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Central Illinois awarded ABA team

February 8, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA) News Release


Indianapolis, IN. The American Basketball Association (ABA) today announced that Prairie Basketball Enterprises, LLC has been awarded an ABA team for Peoria or Bloomington, Illinois to begin play this fall. According to Joe Newman, ABA CEO, "We are particularly delighted to have this group as part of the ABA and to have Central Illinois in the league. We previously announced a team in Chicago and will be making another announcement shortly about a third team in the area. It will make for a very competitive situation, easy to travel, and certainly enhances the entire division."

Prairie Basketball Enterprises, LLC is made up of three individuals. James A. McCaughey is Vice President at McKim and Company, an institutional banking firm specializing in advising emerging growth companies. Mr. McCaughey has over 20 years of experience in the finance industry. Prior to joining McKin & Company, he was the President of First Bank in Palm Desert, California where he worked for over 20 years holding a variety of positions including marketing and bankcards. He also held positions with the County Economic Development Agency and Review Commissioner with the City of Palm Desert. A graduate of Drake University with a B.S.B.A. in accounting, he also graduated from the Pacific Coast Graduate School of Banking at the University of Washington in Seattle.

William P. McCaughey is Chairman of the Board of Simplex Building Products, Inc., a manufacturer of vinyl window and door products. He is also a Managing Director of Consolidation Experts, LP, an investment banking firm specializing in industry consolidations. Mr. McCaughey was also co-founder of rePipe, Inc., the second largest sewer pipeline rehabilitation company in the United States and was a co-founder of National Refrigeration Services, Inc., a national refrigeration service company. Previously, Mr. McCaughey was a co-founder, Director and Chief Financial Officer of American Residential Services, Inc., a NYSE company engaged in plumbing, heating, air conditioning and appliace repair was well as Treasurer of two NASDAQ companies. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and earned a BA and MA from Drake University.

Robert M. "Mike" Van Antwerp, the third partner, is a former sportswriter for the Champaign-Urbana (IL) Courier and worked for many years as a circulation manager for the Chicago Tribune. Previously, he was a salesman and sales manager for Combined Insurance Company of America where he earned every major sales and management award the company offered. He earned a Bachelors Detree in Journalism from the University of Illinois.

"We know business, finance, sales, sports - and we love basketball," said Jim McCaughey. "We looked at a lot of cities, did our research and have no doubt that Peoria could be one of the great ABA cities. Seeing what teams are doing in cities like Rockville MD, Bellingham WA, Gallup NM, Rochester NY, and others gives us great confidence. We're ready to go - and as Joe said, "Hello Peoria - are you ready for an ABA team?" For more information email jimmccau@aol.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.



American Basketball Association Stories from February 8, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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