By Dallas Rosevear
The newly-founded Utah Snowbears franchise does not do the same things that a typical professional basketball team does. Instead of a gigantic stadium, highly paid superstars and high-priced tickets, the Snowbears rely on local, well-known talent and community involvement to develop its fan base.
“We”re going to be doing a lot of different things that the Jazz don”t have,” Snowbears assistant coach Alex Austin said. “We”re catering to a different crowd.”
Some of those different things include basketball skills camps for the youth, school assemblies, involvement in civic and other clubs and the recruiting and developing of local players. Other organizations may do some of these things, but Utah plans on using these tools as the main ingredients in developing trust and loyalty.
In essence, the Snowbears want to involve the fans as much as possible, said Tonissa Murdock, Snowbears Director of Public Relations. “We want to give back to the community,” Murdock said.
As part of the Snowbears” commitment to the community, most of the roster spots will be filled by local players who have either grown up in Utah or played collegiate basketball in the state. The development of local players for the National Basketball Association or Division I basketball excites families, Austin said.
The final roster will be chosen about October, when the team will trim its tryout roster from 25 to 10 players. The team first held an open tryout in Ogden June 11-12, then invited 13 players from that camp to try out with other players in Salt Lake City at Salt Lake Community College, which will be the official home of the Snowbears. In addition to these tryouts, Utah coaches will be scouting NBA summer camps to pick up players that did not make NBA teams. Some of these players could possibly include Nick Jacobson and Britton Johnsen, both former players for the University of Utah.
Ex-Utah Utes Cameron Koford and Travis Spivey, as well as Mexican league player Jared Ramirez are some of the players that have impressed coaches so far and have a good chance of making the team, Austin said.
Koford, who had been playing overseas in Portugal, welcomes the chance to play in Utah again.
“It”s just fun getting back, hanging out with some of the guys” Koford said. “I have a lot of good friends here.”
The Snowbears are owned and coached by former Utah Jazz center Isaac Austin and are part of the rapidly expanding American Basketball Association. The ABA started with seven teams and will have 32 teams by the beginning of the season in November. In time, the league hopes to add even more for a total as high as 80 teams, according to the league website. League play will begin in November and end about the end of April, possibly going into May, with the Snowbears playing 18 home games.
