The Bloomington Flex were a professional minor league basketball team based in Bloomington, Illinois . The Flex last played in the Midwest Professional Basketball Association (MPBA) in 2015.
33-735: Formed in 2011 as the Central Illinois Drive, they were a member of the Premier Basketball League (PBL) for three seasons. The Flex played the 2012 PBL season as the expansion Central Illinois Drive. The Drive finished the 2012 regular season 18–1 and swept the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Steamers in the first round of the PBL playoffs. On April 14, 2012, the Drive completed a two-game sweep of
66-544: A controlling interest to remove the entire board of directors. Newman then refused to reschedule a weather-delayed playoff game between the Rochester RazorSharks and Wilmington Sea Dawgs although the two teams agreed to a make up date, wanting instead to force Rochester to accept a forfeit. It was on the heels of these two incidents that the Nighthawks and RazorSharks ownership groups decided to found
99-530: A draft. The Rochester RazorSharks won the league championship. The league approved expansion teams in Chicago and Scranton, Pennsylvania for the 2012 PBL season. Also, Chattanooga, Tennessee , Hershey, Pennsylvania , and Madison, Wisconsin were named as cities pending approval for expansion teams. On 18 July 2011, the PBL announced the Dayton Air Strikers were returning to the league for
132-670: A schedule change and the league moved the playoff schedule up by one week. The change resulted in a facility conflict for the second place team in the East Division, the Carolina Pee Dee Vipers . Carolina had no available dates in its arena, the Florence Civic Center. The league proposed the entire series be played in Rochester, but Carolina refused. The league canceled the entire first round of
165-698: The Augusta Groove , joined the league, but from the Continental Basketball Association . On June 23, the Halifax Rainmen , an ABA team the previous year, announced they were also joining the PBL. The first International Basketball League defection came on July 31 when the Battle Creek Knights joined the league. The Rochester RazorSharks went on to win their second straight PBL title after beating
198-599: The Buffalo Stampede , citing a failure by the team to adhere to league standards. The Maryland GreenHawks were also dropped from the league. The Bluegrass Stallions , another ABA team located in Kentucky, joined. The league also added the expansion Dayton Air Strikers . In January, the Vermont Frost Heaves abruptly announced the cessation of operations and their players were dispersed via
231-840: The Indiana Diesels , were a team in the North American Basketball League (NABL). Based in Indianapolis, Indiana , the Diesels played their home games at Emmerich Manual High School south of downtown Indianapolis during their last seasons. In their inaugural season in the American Basketball Association , the team finished with an 8–4 record and defeated the West Virginia Blazers in the first round of
264-687: The 2012 season. In addition, the Northwestern Illinois -based Sauk Valley Predators began their inaugural season in the PBL for 2012. On August 22, 2011, it was announced the Charleston Gunners would be the PBL's sixth team for the 2012 season. On September 15, 2011, it was announced the Northwest Indiana Stars were leaving the ABA to be the PBL's seventh team for the 2012 season. On 21 September 2011 it
297-570: The 2013 season on March 15 against the Sauk Valley Predators , losing on the road 100–94. The Flex then dropped their home opener on March 29 to the Gary Splash, spoiling their championship banner-raising ceremony. But the team went on to win ten of its next twelve regular season games. As the season continued, the owners of the PBL's franchises became increasingly unhappy with either playoff structure suggested by Barry Bradford,
330-568: The 2015 PBL Championship, winning the first two games in a best-of three series against the Lake Michigan Admirals. Championship Series (Best 2 of 3) Lake Michigan Admirals (2) vs Rochester RazorSharks (1) Rochester wins PBL Championship series 2 games to 0 Many new franchise additions occurred in the 2015 off-season including the Jamestown Jackals, Kentucky Mavericks , Western New York Thundersnow , and
363-524: The ABA. In early 2007, Newman was voted out of his position as CEO of the ABA by the board of directors, which included Maryland Nighthawks owner and then-ABA COO Tom Doyle (who was later a commissioner of the PBL), citing dissatisfaction with how Newman executed his duties as CEO, the large number of ABA teams that did not have the funds to operate, and high number of games when an ABA team did not show up. Newman responded by using his and other shares that formed
