Carolina Cougars
| Carolina Cougars | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conference | None |
| Division | Eastern Division |
| Founded | 1969 (as Carolina Cougars) |
| History |
Houston Mavericks 1967–1969 Carolina Cougars 1969–1974 Spirits of St. Louis 1974–1976 |
| Arena |
Greensboro Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum Dorton Arena (Raleigh) |
| Location |
Greensboro, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Team colors | Carolina Blue, Cardinal Red (1969–71) Green, Blue (1971–74) |
| Head coach |
Bones McKinney (1969–71) Jerry Steele (1971) Tom Meschery (1971–72) Larry Brown (1972–74) |
| Ownership |
Jim Gardner (1969–70) Tedd Munchak (1970–74) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Conference titles | no conference play in ABA |
| Division titles | 1 (1972–73) |
The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association that existed from late 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Carolina in late 1969 after two unsuccessful seasons in Houston at the Sam Houston Coliseum. The Cougars' colors were green, blue, and white.
The Carolina Cougars franchise began when future Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina Jim Gardner bought the Houston Mavericks and moved them to North Carolina in 1969. At the time, none of North Carolina's large metropolitan areas--Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad and the Triangle—was large enough to support a professional team on its own. With this in mind, Gardner decided to brand the Cougars as a "regional" team. The Cougars were based in Greensboro and played most of their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum, the state's largest arena at the time. However, some games were also played in Charlotte at the (original) Charlotte Coliseum, Raleigh at Dorton Arena and Reynolds Coliseum, and in Winston-Salem at the Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum.
Early on, the Cougars were not especially successful on the court, posting a 42-42 record in the 1969–70 season, a 34-50 record in 1970–71, and a 35-49 record in 1971–72. Only the 1969–70 Cougars managed to make the ABA playoffs but lost in the Eastern Division Semifinals (first round) to a much stronger Indiana Pacers team. In spite of this, the Cougars had a good fan following, particularly in Greensboro.
...
Wikipedia