Team history Evansville Agogans Founded 1950 | Championships None Based in Evansville | |
League National Professional Basketball League Arena Old Evansville Central High School Stadium (Current downtown Evansville YMCA Stadium) | ||
The Evansville Agogans were a professional basketball team who played in Evansville, Indiana from 1950 to 1951 and were a member of the Western Division of the National Professional Basketball League. Games were typically played at the old Evansville Central High School gym, now home to the downtown Evansville YMCA. The Agogans were formerly known as the Denver Refiners and moved to Evansville, Indiana due to the Denver franchise having difficulty in financing the team's long trips to all its eastern and midwestern counterparts. Bill Butterfield, an office supply store manager in Evansville, bought the franchise midway through the season and moved it to Indiana. Butterfield named the new team the Agogans, which meant "those with intense interest and excitement."
The Agogans featured the talents of former local high school athletes, including Butterfield's son and other individuals from the local Evansville Bosse High School state championship team. Also on the team were various other players with professional experience. The highlight of the short lived team was when the Agogans beat the Harlem Globetrotters 66-59 in 1951.
The team and league folded after 1951. Evansville would not be home to another professional basketball team until the Evansville Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association was formed in 1984.