ABA congratulates Joe Rogers for outstanding program
September 8, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA) News Release
Indianapolis, IN. The American Basketball Association (ABA) congratulates Joe Rogers, a former basketball player at The State University of New York, for an outstanding program - "The Hard Knocks Basketball Association." According to Newman, "For the prisoners locked up at the State Correctional Institute at Graterford, PA, basketball provides the closest thing to an escape they can find. Joe Rogers has been coordinating the "Hard Knocks Basketball Association" for 12 years. His program has been featured in SLAM Magazine and has been the subject for a documentary and book which never came to fruition due to other inmate publicity issues. He is assisted in the program by fifteen well-trained officials earning 82 cents a game to insure that games are run smoothly and with order, which can be "somewhat challenging in an environment like this."
Few basketball programs run inside 40 foot stone walls or otherwise are as established or as well run as the one at this maximum security prison located 30 miles outside of Philadelphia. "It is here, where 25 teams comprised of hardened convicts make up three leagues (A, B & 35+) that play seven days a week and 48 weeks a year," added Rogers. "Players are drafted and traded, statistics and standings are well maintained and their version of March Madness is unlike that of the one typically seen annually on CBS."
Joe Rogers is still currently coordinating the program at S.C.I. - Graterford, but would like to join a professional organization or league as a coach also. If you would like to contact him regarding any possible positions, you can reach him at joeerogers@dejazzd.com. Or visit www.abalive.com.
Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.
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