New Professional basketball coming to Frederick in 2024
By: Jacob Saylor
The Basketball League, a semi-professional basketball league, is bringing a team to Frederick starting in 2024, team officials announced at a news conference held in BB&T Arena at Hood College.
TBL consists of more than 50 teams in the United States and Canada. The league is expanding by adding a team in Frederick. This will be the first time Maryland has had a professional basketball team since Bullets left Baltimore in 1974.
The team will play its home games at Hood’s BB&T arena. The league’s regular season runs 24 games from the beginning of March to the end of May.
The playoffs will be held in June, with a champion being crowned in a three-game championship series at the end of June.
The Frederick team does not yet have a name.
The team’s owner Tony Mazlish used the words “basketball, community and entertainment,” in explaining what it means to bring a team to Frederick, Maryland.
The team’s head coach will be Ed Corporal, who has coached in the TBL since the start of the league six years ago. He is the all-time winningest coach in the league. Corporal, whose family is from Maryland, said he couldn’t pass on the opportunity to move close to his children and grandchildren while being able to compete for another TBL championship.
Joining Corporal as the team captain and first signee is Tavares Sledge, who played college ball at Wright State and University of South Carolina Aiken. Sledge is the winningest player in the TBL and was on the team with Corporal when they won the TBL championship in the 2021 season.
Frederick’s team name will be announced Sept. 9 at Celebrate Frederick’sIn the Streets festival. Names being considered are Brew Bears, Flying Cows, Drache and Howling Dwayyo. The community can vote on the favorite at fearthebeast.com.
The last time Maryland had a professional basketball team was when Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore and became the Bullets in 1964. The Bullets lasted 10 years in Maryland before moving to the nation’s capital in 1974 and later changing their name to the Washington Wizards.
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