Charleston Gunners Join the Premier Basketball League for the 2012 Season

CHICAGO, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Premier Basketball League (PBL) announced the latest league expansion into the Charleston, West Virginia market.  The "Charleston Gunners" will join the PBL for the 2012 season.

This is not the Charleston Gunners first venture in minor league basketball in West Virginia. Extremely popular in the Mountain State, the "Gunners" played in the Continental Basketball Association from 1986-1989.  Former NBA players Michael Anderson and Peter Verhoeven played in Charleston for the original Gunners.

"We are so excited to bring back the popular 'Gunners' franchise to Charleston. The community is such an amazing support base and we are proud to be part of the Premier Basketball League. The leagues involvement in community and minor league basketball as a whole was what brought us into the PBL," commented team owner Thomas Jones.

The owners of Charleston Pro Basketball, Inc., a West Virginia Corporation is located in Rand, WV.  The Gunners' ownership group headed by Thomas Jones is comprised of five community leaders, Brandon Burns, Director of Game Day Operations, A.C. Cooper the Director of Communications, Mark Hebard Comptroller, and legal counsel Rusty Webb. Team leadership is very involved in the legal, education, and media fields in the Kanawha Valley.

The Gunners are excited and look forward to hosting various "game night themes" throughout the season.  Theme nights will include "eBay Auction Night" where fans can participate in an auction for a one-game contract to play pro basketball with the Gunners, and "Zombie Night/Night of the Living Dead" for the best-dressed zombie costumes.  

"The 'Gunners' have been a team we have been excited about bringing into the league. The teams proven track record and fan base in the late 80's proves the community loyalty to the franchise. We are happy to have them and round out our East Coast division," commented Brij Desai, PBL President and CEO.

The Charleston Gunner's join the Rochester RazorSharks, Dayton Air Strikers, Team Scranton Wilkes-Barre, Chicago Muscle, and the Sauk Valley Predators in 2012 PBL action. With the league in the process of making final team announcements for next season, attention and focus is switching to the PBL National Combine and Tryouts scheduled for October 1st-2nd at Attack Athletics in Chicago.

For more information on the Premier Basketball League visit www.ThePBL.com or contact Chris Foltz at chris@thepbl.com or by phone at 312-772-4865

SOURCE Premier Basketball League