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HISTORY OF THE USBATHE UNITED STATES BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
EST 2007 The United States Basketball Association (USBA) was founded in April 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia by Duane Allen Jenkins. The USBA is a for profit single A minor division men's professional basketball league. The League is not in any association with another league, with a similar name, that offers youth tournaments for boys and girls, ages 9 through 17. The Alden Group LLC is the parent company of the United States Basketball Association. The USBA is a mid spring through early summer professional basketball league. The regular season runs from the first week of April to the first week in July. In keeping with the tradition of major league basketball, the USBA will break at mid season for the USBA All Star Classic basketball game, which is to be held in the third weekend of May. The regular season will culminate with a traditional championship play-off series, which will include the top four teams in each division, making them eligible to play a single game elimination tournament. The champions will receive the coveted Willie Joe Hunter Memorial Championship Trophy. The USBA inaugural 2010 season will commence with eighteen teams in the Southeastern Conference. The conference has three divisions, the Appalachian Division which houses the following teams; the Birmingham Crusaders, the Nashville Thunder, the Huntsville Storm, the Chattanooga Royal, the Louisville Locomotive and the West Virginia Capitals. The Atlantic Division which houses the following teams; the Richmond Colonials, the Jacksonville Admirals, the Savannah Seahawks, the Columbia Centurion, the Washington Congressionals and the Charlotte Blue Wave. The Southern Division houses the following teams; the Atlanta Platinum, The Augusta Raging River, The Macon Maruaders, the Mississippi River Hawks, the Mobile Mariners and the Montgomery Generals. Each team will play a thirty game schedule, with fifteen home and fifteen away. The USBA was initiated to provide basketball players a venue to allow them to keep the level of their conditioning and the sharpness of their skill in tact as they are scouted by coaches and agents in hopes of securing a position with a team on the next level. The USBA mid spring and early summer concept is to provide high competition basketball to the avid sports fans and to allow players to better develop their talents to compete against other high intensity players. The league will make this venue available to basketball players who have completed playing a season in the traditional winter leagues. HISTORY OF BASKETBALL The game of basketball was created by Dr. James Naismith and Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick in 1891. Dr Naismith and Dr. Gulick were in the physical education department at Springfield College, in Springfield, Massachusetts (which was a Y.M.C.A training facility). Dr. Naismith under orders from Dr. Gulick, was given 14 days to create an indoor game to provide an "athletic distraction" for the students. Dr. Naismith was to find a way to counter the brutal New England winters. The original format was two peach baskets nailed ten feet off the ground to railings attached to the wall. The first basketball was actually a soccer ball. This was the first introduction of indoor team sports. The basketball as it is used today was created by Mr G.L. Pierce on June 15, 1925. He was awarded to the original patent for his invention. Organized college sports was first formed in 1906. It's original name was the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS), then in 1910 they change their name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The first collegiate basketball game was played on February 9, 1895. The Minnesota School of Agriculture ( now the University of Minnesota) played Hamline College. This historic game ended with Hamline losing to Minnesota 9 to 3. The first college basketball game played using today's format was on January 18, 1896. The University of Chicago played the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The final score was: University of Chicago 15 University of Iowa 12. Professional basketball was formed in 1898. The National Basketball League (NBL) was the first American professional basketball league. This new venture started with six teams in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The second league to take shape was the American Basketball League (ABL) in 1925, and suspended operations in 1931. The third professional basketball league formed was the Basketball Association of America (BAA), in 1947 the NBL and the BAA merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 1967 a rival league formed called the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 1976 the league folded and four remaining teams moved into the NBA. In 2008, the NBA has 30 basketball teams across the United States, entertaining millions of fans and stimulating economies around the planet. The NBA is considered to have the best basketball players in the world. The NBA has influenced 100's of millions of fans throughout the globe and is the leader in modern day basketball. In 2008 basketball is played in thousands of high school and college gymnasiums throughout the world. The philosophy has never changed, five people playing against five people, whether playing in the NBA or in a fifth grade elementary school game, the concept is and will always be teamwork. (This historical overview has been compiled by the United States Basketball Association. Some of the material used was taken from on-line resources and are not the original creation of the United States Basketball Association) |