Pro Basketball May Be On It’s Way To Greeley

Do you remember the red, white, and blue colored ball, high socks and short shorts of the ABA (American Basketball Association)? Well all the goodness of the ABA, yes including the cool looking ball, may soon be headed to Greeley.

Patrick Kelly of Greeley is the owner of the newest expansion team of the American Basketball Association, the Colorado Cougars. Kelly hopes to locate his new franchise in Greeley, playing games on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. The team is still in the building stages, with no players or coaches yet. So where will the players come from? Local talent would be ideal, but there is also a pool of players that the ABA provides that teams can bid on players from.

From Greeleytribune.com:

“We’re going to be a community team,” said Kelly, who hopes to have everything ready by September. “Greeley doesn’t have a lot. We have UNC, but there’s nothing professional about us.”

In addition to producing a quality basketball product, Kelly stressed the team will give back to the community supporting it.

“We’re very philanthropic,” Kelly said, who added a portion of their sales will be donated to a nonprofit organization.

Kelly said he is “98 percent” sure the team will be located in Greeley, but he also entertained Loveland and the Budweiser Events Center as another option.

“We’re still testing the business community, and we’re very confident Greeley would support us,” he said.

The ABA season runs from November to March with 15 home games to be played by the Cougars. visit abacougars.com for more info.