Established 1995 Main sponsor Viejas Casino Arena Valley View Casino Center Owner Doug Logan Folded 1996 | Location San Diego, California Ownership Doug Logan Head coach Mauro Panaggio Date founded 1995 | |
Leagues Continental Basketball Association League Continental Basketball Association | ||
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.
In September 1995 it was announced that the team's nickname would be the "Wildcards". 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.
A Wildcards radio advertisement that aired in 1995 excoriated college basketball and the Los Angeles Clippers while touting the CBA. During broadcasts of the Los Angeles Lakers games on KSWB-TV the Wildcards hosted "one-minute ticket telethons" hosted by broadcaster Chris Ello.
Mauro Panaggio was hired as the team's head coach. 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." 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.
Jarvis Basnigh was selected by San Diego during the 1995 CBA dispersal draft. 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.
The Wildcards first game was at the San Diego Sports Arena on November 17, 1995 against the Chicago Rockers. 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. 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."
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.
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."
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.