Great Falls Explorers
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| Great Falls Explorers | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Leagues | CBA 2006-2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| History | Great Falls Explorers 2006-2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Arena | Four Seasons Arena 2006-2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Great Falls, Montana | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Team colors | sky blue/navy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| President | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Rick Turner | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Website |
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The Great Falls Explorers are a team in the Continental Basketball Association founded in 2006. The team plays their home games at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Montana. The franchise was branded 'Explorers' in honor of Lewis and Clark traveled through the area.[1] The Explorers, previously coached by Steve Aggers, will be coached by Scott Wedman for the 2007-2008 season. The team's front office is led by General Manager Ryan Acra.
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[edit] 2006-2007
The Explorers were originally owned by Apex Sportstainment (present owners of the Butte Daredevils and Minot SkyRockets). The team's first coach, Steve Aggers, previously coached the College of Great Falls basketball program. In their inaugural season, the Explorers recorded a respectable 24-24 record but finished short of the playoffs. The Explorers had two CBA all stars in guard Malik Moore and forward Jamar Howard. The CBA Rookie of the Year was Explorers power forward Travis Garrison.
[edit] 2007-2008
On November 24th, the Explorers were purchased by Michael Tuckman, president of West Coast Sports, LLC and former president/general manager of KONG-TV in Seattle, WA. Tuckman also holds expansion rights to the CBA's Vancouver Dragons.
Scott Wedman was fired as head coach on January 5, 2008 by Tuckman. The coach and players had refused to take the floor against the Butte Daredevils citing lack of pay [2]. Along with Wedman most of the players also left the team. Only Nate Green, Marlyn Bryant and Mike Peeples remained. Rick Turner was named as the new coach.
In mid-February, after a disagreement over the lease arrangement including $12,000 to $16,000 owed to the Four Seasons Arena, the Explorers were barred from the arena by manager Bill Ogg until all debts were settled. Tuckman alleged that the lease arrangement that had been negotiated by the prior ownership group was unfair. The Explorers played subsequent games at area high school gymnasiums including Fairfield High and Cascade High. [3]
On Monday, February 25th, the Explorers ceased operations citing arena issues. [4]
