Byline: Mike Waters Staff writer
Last week, the Continental Basketball Association's executive committee named Dennis Truax as the league's new commissioner. Truax, 38, grew up in Mexico, went to high school there and graduated from Cazenovia College.
He got his start in professional sports as an intern with the United States Basketball League. He worked in the front offices of the CBA's Gary (Ind.) Steelheads and the Rockford (Ill.) Lightning before moving into the CBA office in 2005.
Truax recently talked with Post-Standard sports writer Mike Waters about his career in minor-league professional basketball and the future of the CBA.
Waters:How did you get started with minor-league pro basketball?
Truax:I started off with the USBL in 1999 as an intern. I was applying for some coaching jobs. I had done some summer league stuff and AAU coaching. I wanted to continue up the ladder, but I didn't have a college degree at the time. I looked into the USBL because it was close (Milford, Conn.). I got the internship and a year later, I became the league's director of media relations.
Waters:Eventually, you left the USBL and, after stops in Gary and Rockford, you wound up in the CBA's league office.
Truax:I was with Rockford for just a couple months. We drafted this kid from Wisconsin-Milwaukee and we heard that another team was talking to his agent. It was a little bit of tampering. I called the league office. I told them I knew that this stuff goes on and it's hard to prove, but I said I used to work in a league office and I felt they should know. The guy said, 'You worked in the USBL, right? We'll call you back.'
About 10 minutes later, (then CBA commissioner) Gary Hunter called and asked if I wanted a job as the director of basketball operations for the whole league.
Waters:And now you're the commissioner of the CBA.
Truax:Gary Hunter stepped down and we had a year with no commissioner. I became deputy commissioner and Jim Coyne (then the general manager of the Albany Patroons) became acting commissioner. Jim just went back to the Patroons, which is his first love.
It's exciting for me. You look at some guys who've been commissioner of this league and what they've been able to do. People like Gary Hunter and Jim Drucker and the late Jay Ramsdell. It's an honor to follow them.
Waters:A lot of people who aren't familiar with the CBA will wonder if it's anything like the league depicted in the movie 'Semi-Pro'?
Truax:No. 'Semi-Pro' was really more of an adaptation of the old ABA, and they definitely took some creative license. I tell people back home that the CBA is just like the Syracuse Chiefs. You can go see these guys today and the next week they could be in the major leagues. These are guys who are just one step below the NBA.
Phil Jackson, Bill Musselman and George Karl all coached the Albany franchise at one time. In old days, when it was called the Eastern League, Jim Boeheim played in it. Our leading scorer last year was Josh Pace.
Waters:There was a lot of tumult this past offseason with franchises in Yakima, Great Falls, Albany and Augusta all facing financial problems? Have those problems been addressed?
Truax:Some of our owners and investors have walked away, but our model is one that ensures success. We've solidified what we have. We're going forward this year with seven teams. Granted, that's fewer franchises than last year, but the seven we have are going to be solid ones. I know there's not going to be problems like last year.
Waters:Was there ever a player you saw in the CBA and just immediately said to yourself, 'He should be in the NBA.'
Truax:Since I've been in there, Jamario (Moon, of the Toronto Raptors) was definitely one. He just had to let someone know how good he was. He had all the athletic talent in the world. Another kid, I helped bring in, Jimmy 'Snap' Hunter, he had cup of coffee with the Indiana Pacers. I said this kid doesn't even belong here.
Waters:Has the rise of the NBA Development League hurt the CBA?
Truax:When you have a multibillion-dollar corporation behind you, you're able to pay for your mistakes. That's what the NBA and D-League have done. Most businesses wouldn't be able to bounce back from losses of millions of dollars in their first few years. I'd say, conservatively, the D-League has cost the NBA tens of millions of dollars. The NBA can pay for the league's mistakes. The NFL paid for NFL Europe for 15 years, but finally the owners said, 'Enough is enough.'
What it's done to the CBA is it has changed the way we do business. The individual NBA teams continue to scout our talent, but we've marketed more of our players to overseas leagues. Over 100 players from last year's CBA rosters have moved on to play overseas.
Waters:The Augusta Groove recently moved to the Premier Basketball League. Are the PBL and the ABA threats or rivals to the CBA?
Truax:They're trying to do their own little spin on basketball. I would commend them on their efforts. They're trying to do their business. The way we look at it, our history shows we know how things need to be run and our ability to help players.
Waters:A year ago, the ABA put a franchise in Syracuse and it folded after just six games. Would a CBA team work in Syracuse or is this town too wrapped up in Syracuse University basketball?
Truax:I think it could work with the right ownership group, but right now, there's no adequate place to play. The Crunch have most of the prime dates at the War Memorial. You'd be stuck with a lot of weeknight games. Other than the War Memorial, there's not really a place to play in Syracuse. That's No. 1, but No. 2, Syracuse is a college town and things do revolve around the university.
Waters:Isiah Thomas owned the CBA from 2000 to 2001. He almost ran the league into the ground and the league finally had to declare for bankruptcy. Was that the CBA's low point?
Truax:I wasn't involved with the CBA then. I'd just started with the USBL. But just from talking with people who were involved back then, 'Isiah Thomas' are two words that aren't spoken around old-time CBA guys. He started with the best intentions and sometimes the best intentions don't work out.
To be honest, we're still recovering from that. The league was only out of business for all of four or five months, but to this day, some people don't realize the CBA came back.
Waters:So what is your vision of the CBA's future?
Truax:We want to continue to strengthen the seven teams we have. We need to make sure they're financially viable and able to continue year after year. We want to bring in good ownership groups.
I'd like to continue to use some of the new media with web-casting and web-streaming to get our players out to the general public. Last year, we webcast all of our games for free, and it was very successful. We want to continue that. That gets back to marketing our players to overseas markets.
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Chuck Miller
DENNIS TRUAX, a graduate of Mexico high school ('89) and Cazenovia College, coached several sports at Pulaski high school before entering the world of minor-league professional basketball.
