The Minnesota Buckskins were a charter franchise of

World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

(WTT) founded by Lee Meade, Len Vannelli and John Finley. The Buckskins played only one season before folding after the 1974 season. The Buckskins had 27 wins and 17 losses and were the Gulf Plains Section Champions. They lost to the Denver Racquets in the Western Division Championship Series ending their season.

Team history

The Buckskins were founded by Lee Meade, Len Vannelli and John Finley as a charter member of WTT in 1973. Prior to the inaugural WTT draft, each franchise was entitled to sign a player in advance and then use its first-round draft selection on that player. Before the team even had a name, the Minnesota franchise made an aggressive play for

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

who was widely regarded as a player with the ability to generate much interest and

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

. Minnesota negotiated a major

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...

for King to endorse

candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

. The

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

offered by Minnesota to King would have obligated her to play for the team for five years and pay her

compensation Compensation may refer to: *Financial compensation *Compensation (chess), various advantages a player has in exchange for a disadvantage *Compensation (essay), ''Compensation'' (essay), by Ralph Waldo Emerson *Compensation (film), ''Compensation'' ...

in excess of $2 million paid out over ten years. Most of the money in the contract would have come from the endorsement. In addition, the team would have been named the Minnesota Kings. However, King (and WTT league executives) believed it would be better for her to play in the

eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. Therefore, she solicited offers from the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

franchises before signing a five-year contract worth $1 million with Philadelphia where she thought there would be better commercial opportunities. King claimed she could earn up to $75,000 for spending a couple hours making a television commercial. "Man, I'm not dumb," she said. "Get it while you can." King went on to win the 1974 WTT Most Valuable Player Award while leading the Philadelphia Freedoms to the best regular-season record in WTT. Minnesota's top 10 draft choices in the WTT inaugural draft were Just before the start of the season, Meade, Vannelli and Finley sold the Buckskins to

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

businessman Burt McGlynn of McGlynn Bakeries. The team played its home matches at the

Metropolitan Sports Center The Met Center was an indoor arena that stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The arena, which was completed in 1967 by Minnesota Ice, just to the north of Metropolitan Stadium, seated 15,784. It was the home o ...

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...

starting with WTT's inaugural 1974 season. The first match in Buckskins' history was a 30–28 loss to the Houston E-Z Riders at home on May 7, 1974, in front of 2,317 fans. The Buckskins drew a crowd of 9,300 for their home match against King and the Freedoms. The Buckskins featured player-coach

Owen Davidson Owen Keir Davidson (4 October 1943 – 12 May 2023) was an Australian professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s. Alongside Billie Jean King, Davidson won eight grand slam mixed doubles titles. In 1967 he won a calendar year slam for m ...

Ann Haydon-Jones Ann Shirley Jones, (born Adrianne Haydon; 17 October 1938), also known as Ann Haydon-Jones, is a British former table tennis and lawn tennis champion. She won eight Grand Slam tennis championships in her career: three in singles, three in wome ...

Bob Hewitt Robert Anthony John Hewitt (born 12 January 1940) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. He has won 15 major titles and a career Grand Slam in both men' ...

, Shari Barman, David Lloyd, Mona Schallau,

Wendy Turnbull Wendy Turnbull, (born 26 November 1952) is an Australian retired tennis player. During her career, she won nine Grand Slam titles, four of them in women's doubles and five of them in mixed doubles. She also was a three-time Grand Slam runner-u ...

and

Terry Holladay Terry Holladay (born November 28, 1955) is an American former professional tennis player who played between 1974 and 1987, whose tennis career is particularly remembered for her pregnancy and its impact on protected rankings. Biography Holladay ...