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#1732783955606396-793: The Battle Creek Knights. The Battle Creek Knights, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs and the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry would not return for the 2010 season. The Maryland Nighthawks changed the name of their franchise to the Maryland GreenHawks . The Puerto Rico Capitanes joined the league, performing concurrently in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional . At the end of the season, the league officially severed ties with
429-636: The Drive. Henderson and his management team then decided to reboot the entire operation. On December 1, 2012, Henderson announced the new franchise as the Bloomington Flex. The Flex logo, uniform prototype and colors were announced at a news conference on January 18, 2013. Prior to the start of the 2013 season, the PBL merged with the Independent Basketball Association (IBA), to create the IBA-PBL. The Flex opened
462-478: The Flex due to actions detrimental to the league allegedly caused by owner Scott Henderson and his contract with the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, despite the owner of the league having a similar contract in Rochester, which was honored. The Flex played in 2015 as a founding member of the new Midwest Professional Basketball Association (MPBA). On December 27, the team announced that Carlnel Wiley, Jr. would replace Guyton as
495-654: The IBA to re-establish the PBL and hold a four-team playoff, identical to the PBL's 2012 format. In the 2013 playoffs, the Flex swept the Indiana Diesels in two games and then completed another two-game sweep of the Rochester RazorSharks, 106–86 and 88–77, winning the first game in Bloomington and clinching the PBL title at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. In the two wins, the Flex defense held in check
528-490: The IBA-PBL commissioner who owns the IBA's Kankakee County Soldiers franchise and who had served as the IBA commissioner before the leagues merged. The PBL teams were also displeased about instances of IBA teams failing to appear for scheduled games against PBL teams over the final two weeks of the season. With less than two weeks left in the regular season, on May 24, 2013, the four top former PBL teams (Bloomington, Rochester , Indiana Diesels and Sauk Valley ) broke away from
561-493: The IBA-PBL. Prior to the start of the season, the defending champions, the Central Illinois Drive, ceased operations, but were then rebooted as the Bloomington Flex . On 24 May 2013, the six PBL teams announced that the two leagues would cease interleague play, and that the leagues would hold separate playoffs. In the first round of the PBL playoffs, the Bloomington Flex beat the Indiana Diesels two games to none, and
594-757: The PBL. Championship Series (Best 2 of 3) Indiana Diesels (2) vs Rochester RazorSharks (1) Rochester wins PBL Championship series 2 games to 1 Several games in the 2015 season had to be postponed due to winter weather, leading to a rescheduling of games in March to ascertain that every team in the league would have played at least 15 games before the playoffs. The best-of-three finals-only playoffs between Midwest Division Champions Lake Michigan Admirals and East Division Champions Rochester RazorSharks opened on March 21 in Waterlivet, Michigan, with game two set for March 28 in Rochester. The Rochester RazorSharks won
627-508: The PBL. Dr. Sev Hrywnak, owner of the Rochester RazorSharks, invested close to $ 2 million to start the PBL. The business model was structured so that teams entering the initial season did not have to pay an entrance fee of $ 100,000 and that all travel would be covered by the League. This would allow new teams the opportunity to have financial success from the start. Former Houston Rockets point guard and current NBA on TNT analyst Kenny Smith
660-555: The RazorSharks high-scoring offense, which had averaged 118.5 points per game in the regular season. The Flex finished the 2014 season with a perfect 18–0 record, winning the PBL Midwest Division championship and earning the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. When league officials realized the championship series was scheduled to take place over Easter weekend, Flex owner Henderson requested
693-601: The Rochester RazorSharks beat the Sauk Valley Predators two games to none. In the finals, the Flex beat the RazorSharks two games to none to win their second consecutive title. On 21 September 2013, the PBL announced the first of what is expected to be up to six expansion teams, with the Lima Express signing to play for the 2014 season, which will begin in January. On 12 November 2013, the PBL announced
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#1732783955606726-725: The addition of the Pee Dee Vipers , an expansion team based in Florence, South Carolina. Three days later, the league announced that the Lake Michigan Admirals would return for 2014. On November 25, the PBL announced the addition of the Buffalo 716ers and the Erie Hurricane . In late November the Chicago Tide joined the league. On 6 February 2014, it was announced that the newly formed Grand Rapids Cyclones would join
