San Diego Wildcards

The team was brought to San Diego in 1995 after their predecessor, the Mexico Aztecas, folded.{{cite news|last1=Zeigler|first1=Mark|title=Wildcards' name not a joke; Viejas casino sponsors San Diego's CBA team|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=September 22, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=D-1}} Southern California would prove to be the last stop for the franchise, which went through various incarnations in different cities since 1982: Detroit; Savannah, Georgia; Tulsa; Fargo, North Dakota and Mexico City.{{cn|date=November 2020}}

In September 1995 it was announced that the team's nickname would be the "Wildcards".{{cite news|title=Thursday Sports Transactions; Basketball|work=UPI NewsTrack|date=September 21, 1995|location=San Diego, California}} The name came from the franchise's principal sponsor Viejas Casino. who had their name on the team's jersey. At a press conference announcing the sponsorship, team owner Doug Logan wore multi-colored glasses with bells attached, resembling a Joker, the team's mascot.

In an effort to boost ticket sales, a Wildcards radio advertisement claimed CBA games would be more entertaining than college basketball or Los Angeles Clippers games.{{cite news|last1=Quindt|first1=Fritz|title=You may be a redneck -- or a Cowboys fan|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=October 16, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=C-2}} During broadcasts of the Los Angeles Lakers games on KSWB-TV the Wildcards hosted "one-minute ticket telethons" hosted by broadcaster Chris Ello.{{cite news|last1=Quindt|first1=Fritz|title=Notes and static|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=November 10, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=D-2}}

Mauro Panaggio was hired as the team's head coach.{{cite news|title=Ex-Minuteman Draws Wildcard|work=Daily Hampshire Gazette|date=September 22, 1995|location=Northampton, Massachusetts}} Panaggio, who had coached in the CBA for 14 seasons and had more wins than any coach in league history, warned the media that the team may have trouble catching on, stating, "No one should get too comfortable here. If they aren't producing, they will have a short stay in San Diego." Panaggio was originally hired for a front office position, but he stepped into the head coaching role after being told by Logan that he could not find anyone to fill the vacancy.{{cite news|last1=Zeigler|first1=Mark|title=A coach from the Old School; Wildcards' Panaggio just isn't the retiring sort|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=November 15, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=D-1}}

Jarvis Basnigh was selected by San Diego during the 1995 CBA dispersal draft. The Wildcards chose three players during the 1995 CBA draft: Dwight Stewart out of Arkansas, Mike Williams from UMass, and Brian Fair from UConn.{{cite news|title=U.S. Faces Sweden in Davis Cup|work=The Hartford Courant|date=September 22, 1995|location=Hartford, Connecticut|page=C2}}{{cite news|title=The NBA; 'War on the Floor' Stern Rebuke|work=Daily News of Los Angeles|date=September 28, 1995|location=Los Angeles, California|page=S1}}

The Wildcards first game was at the San Diego Sports Arena on November 17, 1995 against the Chicago Rockers; the Wildcards won, 108-106, on guard Kareem Townes' game-winning bucket with six seconds left.{{cite news|title=Rockers Fall On Late Shot|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=November 18, 1995|location=Chicago, Illinois|page=95}} Mark Zeigler of The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote, "They had a professional basketball game last night at the Sports Arena and — here's the weird part — people were actually standing and cheering. For the home team."{{cite news|last1=Zeigler|first1=Mark|title=Crowd wild over 'Cards victory|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=November 18, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=D-1}} But attendance that first night was only 3,310, in the 14,800-seat San Diego Sports Arena.

Veteran NBA and CBA guard Greg Grant, who had been with the franchise in Mexico, played only one game with the Wildcards (with three points and nine assists) before being signed by the Philadelphia 76ers on November 21, 1995.{{cite news|last1=Jasner|first1=Phil|title=Grant Returning to the Sixers|work=Philadelphia Daily News|date=November 21, 1995|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=66}}{{cite news|last1=Zeigler|first1=Mark|title=Wildcards' Grant may be headed for a stint with 76ers|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=November 21, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=D-5}}

After the opening night win, though, the 'Cards were decked on a regular basis, losing ten of their next eleven games. Attendance remained low, causing concern that the team would have to move (again) or fold outright. San Diego's general manager Jeff Quinn told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "We're substantially less [in attendance] than I would have thought we would be right now. I would have thought we'd have been drawing somewhere around 3,000. I'm a little mystified. I don't know the answer right now."{{cite news|last1=McGrane|first1=Mick|title=After team folds, Panaggio scolds|work=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=December 18, 1995|location=San Diego, California|page=C-13}}

Panaggio's "short stay in San Diego" comment proved to be prophetic: on January 5, 1996, the Wildcards officially ceased operations. Team owner Doug Logan claimed the team lost $35,000 per week. The team's final record was 4–17.{{cite news|last1=Quindt|first1=Fritz|title=Golfers assigned to sign is sign of time|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=January 8, 1996|location=San Diego, California|page=C-2}}

{{NBA roster header|team=San Diego Wildcards

| bg1 = #E30022 | color1 = #FFFFFF

| bg2 = #002FA7 | color2 = #FFFFFF

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{{player2 | num = 3 | first = Kareem | last = Townes | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = 180 | college = LaSalle | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 10 | first = Greg | last = Grant | dab=basketball, born 1966 | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 7 | lbs = 145| college = TCNJ | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 12 | first = A. J. | last = Wynder | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 2 | lbs = 185 | college = Fairfield | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 23 | first = Marc | last = Carter | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 200 | college = San Diego State | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 32 | first = Canaan | last = Chatman | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 210 | college = Portland | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 34 | first = Brian | last = Fair | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = 205 | college = Connecticut | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 35 | first = Leonard | last = White | dab = basketball | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 7 | lbs = 218 | college = Southern | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 44 | first = Kevin | last = Brooks | dab= basketball | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 200 | college = Louisiana-Lafayette | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 45 | first = Joey | last = Johnson | dab = basketball |pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = 195 | college = Arizona State | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 50 | first = Dwight | last = Stewart | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 9 | lbs = 265 | college = Arkansas | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = 55 | first = Scott | last = Paddock| pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 10 | lbs = 245 | college = Notre Dame | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = * | first = Jarvis | last = Basnight | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 200 | college = UNLV | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = * | first = Ken | last = McClary | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 250 | college = Florida | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = * | first = Jimmy | last = Oliver | dab= basketball | pos = G/F | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = 205 | college = Purdue | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = * | first = Rodney | last = Dent | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 11 | lbs = 245 | college = Kentucky | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = * | first = Cedric | last = Hunter | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 0 | lbs = 180 | college = Kansas | nat = USA }}

{{player2 | num = * | first = Evric | last = Gray | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 7 | lbs = 235 | college = UNLV | nat = USA }}

{{NBA roster footer

| head_coach =

• {{player||USA|Mauro Panaggio}} ({{college|SUNY Brockport}})

| asst_coach =

}}

{{reflist|2}}

Category:Basketball teams in San Diego

Category:Basketball teams in California

Category:Continental Basketball Association teams