International Basketball League (1999-2001)
Tombstone
Born: 1999 – IBL founding franchise
Folded: 2001
First Game: November 26, 1999 (L 104-103 @ Cincinnati Stuff)
Last Game: April 14, 2001 (L 132-115 @ Cincinnati Stuff)
IBL Championships: None
Arenas
Richmond Coliseum
Opened: 1971
Closed: 2019
Siegel Center
Opened: 1999
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Charles Gill
Background
The Richmond Rhythm were a men’s minor league basketball team that competed for two seasons in the short-lived International Basketball League. The team had African-American ownership in the person of Charles Gill, a Richmond native who won $45 million in the Powerball lottery in December 1993 when he was 35 years old.1NO BYLINE. “2 Families Hear Jingle of $45 Million Payoff on PowerBall Lottery”. The Sentinel (Orlando, FL). December 24, 1993
Former UVA and NBA star Ralph Sampson initially signed on as the Rhythm’s General Manager, with ex-Charlotte Hornets head man Allan Bristow tabbed as Head Coach. But Bristow resigned in December 1999 after the Rhythm lost their first four games and the 7′ 4″ Sampson took on coaching duties as well.
Richmond posted a grim 23-41 record during the 1999-00 IBL regular season and played to meager crowds at both the Richmond Coliseum and the brand new (at the time) Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. But the IBL’s playoff format allowed six of the league’s eight teams into the postseason. Richmond snuck in with the 6th seed and went on an improbable run to the league championship series in May 2000. There they ran head on into the IBL’s best team, the St. Louis Swarm, and lost in a three-game sweep.
Last Dance
The Rhythm returned for the IBL’s second and final season in the fall of 2000. In February 2001, midway through the IBL’s sophomore campaign, owner Charles Gill revealed he had lost approximately $3 million on the team in a year-and-a-half.2Harriman, Peter. “Some IBL teams also struggling financially”. The Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD). February 10, 2001.
Richmond finished the 2000-01 IBL season with a dreadful, league-worst 10-41 record.
The Rhythm folded in the spring of 2001 and the rest of the IBL folded shortly thereafter.
Links
International Basketball League Media Guides
###
