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With interest in the Boston Celtics and the NBA on the rebound in New England this year, Jon Jennings thinks professional basketball could become a slam-dunk success in Maine.
If the former Boston Celtics scout, assistant coach and director of basketball development has his way, NBA basketball will become much more than a token presence in the Pine Tree State within the next two years, and that presence will stretch from Bangor to Portland.
“I don’t think the timing could be much better,” said Jennings, who will welcome NBA officials to Portland next week to tour the area and evaluate his proposal for bringing an NBA Development League expansion franchise to Portland. “We’re fairly far along the path of bringing a team here. We’ve put together a formal business plan and hopefully we’ll find out by April or May.”
Jennings has partnered with TD Banknorth president Bill Ryan Sr., and his son, Bill Ryan Jr., who owns Oxford Plains Speedway, to bring a team to Portland. NBA Hall of Fame member and former Celtics player and coach K.C. Jones already has signed on as an adviser.
It’s that blend of experience, local involvement and name recognition that has lent plenty of credibility to this venture.
“I think initially, for me when I came to Portland and started talking about it, there was some cynicism, but once people heard about the specifics of an NBA-driven league team affiliated with an NBA franchise, they changed their attitude fairly quickly,” Jennings said. “The receptiveness has been overwhelming, especially after they were so skeptical early on.
“We’ve been very thrilled with the level of support we’ve gotten from everyone so far.”
That includes Gov. John E. Baldacci’s office, Portland city government officials, and local basketball officials such as Maine Basketball Commissioner Peter Webb and former University of Maine basketball coach Skip Chappelle.
“I think there are an awful lot of things going for it right now,” said Webb. “I hear pretty good things about Jon and I think it fits pretty well overall.
“The credibility is there. This is a well thought out, deeply-looked-into venture. I see it as a very positive thing.”
Ideally, the Portland franchise will be affiliated with the Boston Celtics.
“That’s our hope, but we can’t really say for now,” Jennings said. “We’re meeting with the team this week.”
The NBA-sponsored ‘minor league’ currently has 14 teams and is looking to expand to 16 or 18. If approved, the Portland team could begin play as early as the 2008-09 season.
“That’s possible, but more likely we’d be starting in 09-10,” said Jennings, who plans to move to Maine if his group’s franchise proposal is approved.
The Celtics are aware of the group’s efforts to land a team in Portland, but haven’t entered into any formal talks, said Jeff Twiss, vice president of media services.
“It would be a positive for New England, especially northern New England,” he said.
The team would play most of its 24 home games at the Portland Expo of perhaps the Cumberland County Civic Center, but officials would like to play at least two games in the Bangor area (at the Bangor Auditorium and possibly UMaine’s Alfond Arena in Orono) and another two in Augusta (Augusta Civic Center).
“We’re looking to start off with that and see how things go. We want this to be Maine’s team and not just appeal to people in Portland,” said Jennings, a native Indiana Hoosier who graduated from Indiana University and coached under Bobby Knight.
Due to his memories of the atmosphere in Portland while he was there to coach an NBA preseason game in 1992 or 1993, the city was on Jennings’ initial short list of potential franchise locations.
“Maine reminds me a lot of Indiana. I remember how receptive and excited the crowd was,” he said.”
The Expo easily could be refurbished and seat as many as 3,200 people and Jennings envisions ticket prices ranging from $5 to $12 and a public contest to determine the team’s name.
“We’d like fans to be invested in this as much as possible and we’re very committed to making the team family friendly and affordable as far as entertainment,” Jennings explained.
“I feel that with NBA and Celtics tie-ins, and with Portland growing the way that is has, it would be reasonable to expect crowds of 3,000,” said Webb. “When it’s prepared and ready, it has a good sense of a small arena and a better feel to it. It would accommodate roughly 3,000.”
The Celtics, along with the Utah Jazz, currently are affiliated with the NBADL’s Utah Flash.
“We’re interested in expanding to other regions, with the Northeast among them,” league President Dan Reed said.
When looking at possible expansion sites, the league looks particularly close at the ownership group, the market and the arena where the team would play, Reed said.
Franchises sell for more than $1 million, but Reed wouldn’t give the precise figure.
Portland was home to a United States Basketball League team in the mid-1990s that folded after one season.
Bill Ryan Jr. said he doesn’t see that happening if the city gets an NBADL team. The team would play from fall through spring, not during the summer like the USBL team did.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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