Pine Bluff Will Be Home to ABA's Arkansas River Catz
September 15, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Arkansas Rivercatz News Release
PINE BLUFF - Pine Bluff is the new home of the American Basketball Association Arkansas River Catz professional basketball team that will play their home games in the 6,500-seat arena of the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Keith Newton, general manager, announced the choice of Pine Bluff at a news conference September 13. The season is scheduled to begin on November 10, with 18 home games and the Elite 8 championship games to be played at Pine Bluff.
"I am very excited and pleased with the reception we have already received from the Pine Bluff business community and sports fans," Newton said. "We are looking forward to bringing a top notch brand of basketball to Southeast Arkansas."
"Everyone in Pine Bluff has been so cordial," he continued. "Pine Bluff already feels like home." Ed Corporal, the River Catz head coach, said he was looking forward to the season, which will begin in early November. Regional teams on the schedule will include Waco, TX; St. Louis; Houston; Monterey, Fort Worth and Jackson, TN. He announced that initial tryouts had been held for the team and negotiations were underway with some players. A tryout camp will be held September 23 and 24 at Dollarway High School in Pine Bluff. This will be an open tryout, he said.
Two members of the team will be Dwight Stewart of the Arkansas Razorbacks NCAA Championship team and Oliver Miller "Big O", who will be a player-coach. Additional former Arkansas Razorbacks, UAPB Golden Lions and local high school basketball players are expected to make up the team, Corporal said. His coaches will include Festus Hawkins, who played at Dollarway High School and the University of Illinois.
"We want to do something positive for Pine Bluff," he said." We plan to stay and build here and bring us a championship."
Newton also manages the Arkansas Aeros, located in Fayetteville. This is the first season of competition for both teams, he said, adding that he expected a rivalry to develop.
"The rivalry has already started between the coaches," Corporal said. "This will be a Southeast Arkansas versus Northwest Arkansas rivalry."
Corporal was associate head coach of the 2004-2005 ABA Champion Arkansas RimRockers team, which is now in the ABA Developmental League. He has coached and developed players at the NBA and ABA levels as well as NCAA Division I, Division II and junior colleges. He has been associate head coach and assistant coach of three Kansas State Championship Teams and he was the 2006 NBA All-Star Legends Fantasy Camp Commissioner.
The Royal Arkansas Hotel and Suites adjacent to the convention center will be the headquarters for the River Catz.
Season tickets will be $450 for VIP; $240 for courtside; and $175 for upper level general admission. Per-game pricing will be VIP, $35; courtside, $20; and $14 upper level general admission. Tickets will be for sale at the Pine Bluff Convention Center box office or online at www.rivercatz.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 September 15, 2006
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