The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball minor league in the United States from 1946 to 2009.
Cazzie Lee Russell is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An NBA All-Star, he was selected by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft. He won an NBA championship with the Knicks in 1970.
The Savannah Spirits were a professional basketball team that played for two years in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1986 to 1988, amassing a total regular season record of 42 wins and 60 losses for a total of 306.5 points. The team originally began play in the 1982–1983 season as the Detroit Spirits, after Agustin Arbulu acquired the franchise, compiling a record of 26–18, winning the Central Division title; they defeated the Rochester Zeniths for the Conference title and the Montana Golden Nuggets for the CBA title. After their initial season Agustin Arbulu agreed to sell the franchise to Reggie Henderson. The Spirits did not qualify for the postseason in their first year in Savannah, Georgia. In their second and final year in Savannah, they were eliminated by the Albany Patroons in the first round, four games to one.
Nikolaos Georgalis, commonly known as either Nikos Galis, or Nick Galis, is a Greek former professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and "The Iron Man", is widely regarded as Europe's greatest scorer to ever play the game, and as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history. In 1991, Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players. In 2007, he became an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. In 2022, he was inducted in to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.
Damon Bailey is an American former professional basketball player. He rose to national prominence after being recruited by Indiana coach Bob Knight as an 8th grader, an unusual move at the time. Bailey went on to become Indiana's men's all-time high school leading scorer and would earn All-America honors playing for the Indiana Hoosiers. He became a cult figure during the late 1980s and early 1990s in Indiana. Bailey was an assistant coach of the Butler University's women's basketball team from 2014 to 2017.
Donald Collins is an American former professional basketball player. Collins was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, in the first round, of the 1980 NBA draft. Collins played in 303 National Basketball Association (NBA) games for four teams, over six seasons, averaging just under 10 points per game for his career.
Joshua Michael Pace is an American former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his ten-year career playing in the New Zealand National Basketball League. He also had successful stints playing college basketball for Syracuse and playing in the ABA for the Mavericks. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball team.
David Chalton Ancrum is an American former college and professional basketball player and coach. Ancrum played college basketball for Utica College. Subsequently, he had a professional basketball career, and he played in several leagues, most notably in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the Greek Basket League, and the Israeli Premier League. In 1994, he was the Israeli Premier League's Top Scorer.
Joseph "Joby" Wright is an American former college and professional basketball player who was men's basketball head coach at Miami University and at the University of Wyoming. Married to Loretta Wright, August 18, 2017.
The 1974–75 American Basketball Association season saw the Kentucky Colonels, led by Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, Louie Dampier and coach Hubie Brown, win the 1975 ABA Championship.
Ronald Allison Kellogg Jr. is a retired American college and professional basketball player, best known for his college days as a left-handed sharpshooter for the successful Larry Brown-coached Kansas Jayhawks teams of the mid-1980s. Though he graduated one season before the NCAA implemented the three-point field goal, his propensity for sinking deep two-pointers earned him a reputation as one of the premier long-range shooters of his era in the Big Eight Conference. A 6’5” swingman born in Omaha, Nebraska, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and played professionally in the CBA.
Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt, nicknamed Mão Santa, is a Brazilian retired professional basketball player. Schmidt primarily played the power forward and small forward position, was 2.06 m tall and weighed 109 kg (240 lbs). Along with his home country, Schmidt also played in Italy for JuveCaserta and Pavia, and Spain for Fórum Valladolid. He was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Joseph Nathan Ward is a retired American professional basketball player. He was the Phoenix Suns' second round draft pick in the 1986 NBA draft.
Perry Victor Moss is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player.
Michael Orlando Olliver is an American former basketball player. He is best known for his college career at Lamar University, where he was the Southland Conference Player of the Year in 1981.
Keith Larnell Gatlin is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the High Point Panthers. He was one of the best players of the high school class of 1983, and committed to play college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins. After three seasons, Gatlin sat out one year during the 1986–87 season for academic reasons; he came back for his senior year in 1987–88. His 649 assists rank 3rd all-time for Maryland. After graduating from college, he went on to play professional basketball for 13 years, mainly in Europe: he led the German Bundesliga in scoring in the 1997–98 season and was named an All-Star in Greece, Germany, and France. After a 9-year experience as head coach of Wesleyan Christian Academy he was named assistant coach at High Point University.
The Wyoming Wildcatters were a professional basketball team based in Casper, Wyoming. They played 6 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). They managed to reach the CBA finals twice, in 1984 and in 1988, losing to the Albany Patroons on both occasions.
Charles Wayne Gaines is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Anhui Dragons of the Chinese National Basketball League. He played high school basketball in his native city of Houston, and he spent two years at Southwest Missouri State in the MVC before transferring to Southern Miss, where he played his two remaining years of college basketball eligibility. After going undrafted in the 2004 NBA draft, he started his professional career in the Continental Basketball Association with the Michigan Mayhem, leading the league in rebounding. After several years in Europe, one year in the NBA D-League and one in Israel, Gaines moved to the Chinese Basketball Association. While in China he earned an All-Star selection, was the 2011 scoring champion, and he twice led the league in rebounding.
Melvin "Sugar" McLaughlin is an American former basketball player. He played college basketball for Central Michigan University, where he became the school's leading scorer and was the 1981–82 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year.
