 Following World War II, Anslem Kreiger, a former All-American Basketball player, took over the program, with a record of 15-10 over his two-year tenure.Ed (Melvin) Milkovich took over the basketball team for a six-year period starting with the 1948–49 season.This was a period of great success for the program, with two appearances in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the first during the 1950–51 season when the team was eliminated in the second round.