to play the team were the Original Celtics, the New York Rens, and the Harlem Globetrotters. 1945–1957: Rochester Royals With news that World War II was approaching its end, the National Basketball League (NBL) announced that it was expanding, and Harrison was approached for interest in a franchise. While the sponsored Seagrams balked at additional expenses involved, Harrison and his lawyer brother Jack jumped at the chance. They pooled money to meet the steep entry fee of $25,000 dollars and were granted an NBL franchise. Their team pushed out the Seagrams locally at their facility, smallish Edgerton Park Arena. The best players were the returning Navy and Army players now being released from the war. There was no draft for the league in the selection of new players. So, Harrison was able to scoop up several name stars for his new team, among them Bob Davies, Red Holzman and William "Fuzzy" Levane, as well as NBL free agents like George Glamack and Al Cervi. The result was a strong league champion in their first season of existence as the Royals during the 1945–46 season. The team had two more seasons of success during their NBL years, which permitted the team to play non-league opponents. During all three years, 1945–1948, the team played over 300 total games, hosting most of them. The Royals defected to the NBL's rival, the Basketball Association of America (BAA), in 1948 along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers, and Indianapolis (Kautskys) Jets. A year later, the BAA absorbed the remaining NBL teams to become the National Basketball Association (NBA). The move to the BAA took away Rochester's profitable exhibition schedule and placed it in the same Western Division as the Minneapolis Lakers. Of the two best teams in professional basketball, only one of them could play in the league finals from 1949 to 1954. Minneapolis, with George Mikan, was almost always better during playoffs than the Royals. With their smallish arena and now-limited schedule, the Royals became less profitable even as the team finished no lower than second in its division in both the NBL and BAA/NBA from 1945 to 1954. The Royals won the NBA title in 1951 by defeating the New York Knicks 4–3. It is the only