Pontiac Chosen For Minor League Basketball Team
Sign outside the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame & Museum (Wikipedia)
A minor league basketball league has chosen Pontiac in Livingston County for its third central Illinois location. The Midwest Professional Basketball Association says Pontiac will join the Champaign Swarm, the Bloomington Flex and five other teams, when the league's 2nd season begins this coming January.
League Vice President Craig Fata said Pontiac, with a population of about 12,000 people, will be the smallest town in the league to host a team.
“But because of its proximity to the other teams in the league, it fits right in the middle of our geographic footprint," he said. "And with the support of the community… and we’ve already had tremendous response from business and civic leaders in the community – we expect that it’s going to be a success there.”
Fata said the team will be called the Pontiac 66ers, due to the town’s location along Historic Route 66.
The 66ers will play their home games at Pontiac High School. The school already has a strong basketball reputation, having hosted the nation's oldest holiday basketball tournament since 1926.
And starting next summer, Pontiac is also expected to be the home of the Basketball Museum of Illinois, a history of the sport that includes junior high, high school, college and pro teams.
The Pontiac pro team will begin play in January. The MPBA has also added a team in Lima, Ohio to start play next year.
Fata said it's possible two additional teams could be added to the league in the coming weeks.