San Diego Wildcards

The San Diego Wildcards were a men's professional basketball team representing San Diego, California who competed in the Continental Basketball League (CBA) during the 1995–96 season. The team was owned by Southern California based sports executive Doug Logan and coached by Mauro Panaggio, who has the most wins as a coach in CBA history. The San Diego Sports Arena served as the Wildcards' home venue. The team folded on January 5, 1996 after placing a 4–17 record.

History

The team was brought to San Diego in 1995 after their predecessor the Mexico City Aztecas folded.^[1]

In September 1995 it was announced that the team's nickname would be the "Wildcards".^[2] The name came form the franchise's principal sponsor Viejas Casino. who had their name on the team's jersey. At a press conference announcing the sponsorship, team owner Doug Logan wore multi-colored glasses with bells attached, resembling a joker, the team's mascot.^[1]

A Wildcards radio advertisement that aired in 1995 excoriated college basketball and the Los Angeles Clippers while touting the CBA.^[3] During broadcasts of the Los Angeles Lakers games on KSWB-TV the Wildcards hosted "one-minute ticket telethons" hosted by broadcaster Chris Ello.^[4]

Mauro Panaggio was hired as the team's head coach.^[5] Panaggio had coached in the CBA for 14 seasons prior to joining San Diego and had more wins than any coach in the league's history warned the media that the team may have trouble catching on, stating, "No one should get too comfortable here. If they aren't producing, they will have a short stay in San Diego."^[1] Team owner Doug Logan originally hired Panaggio for a front office position, but he stepped into the head coaching role after being told by Logan that he could not find anyone to fill the vacancy.^[6]

Jarvis Basnigh was selected by San Diego during the 1995 CBA dispersal draft.^[1] The Wildcards chose three players during the 1995 CBA draft. Dwight Stewart was selected out of the University of Arkansas, Mike Williams was drafted out of the University of Massachusetts and Brian Fair was drafted from the University of Connecticut.^[5][7][8]

The Wildcards first game was at the San Diego Sports Arena on November 17, 1995 against the Chicago Rockers.^[1] With the game tied 106–106 with six seconds left in the fourth quarter Wildcards guard Kareem Townes hit a two-point field goal in what would be the deciding basket of the game. Kevin Brooks for San Diego led all scorers with 21 followed by Wildcards center Scott Paddock with 20.^[9] Attendance for the game was 3,310. The first game was recapped by San Diego Union-Tribune sports writer Mark Zeigler who wrote, "They had a professional basketball game last night at the Sports Arena and — here's the weird part — people were actually standing and cheering. For the home team."^[10]

The Philadelphia 76ers signed San Diego guard Greg Grant on November 21, 1995. Grant only played one game with the Wildcards in which he had three points and nine assists.^[11][12]

After a 2–10 start to the season, attendance remained low, causing concern that the team would have to fold. San Diego's general manager Jeff Quinn told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "We're substantially less [in attendance] than I would have thought we would be right now. I would have thought we'd have been drawing somewhere around 3,000. I'm a little mystified. I don't know the answer right now."^[13]

On January 5, 1996 it was announced that the San Diego Wildcards were ceasing operations. Team owner Doug Logan claimed the team was losing $35,000 a week. The team's final record was 4–17.^[14]

Roster

San Diego Wildcards roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From 1.5 !G 3 USA ! Townes, Kareem 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) La Salle 1.5 !G 10 USA ! Grant, Greg 7000170180000000000♠5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 145 lb (66 kg) New Jersey 1.5 !G 12 USA ! Wynder, A. J. 7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fairfield 4.0 !F 23 USA ! Carter, Marc 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) San Diego State 4.0 !F 32 USA ! Chatman, Canaan 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Portland 1.5 !G 34 USA ! Fair, Brian 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Connecticut 4.0 !F 35 USA ! White, Leonard 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Southern 4.0 !F 44 USA ! Brooks, Kevin 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Louisiana–Lafayette 4.0 !F 45 USA ! Johnson, Joey 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Arizona State 4.0 !F 50 USA ! Stewart, Dwight 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Arkansas 6.0 !C 55 USA ! Paddock, Scott 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Notre Dame 4.0 !F * USA ! Basnight, Jarvis 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) UNLV 4.0 !F * USA ! McClary, Ken 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Florida 2.5 !G/F * USA ! Oliver, Jimmy 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Purdue 6.0 !C * USA ! Dent, Rodney 7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Kentucky 1.5 !G * USA ! Hunter, Cedric 7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Kansas 4.0 !F * USA ! Gray, Evric 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) UNLV	Head coach Mauro Panaggio (SUNY–Brockport) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

References