The Kentucky Retros was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

that was scheduled to begin play in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA) in 2007. The team was originally located in

Murray, Kentucky Murray is a home rule-class city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of Calloway County and the 19th-largest city in Kentucky. The city's population was 17,741 during the 2010 U.S. census, and its micropolitan area's po ...

and named the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

after the Louisville-based teams that had played in the ABA previously, but the name was changed in March 2007 in deference to the tradition of those teams. The original Kentucky Colonels were a part of the ABA from 1967 to 1976. On July 17, 1976, owner of the Colonels,

John Y. Brown, Jr. John Young Brown Jr. (December 28, 1933 – November 22, 2022) was an American politician, entrepreneur, and businessman from Kentucky. He served as the 55th governor of Kentucky from 1979 to 1983, and built Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) into a ...

, agreed to a deal worth $3,000,000 that saw the end of the team just ahead of the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. Unlike their predecessors, the Retros did not stay around for a complete season. The team folded during the 2007–08 season.

2007–08 season

Before the team was set to play in the 2007-08 ABA season, they played in basketball tournaments all around the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In June 2007, the team was set to participate in the 2007 Hoops Kentucky Pro Am. There is no record available to know how the team fared in the tournament.

Notable players

Marco Killingsworth Marco Bernard Killingsworth (born February 21, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in three3 different high schools in Alabama, spending his senior year at Central Park Christian Academy, where he was one of the t ...

- played college basketball 2001–2006; played for

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in his freshman through junior seasons; after the 2004 season, transferred to

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, where he averaged 17.1 points per game.

Logo

The Retros' logo was designed by graphic design student DeWayne Esson while he was still a student at Murray State University. The colors were derived from those of the original Kentucky Colonels.

References

2007 establishments in Kentucky Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Basketball teams established in 2007 Basketball teams in Kentucky Defunct sports clubs and teams in Louisville, Kentucky Basketball teams disestablished in 2008 2008 disestablishments in Kentucky {{Kentucky-basketball-team-stub

2007–08 season

Notable players

Logo

See also

References