Former Gopher Ben Coleman told Sports Headliners he has the local rights to operate an American Basketball Association franchise and plans for his team to begin play in 2010.
Coleman, who attended North High School and played one season for the Gophers and then transferred to Maryland, will hold a tryout for players on September 19 at a site to be determined. Players selected will form a barnstorming team that will play games in various parts of the state against local amateur teams. The games will help promote the new ABA franchise, according to Coleman who played pro basketball in the states and Europe, and is now a local businessman.
The players from the tryout may form part of the roster for next year’s team. For certain, Coleman said, players on the 2010 roster will have Minnesota connections.
The team doesn’t have a name or a home, although Coleman said Blizzards is a potential nickname. While a location at the old Minneapolis Central High School gym is a possibility, other metro area buildings, or even a facility in St. Cloud or Rochester, are being considered.
Minnesota had an ABA team based in St. Paul but that team, the Ripknees, is no longer in operation. Coleman hopes to make his team more popular than the Ripknees and intends to emphasize community marketing, admiring the “model” of baseball’s St. Paul Saints.
According to its Web site, the ABA has 60 teams, plays a schedule from late fall through early spring and emphasizes high scoring basketball. The site also said that 60 percent of its franchises are owned by African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and women. Coleman, who is African-American, said he will be the new franchise’s owner.
The league plans to have 11 games on the VERSUS Network during the 2009-10 season, according to the Web site, https://abalive.com/headlines/index.html?article_id=241