The Des Moines Dragons were a minor league

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team in the

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and A ...

. They were located in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, and played at the Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium. The Dragons were owned by Paul Miller, and Dick Giesen. The Des Moines Dragons were the International Basketball Association champions in 2000 and the runner-up in 2001 to the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now pl ...

. They played in the IBA from the 1997-1998 season until the end of the 2000-2001 season. The Dragons were coached by Glenn Duhon from 1997 through 2000 and Michael Born from 2000 through 2001. The Dragons played their home games at Veterans Auditorium from 1997 through 2001. In 2000 Lonnie Cooper received the IBA Playoffs MVP. Lonnie Cooper of the Dragons received the 2001 IBA MVP as well as the IBA Finals MVP award. Also in 2001 Michael Born was named the Coach of the year in the IBA along with

David Joerger David Joerger ( AY-ger (born February 21, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach who serves as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the Dakota Wizards f ...

of the Dakota Wizards. The Dragons were the IBA organization of the year in all four years of their existence.
INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION HISTORY. Accessed March 31, 2007.

Playoffs

In 1998 the Dragons were swept 2-0 by the

Fargo-Moorhead Beez The Fargo-Moorhead Beez was a professional basketball club based in Fargo, North Dakota that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 1995-1996 season. They were the 1995-1996 and the 1997-1998 International Basketbal ...

in the IBA Semifinals. The Dragons swept

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

2-0 in the 1999 IBA Semifinals before losing to Mansfield 1-2 in the IBA Division Finals. In 2000 the Dragons had better luck in the playoffs, they started out by sweeping

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

2-0 in the IBA Division Semifinals and Fargo-Moorhead 3-0 in the IBA Division Finals before going on to defeat the Magic City Snowbears 3-1 in the IBA Finals for the Dragons only championship. During the Dragons final season they swept Fargo-Moorhead 2-0 in the IBA Semifinals as well as sweeping Souixland 2-0 in the Division Finals. The Dragons took a 2-0 IBA Finals lead against the Dakota Wizards before losing three straight to lose the finals 3-2.

Year-by-year record

Former Dragons players

*Tyrone Barksdale *Michael Born *Kris Bruton *Ron Bayless * Lonnie Cooper *Ben Ebong *

Rosell Ellis Rosell Ellis (born February 19, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. High school & College From 1993–1995, he played college basketball at the College of Eastern Utah. In 1995, he then moved to McNeese State of the NCAA ...

*Jon Hale *Chad Faulkner *Tye Fields *Kirk Ford *Edward Johnson *Greg Jones *Richmond McIver *Roland Miller *Michael Nurse *Carl Pickett *Kevin Sams *

Curt Smith Curt Smith (born 24 June 1961) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and co-founding member of the pop rock band Tears for Fears along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Smith plays bass guitar, has co-written seve ...

*Larry Thompson *Johnny Tyson *Troy Wade *Jason Williams *Justin Wimmer *Jason Winningham

References

External links

Des Moines Dragons official website

Des Moines Dragons OurSportsCentral homepage

from ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

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Dragons resume playoffs minus one
from ''

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(April 1, 1998) Dragons' GM on fire
from ''

Iowa State Daily The ''Iowa State Daily'' is an independent student newspaper serving Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, that is published in print and online. It was founded in 1890, and is largely funded by advertising revenues. The Iowa State University ...

''
(January 22, 1998) Player Is Suspended After Choking Ref
from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
Iowa House Resolution 116 on Des Moines Dragons

Des Moines Dragons Tryout Press ReleaseDes Moines Dragons Box Score
{{IBA Defunct basketball teams in the United States Sports in Des Moines, Iowa Basketball teams in Iowa 1997 establishments in Iowa 2001 disestablishments in Iowa Basketball teams established in 1997 Basketball teams disestablished in 2001