759-411: The defending PBL champions, the Rochester RazorSharks , at U.S Cellular Coliseum to win the 2012 PBL Championship. Despite their success, Drive owner Jim Bob Morris decided he no longer wanted to own the team after just one season. Scott Henderson, the executive vice president of the Drive, wanted to take over the team, but he and Morris could not come to an agreement about the use of name and logo for
792-438: The playoff schedule was announced. Henderson balked at having to play what was amounting to an exhibition game Friday, travelling Saturday, and then playing Sunday afternoon in Rochester, even though the league offered to pay all expenses to fly Bloomington to Rochester on Saturday. While the two sides were still negotiating for a way for Bloomington to appear in Rochester the league abruptly announced on April 3 that Bloomington
825-719: The playoffs before losing to the Chicago Steam . The next year, 2011, they moved to the Premier Basketball League (PBL) and played their next two seasons in Columbus, Indiana . In their last season playing in Columbus, the team reached the PBL semi-finals. The next season, after moving to Manual High School, the team reached the PBL Finals; however, they lost to the Rochester Razorsharks . The team joined
858-527: The playoffs, including the Midwest series between the Indianapolis Diesels and Bloomington Flex, and announced the finals would start April 6 in Rochester. However, Bloomington was contractually locked into two dates at its arena, U.S. Cellular Coliseum , on April 4, which had originally been scheduled as a regular season game against the Lima Express, and April 6, which the team had booked when
891-969: The return of the Danville Riverhawks. Mavericks owner Jerry Nelson also become an equity partner in the PBL. In addition, the PBL gained a new Southeast Conference which includes six members of the Tobacco Road Basketball League : Cary Invasion , Charlotte Elite, Durham Legacy , Huntersville HoopForLyfe, Raleigh Revolt, and the Wilmington Sea Dawgs . Championship Series (Best 2 of 3) Lake Michigan Admirals (3) vs Rochester RazorSharks (1) Rochester wins PBL Championship series 2 games to 0 Championship Series (Best 2 of 3) Kentucky Mavericks (2) vs Rochester RazorSharks (1) Rochester wins PBL Championship series 2 games to 1 Indianapolis Diesels The Indianapolis Diesels , formerly known as
924-448: The team's head coach. In October 2015, it was reported that the franchise would sit out the 2016 season due to the instability of the available leagues. Premier Basketball League The Premier Basketball League , often abbreviated to the PBL , is an American professional men's basketball minor league that began play in January 2008. The league folded after the 2017 season. It
957-460: Was announced that the St. Louis Pioneers were also leaving the ABA to join the PBL, changing their name to the St. Louis Phoenix. The Central Illinois Drive won the PBL championship for 2012, defeating the Rochester RazorSharks, 101-80. The Drive was 18-1 in regular season and 22-1 total. During the off season the league announced it would be merging with the Independent Basketball Association to form
990-419: Was announced that the league would be revived under new management for the 2020 season. The league announced due coronavirus outbreak the season would be put on hold. The PBL was formed after a number of disagreements between several former member teams of the modern American Basketball Association (ABA) and ABA CEO Joe Newman . Eight of the initial ten PBL teams either played in or were slated to play in
1023-648: Was announced the Lake Michigan Admirals were also leaving the ABA to be the PBL's eighth team for the 2012 season. On 23 September 2011 it was announced that the PBL's ninth team for the 2012 season would be the Central Illinois Drive based in Bloomington, Illinois . On October 12, 2011, it was announced that the Indiana Diesels were also leaving the ABA to be the PBL's tenth team for the 2012 season. On October 14, 2011, it
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1056-430: Was disqualified from the playoffs and suspended for the entire 2015 season "due to its unwillingness and inability to participate in the championship series." The league also announced that Bloomington would be replaced in the finals by second place Indianapolis despite refusing to consider having the third place Buffalo 716ers replace Carolina in the first round. On April 28, 2014, the PBL terminated its agreement with
1089-540: Was the league's first commissioner. During the 2008 off season, six more former ABA teams decided to move to the PBL. First, on May 9, the Manchester Millrats and the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 ABA champion Vermont Frost Heaves moved. Then on May 20, the inactive Detroit Panthers re-activated and joined the league. And on May 21, the Quebec Kebs joined. On June 5 another team with an ABA history,
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