Waco Wranglers

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Waco Wranglers

Founded	2006
League	ABA 2006-present
Team History	Waco Wranglers 2006-present
Arena	Deering Center Reicher Catholic High School
Based in	Waco, Texas
Team Colors	TBA
Owner	Ozzie V. Denson Toni R. Oppliger
Head Coach	Ozzie V. Denson
Championships	0
Division Titles	0

The Waco Wranglers are an American Basketball Association expansion team in Waco, Texas. Their inaugural season starts in November 2006.

In March of 2006, the franchise was announced as an expansion team for the 2006-07 season. Wranglers head coaches Ozzie Denson and Toni Oppliger announced the practice and game venues at their second press conference on July 13. League games are scheduled to take place at the Deering Center gym of Reicher Catholic High School, a TAPPS Class 4A parochial school. The team has been and will continue to practice at the Texas State Technical College gymnasium.

The Wranglers plan to move to a larger venue — Reicher's gym seats 450 — as the team grows in popularity. Denson aims to average around 5,000 in attendance.

Waco is one of many teams in a large league expansion for 2006-07 which will see the ABA swell to over 60 teams, nearly twice the size of the 2005-06 league. The Wranglers will play in the White Division of the Southern Conference, which includes fellow Texas teams Houston Undertakers and the Fort Worth-based Texas Tycoons.

1 Current news
2 Miscellany
3 Links
4 References

[edit] Current news

On July 13, the team announced former Waco high school product Mario Kinsey as its first signing after two months of tryouts involving more than 150 prospects. With the roster now narrowed to 15 names, the team plans to lead up to the season by announcing one signing per week over the course of the summer and fall.

Kinsey, a 2000 graduate of La Vega High School, was a standout prep and collegiate athlete. Locally, the point guard led La Vega to the 2000 Class 3A state basketball championship and earned all-district, all-state and Waco Tribune-Herald Super Centex honors in football and basketball.

Kinsey was an all-Red River Conference hoops selection at NAIA Texas College in Tyler and also played both sports at Sam Houston. Kinsey was recruited and played as a multi-sport athlete at Kansas, but was dismissed as quarterback after starting seven games in 2001 to end a turbulent career.

Wranglers coaches refer to Kinsey as the team's "marquee player," emblematic of the high-energy brand of basketball the Wranglers plan to play.

[edit] Miscellany

Ticket prices will range from $10 for general admission to $25 for courtside seats.
Waco has previously been home to a professional basketball team, the Waco Jaguars of the Southwest Basketball League in 1998-99.
The Wranglers are the third professional sports franchise in Waco since 2000, following the failed Waco Marshals of the National Indoor Football League (2004) and the moderately successful Waco Wizards of the Western Professional Hockey League (1996-2000).