ABA team coming to fairgrounds

Bryce Alderton

The Orange County Crush, an American Basketball Association expansion

team set to begin play this fall, will call Costa Mesa home.

The latest ABA team to hit the county will play its home games in

the grandstand arena at the Orange County Fairgrounds, one of several

announcements made at a press conference Thursday.

Fair officials approved the agreement with the Crush, part of the

38-team ABA, a developmental league, last week and crews will begin

constructing an air dome to cover the dirt-filled arena in early

November, once the Costa Mesa Speedway season ends, Crush General

Manager Kevin Copeland said.

The Crush’s first of 18 home games is scheduled for Nov. 18 in an

arena with an expected capacity of 4,211. The arena will be

air-conditioned, Copeland said.

Crush officials considered other sites, such as the Bren Events

Center at UC Irvine, along with Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm,

but were first drawn to the fairgrounds.

“The ABA is family-affordable fun and the fairgrounds represent

that,” Copeland said. “We didn’t have to re-invent the wheel. From a

marketing standpoint, it made a lot of sense.”

The fairgrounds host the Orange County Fair every summer, along

with April’s Youth Expo.

Ticket prices will range from $7.50 for general admission to $40

for floor seats.

When they do go on sale, tickets with discounted rates are

expected to be offered to local youth organizations such as YMCA

groups, Copeland said.

Fair officials welcomed the Crush, who will play in the six-team

Southwest Division, with open arms.

“This is something the whole family can do together,” said Lisa

MacDonald, director of communications for the fairgrounds. “There’s a

lot of good synergy between [the Crush] and our organization.”

The Crush also announced their coach during the press conference.

Earl Cureton, a 12-year NBA veteran forward who averaged 5.4

points and 4.7 rebounds playing for seven teams, including powerful

Philadelphia 76er squads of the early 1980s that featured Hall of

Famer Julius Erving, will lead the Crush.

Cureton guided the Long Beach Jam, a member of the Southwest

Division that also includes Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Tijuana, to

the ABA title last season. Corey Gains, who assisted Cureton at Long

Beach, which featured former West Newport resident and famed NBA

rebounder Dennis Rodman, will have the same role with the Crush.

Norm Nixon, who averaged 15.7 points during 10 NBA seasons,

including the first six with the Los Angeles Lakers, will be a

special assistant to Cureton.

Free-agent tryout dates for the 12-player team will be held Sept.

14-15 in Anaheim, which hosted the now-defunct Southern California

Surf ABA franchise for the 2001-02 season. The Surf fell to the

Kansas City Knights, 118-113, in the league title game that year.

The Crush regular-season schedule consists of 36 games.