The Buckskins finished the season with 27 wins and 17 losses and were the Gulf Plains Section Champions. They were matched up with the E-Z Riders in the Western Division Semifinals. WTT playoff series in the division semifinals and division championship series in 1974, were played over two legs, one match on the home court of each team. The team with the best aggregate score over the two matches was the winner. The higher seed had the right to choose whether to play the first or second match at home. The Buckskins chose to open at home and lost the first match to the E-Z Riders, 28–19. The Buckskins went to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and dominated the E-Z Riders in the second match, 29–19, to squeeze out a win in the series, 48–47, and advance to the Western Division Championship Series against the Denver Racquets. The Buckskins won four of the five sets in the second division semifinal match to pull off the stunning comeback. Schallau and Turnbull recorded a 6–0 set win over

Karen Krantzcke Karen Krantzcke (1 February 1946 – 11 April 1977) was an Australian tennis player. She achieved a world top ten singles ranking in 1970. In her short career, she made the quarterfinals or better at each of the four Grand Slam championships i ...

and Lesley Bowrey in women's doubles. Haydon-Jones beat

Helen Gourlay Helen Gourlay Cawley (née Gourlay; born 23 December 1946) is a retired tennis player from Australia. Personal Helen Gourlay was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. She married Richard Leon Cawley in January 1977, and married William Timot ...

, 6–3, in women's singles. Davidson and Schallau topped

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-T ...

and Lesley Bowrey. The E-Z Riders had a cumulative lead in the two matches of 43–42 heading to the final set of the second match which Davidson and Schallau won by a score of 6–4. Following the division semifinal victory over the E-Z Riders, it was reported that WTT had taken over the Buckskins and paid players six weeks of back salaries. The Racquets chose to open the series at home won the first match in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 29–18.

Françoise Dürr Françoise Dürr (born 25 December 1942; sometimes referred to by English writers as Frankie Durr) is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles. Durr played with an unorthodox backhand, which she pla ...

of the Racquets beat Haydon-Jones, 6–1, in women's singles and then teamed with Kris Kemmer Shaw to beat Turnbull and Schallau in women's doubles by the same 6–1 score. The Buckskins came back at home to win the second match, 26–25. It was not enough as the Racquets won the Western Division title by a cumulative score of 54–44 and ended the season for Minnesota. Despite the Buckskins' success on the court and the large crowd for the match against the Freedoms, the team was unable to generate enough revenue for McGlynn to consider it viable. He tried to sell the Buckskins to local investors after the season ended. On November 6, 1974, McGlynn announced that the local interests in the Buckskins had dried up, and the team would either fold or be sold and moved. He mentioned that there was interest from investor groups in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The investor group from Indianapolis ended up buying the

Detroit Loves The Indiana Loves were an expansion franchise of TeamTennis that competed only during the 1983 season. The team's owner abandoned it just prior to the start of the season, and it was operated by the league, playing all its matches on the road. ...

, and the group from Washington decided not to buy a team. On November 26, 1974, WTT announced at its annual meeting that the Buckskins had become the first team in the league to fold. WTT conducted a dispersal draft of the Buckskins' players at its annual meeting using an auction system. Davidson and Haydon-Jones went to the

Cleveland Nets Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania stat ...

. Hewitt went to the

Los Angeles Strings The Los Angeles Strings were a team tennis franchise in TeamTennis. They were the namesake of the original Los Angeles Strings (1974–78) and were owned by Jerry Buss, who also owned the original team. The Strings played their home matches at ...

. Schallau and Turnbull went to the

New York Sets The New York Apples were a charter franchise of World TeamTennis, World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded by Jerry Saperstein, who sold it to New York businessman Sol Berg during its inaugural 1974 World Team Tennis season, 1974 season. The ...

. Holladay went to the Houston E-Z Riders.

Hall of Fame players

The following players who are enshrined in the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

played for the Minnesota Buckskins: *

1974 roster

The Minnesota Buckskins roster for the 1974 season was *

, Player-Coach * Shari Barman *

* David Lloyd * Mona Schallau *

References

External links

Official World TeamTennis Website
{{World TeamTennis World TeamTennis teams 1973 establishments in Minnesota Tennis in Minnesota Sports clubs and teams in Minnesota Sports clubs and teams established in 1973 Defunct sports clubs and teams in Minnesota 1974 disestablishments in Minnesota Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1974

Team history

Hall of Fame players

1974 roster

See also

References

External links