The Raleigh Cougars was a United States Basketball League team based in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

from 1997 to 1999. The team included many well known players from local colleges. The team played its home games at Dorton Arena. The Cougars were owned by Clyde "The Glide" Austin, a former

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

and

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

basketball star, and Cozell McQueen, a former North Carolina State and Euroleague player.

History

In 1997 the team finished with a 14–12 record and advanced to the semifinals of the USBL Postseason Festival, where they lost to Atlantic City. In 1998, they had an 11–14 record and were eliminated in round one of the Festival. In 1999, their final year, the team finished with a 5–21 record.

Notable players

Lorenzo Charles Lorenzo Emile Charles (November 25, 1963 – June 27, 2011) was an American college and professional basketball player. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Charles played collegiately for the NC State Wolfpack and scored the game-winning poin ...

(a.k.a. "Zo") of the famous national champion N.C. State wolfpack. 6' 7" Forward. * Greg Newton - 6' 11" Center

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. Cougars literature noted that Mr. Newton was 1 away from Duke's all-time top 10 in blocks. (This is no longer the case). * Amere May - After averaging 13 points per game, Amere left Division II

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

early to declare for the

1997 NBA draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto R ...

. Was quoted by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' as saying that he thought no one in the NBA could stop his game. One observer quipped that he was right - no one in the NBA ever would stop his game. Amere was a strong performer off the bench for the Cougars. * Chuck Kornegay - Powerful big man from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

(he transferred there from NC State). Cougars fans dubbed him "the Chuck-wagon", a la NBA star

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

. *

Nate Higgs Nathan Lee "Nate" Higgs (born October 21, 1970) is an American/Spanish basketball player and coach. Personal information Higgs is 6'7" tall. Graduated from Tarboro High School in Tarboro, N.C. College Higgs played for the Elizabeth City State U ...

- Cheered on by the crowd: "Come on Nate-Dawg! You're better than that!" *

Jeremy Hyatt Jeremy Hyatt (born October 16, 1974) is retired American professional basketball player, who formerly played for the Newcastle Eagles in the British Basketball League. He was a key player in the success of the Eagles, most notably the "clean swe ...

- 6' 6" sharpshooter from NC State * Donald Williams - 6' 3"

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

guard.

Trivia

*The Cougars drafted

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

superstar

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979), nicknamed T-Mac, is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-N ...

in the fourth round of the 1997 USBL draft.

References

ASBR - History of the United States Basketball League
United States Basketball League teams Defunct basketball teams in the United States Basketball teams established in 1997 Basketball teams in North Carolina Basketball in Raleigh, North Carolina 1997 establishments in North Carolina