The Oregon Riptide was the name chosen for an

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 ...

(ABA) franchise which was to be based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In May, 2006, founding team owner, Jeremy "J" Brice, of Salem, had gained ABA approval, opened a front office in downtown Portland, and announced its staff. A May 27 free agent camp was held to recruit an initial roster of players. Brice arranged with Warner Pacific College for arena facilities for a summer youth basketball camp to be sponsored by the team, and for the competitive season to have begun in November, 2006. He had even contracted with the Jupiter Hotel to house visiting team members. Plans for the youth camp were quickly cancelled in July, 2006, following an article revealing that Brice, a Nevada native who had served as a high school and youth league coach, was a registered sex offender in both

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and Oregon. As a result, he could not have unsupervised contact with girls under 18, except for his daughter. Warner Pacific, a Christian college affiliated with the conservative Church of God (Anderson), withdrew availability of their facilities. Brice sold the franchise to Christopher Sears less than a week later, telling a reporter for the ''Tribune,'' "I am no longer associated with the Riptide due to the negativity and black cloud over my name." The league approved the transfer, and Joe Newman, ABA CEO, stated that the team would still play in the 2006 season. When the ABA season started in November 2006, however, the Oregon Riptide was not on the schedule.

References

{{Reflist Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Sports clubs and teams in Portland, Oregon Basketball controversies Warner Pacific University Defunct basketball teams in Oregon 2006 establishments in Oregon 2006 disestablishments in Oregon