The Wisconsin Blast was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club based in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...

that competed in the

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and ...

(IBA) beginning in the 1997–98 season. The team folded after the 1998–99 season.

Pat Knight Patrick Clair Knight (born September 21, 1970) is an American basketball coach. It was announced he had been hired as the men's coach at Marian University in Indianapolis on May 8, 2024. Prior to that he was a scout for the Indiana Pacers of t ...

was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Blast and Jon Stuckey was his

assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

. Knight also served as the team's general manager. Keary Ecklund owned the Blast. Ira Newble, who later played in the

NBA 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 ...

for several seasons, was perhaps their best known player. The team played its games at the Brown County Arena.

Season by season record

References

Defunct basketball teams in the United States Basketball teams in Wisconsin 1997 establishments in Wisconsin 1999 disestablishments in Wisconsin Basketball teams established in 1997 Basketball teams disestablished in 1999 Sports in Appleton, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-basketball-team-stub