The Minot SkyRockets were a team in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA). They played their home games at the

Minot Municipal Auditorium The Minot Municipal Auditorium is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Downtown Minot, North Dakota. It was built in 1954. It hosts conventions and sporting events, primarily basketball, and competes with the MSU Dome and All Seasons Arena ...

. The team began play in 2005 as the San Jose Skyrockets of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

. The team had a very successful first season, finishing first in the

Ron Boone Ronald Bruce Boone (born September 6, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player. He had a 13-year career in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Boone set a record for most consecut ...

division with a 29-5 record. The team advanced to the semifinals of the ABA Great Eight, losing to the Rochester Razorsharks, 106-103. At the end of the season, the team announced they were joining the

and relocating to

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

. The Minot SkyRockets spent three years in North Dakota, losing the 2008 CBA finals to the

Oklahoma Cavalry The Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry was a professional basketball team based in Lawton, Oklahoma. They played in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) after having been in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). They have one PBL championship and ...

3-2 before disbanding in 2009.

2006–07

DayShawn Wright, Dee Brown, Marco Killingsworth, Ryan Hollins, Pele Paelay, and

Ed Nelson Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place''. Nelson appeared in episodes of many TV p ...

were selected in the 2006 CBA Draft.

2007–2008

In the 2007 draft, Larry Turner, Brad Brickens, Jeremy Overstreet, James Hughes, Courtney Bohannon, Avis Wyatt, and Adam Haluska were picked by the SkyRockets. In January 2008, 20 local investors led by Chris Lindbo formed the Minot CBA Investment Group, LLC and purchased the SkyRockets from APEX Sportstainment.Minot Daily News
/ref> APEX also sold their CBA franchise in Great Falls, MT to Michael Tuckman in November 2007. The Skyrockets lost the CBA championship to the Oklahoma Cavalry 96-86. The series was 3-2. In the 2008 draft, Brian Butch, Brandon Smith, Othyus Jeffers, Dion Dowell, Sasha Kaun, and Dominique Kirk were picked by the Skyrockets

Year-by-year

{, class="wikitable" , - ! colspan="8" style="text-align:center;", Regular Season , - !Year !Wins !Losses !Percentage !League !Division , - , 2005-2006 , 29 , 5 , .853 , Semi-Finals (defeated by the Rochester Razorsharks) , 1st - Ron Boone Division , - , 2006-2007 , 31 , 17 , .646 , 3rd - CBA (didn't qualify for the playoffs) , 2nd - American Conference , - , 2007-2008 , 42 , 13 , .763 , 2nd - CBA Finals (defeated by the Lawton-Fort Sill, Oklahoma Cavalry) , 1st - American Conference , - , 2008-2009 , 38 , 10 , .791 , 4th - American Conference , - , Overall , 140 , 46 , .752

Roster

2005-2006 Season *Joe Buck *Lamar Castile * Anwar Ferguson *Jamar Howard *Mark Luedtke *Anthony Lumpkin * Todd Okeson *Darius Pope *Marvin Rogers *Jason Smith *Rock Winston * Mark Magsumbol 2006-2007 Season *Steve Castleberry *Ray Cunningham *Lewis Fadipe *Desmond Ferguson *Ronnie Fields *Kenyon Gamble *David Harrison *Darnell Miller *Jason Smith *Jitim Young 2007-2008 Season *Ray Cunningham *Eric Davis *Ronnie Fields *Sidney Holmes *Kevin Johnson *Darius Mattear *Kellen Miliner *Kevin Rice *Lee Scruggs 2008-2009 Season *Courtney Bohannon * Ronnie Fields *Cory Hightower *Sidney Homes *Darius Mattear *Kellen Miliner *Kevin Rice *Maurice Shaw *John Strickland *Derek Wabbington

References

External links

Minot SkyRockets website
Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Continental Basketball Association teams Sports in Minot, North Dakota Basketball teams in North Dakota Defunct sports clubs and teams in North Dakota