Florida, Southern Cal to sit out CBA season
by Sam Amico
September 27, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
The Florida Pit Bulls and Southern California Legends will not participate in the CBA this season, the league has announced. Both teams, who moved from the ABA with plans to play in the CBA immediately, cited venue problems as reasons.
The Pit Bulls were expecting to play home games at the BankUnited Center on the University of Miami campus, but according to the CBA web site, Miami athletic director Paul Dee overturned the agreement "at the last minute, citing concerns over a potential conflict with the (school's) basketball programs."
"It came as a total shock to us," Pit Bulls majority owner Demetrius Ford said on the CBA Web site. "We were led to believe for quite some time that the deal was a lock. Dates were forwarded to the CBA, commitments were made by the arena management to assist in every facet of marketing and sales, and they even drafted a quote to be included in our press release that expressed their excitement of hosting our games."
Ford added: "By the time they informed us of their decision, it was too late to search for and negotiate a new venue deal for this season. It really is a shame. Tim Hardaway, Carl Collins and the rest of the organization put a great deal of effort into preparing for this season, and we were very committed to giving South Florida a taste of the CBA -- which would have been a huge improvement over last year's ABA experience."
Meanwhile, Southern California learned that construction on its new venue will not be completed in time for this season. The Legends are slated to play home games at California Lutheran University's Gilbert Sports Arena -- which won't be ready until January. The CBA season starts Dec. 1.
The Legends are headed by former NBA guard Gary Grant.
The news regarding Florida and Southern California came on the same day as the league's 21st annual draft, in which Minot selected Syracuse forward Dayshawn Wright with the No. 1 overall pick. (The entire CBA draft can be viewed here).
It also added to what has been a whirlwind of an offseason for the CBA. Three of its most stable franchises left for the NBA D-League -- Idaho, Sioux Falls, Dakota -- as did a fourth, expansion Colorado.
The league then added Florida, Southern California, Indiana and Minot (formerly San Jose) from the ABA. And just this past week, Pittsburgh came over from the ABA, and Utah and Vancouver signed on as expansion franchises.
Butte, Great Falls, and Atlanta were added earlier this offseason, while Albany and defending champion Yakama are holdovers from last year. Gary, Rockford and Michigan will not return.
Both Florida and Southern California are planning to play in 2007-08. Florida also announced that it has changed its name to the Miami Majesty.
"We are disappointed that the Legend and now the Majesty are not able to participate in the upcoming season," CBA director of operations Dennis Truax said on the league Web site. "The circumstances behind their being unable to play this season were ones that were out of their control. We are confident that they will be able to work out their arena issues and be ready for the 2007-08 season."
Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from September 27, 2006
- Pittsburgh Xplosion join Continental Basketball Association - Pittsburgh Xplosion
- Florida, Southern Cal to sit out CBA season - OSC Original by Sam Amico
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
