Global Basketball Association (1992)
Tombstone
Born: June 30, 1992 – The Pensacola HotShots relocate to Biloxi, MS1Smith, Slim. “GBA grants Coastians basketball franchise”. The Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS). July 4, 1992
Folded: December 19, 1992
First Game: November 18, 1992 (W 114-112 vs. Jackson Jammers)
Last Game: December 18, 1992 (W 122-115 @ South Georgia Blues)
GBA Championships: None
Arena
Mississippi Coast Coliseum (11,458)21992-93 Mississippi Coast Sharks Program
Opened: 1977
Branding
Team Colors: Kelly Green, Royal Blue & White31992-93 Mississippi Coast Sharks Program
Dance Team: The Biloxi Belles
Ownership
Owners: Bill Byrd, Johnny Beck & Gerald Emil
Attendance
The Sharks averaged 1,361 fans for the nine home dates they played out of a planned 28-game home slate.
Source: “BRIEFLY: Coast Sharks go belly up with rest of troubled GBL”. The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS). December 21, 1992.
Background
The Mississippi Coast Sharks were an unfortunate entry in the minor league Global Basketball Association during the winter of 1992.
Despite its ambitious name, GBA franchises were confined to a sliver of the Midwest and the southeastern United States when the league debuted in November 1991. The league managed to complete its inaugural season relatively intact and inspired just enough faith that a trio of Gulf Coast businessmen ponied up a reported $100,000 to purchase the GBA’s Pensacola HotShots franchise during the summer of 1992 and move it to Biloxi’s Mississippi Coast Coliseum for season two.4Wilson, Robert. “World-beaters? Global basketball coming to Biloxi.” The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS). July 2, 1992
Re-named the Mississippi Coast Sharks, the team debuted at the Coliseum on November 18th, 1992 with a 114-112 overtime triumph over the Jackson (Tennessee) Jammers before 1,906 onlookers. The Sharks intended to play a 56-game schedule with 28 home dates at the Coliseum during the winter of 1992-93.
But things swiftly went south. The GBA’s Louisville Shooters franchise folded just three games into the season. By December, several of the remaining clubs were financially exhausted.
The Sharks record stood at 7-9 when league’s remaining owners voted to fold the league immediately on December 19th, 1992. The Sharks played their final game one month to the day after their debut.
Trivia
Global Basketball Association co-founder and Commissioner Ted Stepien, who owned the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers during a notoriously grim stretch in the early 1980’s, was the absentee owner of Biloxi’s previous minor league basketball entry, the Mississippi Jets (1987-1988) of the Continental Basketball Association. Like the Sharks, the Jets played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Downloads
November 1992 Mississippi Coast Sharks Roster
November 1992 Mississippi Coast Sharks Roster##
