A little less than a month from the tipoff of their inaugural season, the Utah Snowbears continue prepping and ironing out the roster for the season opener.
The first-year franchise of the American Basketball Association joins 34 other teams in expanding last year's seven-team league to more than five times its original size.
The Snowbears warmed up last week with their first exhibition game, topping the Utah Showcase, a team made up of former players at Utah colleges, by a score of 126-95. The Snowbears had quite a Beehive flavor in the game themselves: former Utes Cameron Koford and Travis Spivey, Harold Arceneaux and Marlon Carter from Weber State, and Utah State's Chris Russell all suited up, as well as ex-Cougar Robbie Reid.
Reid, who started his career at BYU before transferring to Michigan, has since been cut from the team along with Russell and Carter. Snowbears owner and head coach Isaac Austin, a former Jazz draft pick himself, used the exhibition game to evaluate where his team stands a few weeks before the season.
"I felt our guys played hard," Austin said. "(They) started slow, I don't know if it was because they were nervous or if they were just under the radar of trying to make the cut."
Austin singled out Idaho product Tyrone Hayes and Jared Ramirez for their play in the exhibition. Ramirez and Reid are similar players, Austin said, so a solid game from Ramirez, who had already signed with the team, led to cutting Reid.
The Showcase team was coached by Bob Wood and also featured former BYU stars Mark Bigelow and Ken Roberts, putting aside past rivalries to play with Jeff Johnson (Utah), and Mike Puzey (USU/Utah).
Austin is trying to work out another exhibition matchup, this time on the road, Nov. 6 in Fresno against the ABA's HeatWave.
While the Snowbears franchise appears to be ahead of some of the league's other teams as far as preparation, the ABA itself still has some substantial knots to work out. A playoff format, for starters. Austin said he anticipates the league will have the issue resolved before the season begins. Delays in finding arenas for certain franchises have also kept the league from locking in the schedule, Austin said.
"They've got to work on it, adjust it, make it right so it's fair to everyone," he said. Austin defended the league against critics who have doubted the league can grow so fast successfully, saying the ABA has been very helpful to the franchises and he has no doubts there will be a complete season played. In the meantime, the Snowbears are conditioning at the Olympic Oval Center and practicing at Franklin Covey's basketball facility. ABA regulations allow 10 players on active rosters, but teams can carry reserves as well.
The Snowbears have signed 11 players so far, and with 14 in training with the team, Austin plans on cutting one or two more. "We should have our roster set by Nov. 1," he said.
E-mail: RBurton@desnews.com