Birmingham Crusaders

The Birmingham Crusaders is a proposed professional basketball team representing Birmingham in the United States Basketball Association (USBA) and playing at the Bill Harris Arena at Fair Park.

The league was organized in July 2007 by Georgia businessman Duane Allen Jenkins in advance of the collapse of the United States Basketball League (USBL). Birmingham was announced as one of 12 league-owned charter teams, and part of a 6-team "Appalachian Division" which also included franchises in Chattanooga, Atlanta, Nashville, Asheville and Montgomery.

In May 2008 the league announced it would postpone its first season, which had expanded to 14 teams. In February 2009 the league announced that Jeff Hill, a former basketball coach for Carver High School, had been hired to coach the Crusaders. Connie Morris, a Jess Lanier High School coach was hired as an assistant and George Moore, Birmingham City Schools athletic director was hired as director of basketball operations. Twelve players were signed to a contract that paid $350 per week plus free housing and one meal per day at the Golden Corrall restaurant. By May, with no deposit paid to the city for the arena, the league postponed play for another year.

In January 2010 Terry Traux, former head coach at Towson State University in Maryland, was hired as the new coach of the Crusaders. In the reorganized 18-team league, Birmingham is set to play in the Appalachian Division, one of three divisions of the Southeastern Conference, the only conference in the USBA at its start. Other teams in the Division include the Nashville Thunder, Huntsville Storm, Chattanooga Royal, Louisville Locomotive, and the West Virginia Capitals. The first game, at the Montgomery Generals of the Southern Division, is scheduled for April 7. The first playoff is scheduled for July 2010 in Atlanta.

Roster

Signed players include:

• Calvin Witherspoon
• Leon McKinney Jr
• Antonio Bright
• Ronald Cooper
• Jeffery Collins
• Gabriel Feagin
• Michael Angley
• Mondrae McCray
• Joshua Randall
• Marcus Walker

External link

• Birmingham Crusaders at usbaball.com

References

• Crowley, Gene (January 2010) "Birmingham Crusaders" BirminghamProSports.com