The Santa Barbara Breakers were a professional

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

basketball team that played in the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

(IBL) in 2007 and the

West Coast Pro Basketball League The West Coast Professional Basketball League, often abbreviated to the WCBL, was an American professional men's spring basketball minor league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also k ...

(WCBL) from 2008 until the league folded in 2016. The team played their home games on the campus of

Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus. History Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, m ...

History

The Breakers' maiden season began on April 13, 2007, in the International Basketball League. The team featured several former NBA players, such as

Toby Bailey John Garfield "Toby" Bailey (born November 19, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently a sports agent. College career Bailey played four years of college basketball at UCLA, being part of the Bruins squad th ...

Fred Vinson Frederick Moore Vinson (January 22, 1890 – September 8, 1953) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th chief justice of the United States from 1946 until his death in 1953. Vinson was one of the few Americans to have ser ...

Samaki Walker Samaki Ijuma Walker (born February 25, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball power forward and center (basketball), center. Walker played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball, Louisville Cardinals and wa ...

and

Lamond Murray Lamond Maurice Murray Sr. (born April 20, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Murray was selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1994 NBA draft after a college career at the University of California a ...

. Their regular-season record was 17-6 and they lost in the IBL West Division Championship to the eventual 2007 IBL Champion, Portland. In 2008, the Breakers switched affiliation to the newly formed

(WCBL). Santa Barbara was the inaugural season WCBL champion, finishing undefeated at 18–0. Former

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

shooting guard Josh Merrill was named the league's regular season and playoff MVP. The WCBL competed for 9 years, from 2008 to 2016. The Santa Barbara Breakers and the WCBL All Stars traveled to China 12 times for month-long tours, playing CBA and International opponents. They also toured Holland and Mexico for tournaments.

Notable players

Zach Andrews Zachary Leon Andrews (born March 9, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Northern Arizona Suns of the NBA G League. He grew up in Rancho Cordova, California and played college basketball for Yuba College an ...

James Nunnally James William Nunnally (born July 14, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for UC Santa Barbara. Early life and education Nunnally was b ...

* Greg Somogyi *Nick Young *Lamond Murray *Terrell Owens *Byron Russell *Jalen Rose *Jonathon Gipson

References

External links

Official websiteTeam profile at Eurobasket.com
{{Greater Los Angeles Area Sports 2007 establishments in California Basketball teams established in 2007 Basketball teams in California Sports in Santa Barbara, California