The Minnesota Ripknees were an

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team of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The Ripknees briefly joined the

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 was announced that the league would be revived un ...

after starting playing one season in the ABA. The team gets its unusual name after "Ripknee", a character in stories (with a hole in the knee of his blue jeans) which former co-owner John Jurewicz used to tell his son, William (also a former co-owner) on long car trips. The team ceased operations after 2008.

History

Playing their home games at the

Gangelhoff Center Gangelhoff Center is a 3,200-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Concordia University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It opened in 1993. It is the home to Concordia University Golden Bears volleyball and basketball teams and was ...

, Minnesota finished their inaugural 2006-07 season 24-8, good for first place in their division. However, a financial dispute prevented the team from participating in the playoffs. Jamel Staten of the Ripknees became the first and only player in ABA history to record a

quadruple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in their 125–107 victory over the St. Louis Stunners on February 1, 2007. After the season, the team announced they would switch their affiliation to the

and would now be playing at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium (which previously served as the alternate home of the

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) next to the

Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center (also known as "The X") is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in 2000, it is named for its locally based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 17,954, the arena has four ...

in St.Paul. Before the Ripknees could ever take a shot in the PBL, they were sold to Jam Entertainment (owners of the Rochester Fire, Peoria Kings, and Rome Legions). The Ripknees returned to the ABA to play the 2007-08 season. According to a report on Our Sports Central, the Ripknees ceased playing in the ABA before the end of the 2007-08 season.

Players from Minnesota on the Ripknees

* Johnny Gilbert, Minneapolis Henry HS (2000) -

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

* Levi Jones, Minneapolis North HS (1999) - Minneapolis CTC and

University of Nebraska-Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

* Mitch Ohnstad, Faribault HS (1996) - Cal Poly and

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

* Lucas Olson-Patterson, Robbinsdale Cooper HS (2001) -

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

* Tyrell Sledge, Minneapolis Henry HS (2002) - Emporia State * Jamel Staten, Minneapolis North HS (2001) - Minnesota State Mankato

References

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External links

Minnesota Ripknees on USbasket.com
Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Sports in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Basketball teams in Minnesota Former Premier Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 2006 Basketball teams disestablished in 2008