The OSC interview: Brevard Blue Ducks owner Mike Richman
by John Gary
September 28, 2005 - United States Basketball League (USBL)
Brevard Blue Ducks
OurSports Central correspondent John Gary recently had a chance to discuss the future of the Brevard Blue Ducks with team owner and president Mike Richman. The Blue Ducks took last season off from the USBL and played a schedule against independents and are now looking to return to a professional league.
John Gary: You will be making your return to the USBL in 2006. How are preparations going for it?
Mike Richman: Preparations for our 2006 season are already under way. Nothing much is being done differently than it has in past seasons. From a front office standpoint, we're preparing several budgets for different scenarios. From a personnel standpoint, we continue to scout players and I'm now interviewing for coaches. Toward the end of the year we'll begin our recruiting for staff. We carry about 100 people on our staff during the season. We are also in the midst of signing up sponsors - both renewing existing ones and bringing aboard new ones.
JG: What cities do you expect to see in the league in 2006?
MR: Hopefully, a couple of new cities in Florida! That's really our main concern, to get some teams located in this area so that we can be on par with the clusters of teams competing in the Northeast and Midwest. For the league's sake I hope that every team from last year will return, including the franchises that had financial difficulty. In addition, I'd look forward to seeing Cedar Rapids back in the league. They were a premier franchise for the USBL and I think it's important for a viable league to keep its premier franchises.
JG: Do you feel that you can be competitive again in league play after a year off?
MR: I don't foresee any problem with that in terms of scouting and identifying top players. As I stated earlier, we continue to scout players both within the U.S. and abroad and our Director of Player Personnel, Derek Howard also personally scouts the college ranks for top young talent. I don't think we'll have any problem identifying top talent for USBL level basketball. Our one problem in being competitive is financial. As I mentioned earlier, we are looking for new expansion franchises to be added to Florida. This is absolutely necessary for us to have a competitive balance within the league. As it stands now, every single time the Blue Ducks play a road game, we have to send the entire team via plane and incur air travel, vehicle rental, hotel and per diem costs. From a competitive standpoint, this has put us at a tremendous disadvantage to other teams in the league who are clustered together in the Northeast and Midwest, who travel mainly via car or rental van to the majority of their games, many times without overnight stays being necessary. As a result, we are entirely non-competitive financially. The money other teams spend on player personnel we have to put into our travel budget, which is many times higher than other teams in the league.
JG: Will you be recruiting more on the national scene now that the hurricane period in Florida has apparently died down and some normalcy has returned?
MR: The USBL is a top tier league. To be competitive, we'll have to go back to expanding our search for basketball talent to a national, even an international level. That being said, we feel it is very important for us to work harder to uncover talent right here in our backyard in Florida. One of the most enjoyable aspects of playing an independent season which we did this past year was the ability for us to recruit locally. It gave me great pleasure in giving local, Florida-based players their first opportunity to play pro-level ball and begin their professional careers. So though we'd have to expand our talent search out of necessity if we're back in the USBL, we'd most certainly do everything we could to recruit some talent right here from Florida.
JG: Did you ever think about leaving the USBL for the upstart World Basketball Association at any time?
MR: Taking a year off from the USBL gave us an opportunity to see what is out there in the world of minor league basketball. Needless to say, we were contacted by just about every league out there asking us what our long-term plans were regarding future league play. It gave me a chance to talk to officials from other leagues like the ABA, IBL and NBA-DL as well as the WBA. It also allowed me to appreciate the hard work and planning each of these leagues' owners and commissioners put into their operations and gave me an understanding of the niches each league is trying to fill. I can't tell you where we may have the best fit in the future because at this time I truly don't know. It will depend on how a particular league's vision fits in with ours and as I brought up earlier, how travel-efficient we can be within a league, dependent upon the geographic location of other teams with that league. I can tell you that we did bring down the WBA All-Star team during the summer to play against us and I was impressed by the level of talent they were able to assemble. For a two-year old league, you take a look at their players and you see some really good talent. So from that perspective, they would be a league to look at.
JG: How do you see the USBL twenty years from now? In your opinion is it strong enough to remain for many years to come or do you see it falling by the wayside?
MR: Boy, I don't know if my crystal ball goes out that far. I certainly hope it is around twenty years from now. The USBL has such a rich history. It has sent over 150 players on to the NBA. Many well-known stars have played in the league. It's also the longest continually running minor league in existence. Only the CBA has been around longer. It has such a legacy. I'd hate to see it go away. It has been successful because it's a niche league, playing in the summer. That has enabled its teams to recruit top player and coaching talent from around the world. But it is apparent that the USBL doesn't own the off-season niche alone anymore. It is still the premier off-season league but it is not the only one. It will have to compete with other new leagues, all of whom will have to compete in some manner with the NBA's D-League. That will be the most successful of all the leagues now that the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement allows for team affiliations between NBA and D-League teams. That to me was an absolute necessity for minor league basketball to grow and become a relevant factor in the world of basketball. I guess it all boils down to that for not just the USBL, but all the leagues that exist today. How relevant will they be in the future? They don't all necessary have to be the most relevant nationally. I think the NBA-DL will take that prize. But if they carry some significance within their market niches or specific regions, they'll be okay. If not, they'll fall by the wayside.
United States Basketball League Stories from September 28, 2005
- The OSC interview: Brevard Blue Ducks owner Mike Richman - OSC Original by John Gary
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.
