The Moncton Miracles were a Canadian professional

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 Moncton,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Established in 2011, they were a charter member of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

(NBL). The Miracles played their home games at the

Moncton Coliseum The Moncton Coliseum (french: Colisée de Moncton) is an event venue and former ice hockey arena in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Atlantic Canada's largest trade show facility, the Coliseum has over of exhibition space and a drawing power of 1.4 ...

as a part of the league's Atlantic Division and were one of two New Brunswick teams in the league along with the

Saint John Riptide The Saint John Riptide were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saint John, New Brunswick, that had home games at Harbour Station. They were a member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) in the Atlantic Division. ...

. The team was founded and owned by Steven Conville but were now without an owner for three seasons. Their seasons in the NBL Canada had been highlighted by struggles, until the franchise was finally folded following the 2016–17 season when a new ownership decided to start a new franchise in Moncton called the Moncton Magic.

History

The Miracles were founded in 2011 and made their debut in the 2011–12 season of the NBL (National Basketball League). The team was primarily established by Steven George Conville;Steven Conville, who was the vice president and portfolio manager for Macquarie Private Wealth, part of the Macquarie Group, at the time. A big basketball fan, Conville accepted an offer to start a professional team by

Andre Levingston Andre Levingston is an American entrepreneur and basketball coach. He was formerly an auto detailer and schoolteacher. He is a co-founder of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL) and most recently served as the owner and president of th ...

, who would be the co-founder of the NBL Canada. Following a failure to establish an NBL Canada team based out of

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

, Conville decided to create one in Moncton. He targeted the city because of its rapid growth and tight-knit community. Despite not having visited the city before becoming the Miracles' owner, Conville gained a perspective of Atlantic Canada during business trips to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. He said, "So when I did my research on Moncton, I found out how much they loved basketball out there." At a press conference in August 2011, Conville was officially named team owner. He also announced his hiring of Norris "Bo" Bell as the first head coach for the Miracles. Bell ran a basketball academy in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the United States. A former player, he also had experience in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Switzerland. Bell faced the likes of

Micheal Ray Richardson Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. The No. 4 overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Richardson played in ...

Dražen Petrović Dražen Petrović (; 22 October 1964 – 7 June 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s, before joining the Nati ...

, and

Billy Knight William R. Knight (born June 9, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Playing with the Indiana Pacers in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and later the National Basketball Association (NBA), he w ...

during his playing career. He also became fluent in French through his years in Europe, which was part of the reason he drew Conville's attention. The Miracles' nickname was inspired by the term ''Moncton Miracle'', which referred to the city of Moncton's comeback from recession in the 1980s. Conville described it by saying that it "connects with Moncton's history and symbolizes the strength, courage and toughness that this city has shown over the years." The nickname was also chosen because "Miracle" is the same word in both French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Conville also commented on the team's logo, "Our team logo is meant to embody the strength that comes through when you rise above... the player in the logo carrying the ball is not wallowing in the past. He's heading towards the future and he's doing it ferociously." After three seasons of operations under the league management and without an owner, the NBL Canada sold a new franchise to three local business to play as the Moncton Magic.

Final roster

Season-by-season record

References

External links

* {{National Basketball League of Canada Sport in Moncton Basketball teams in New Brunswick Basketball teams established in 2011 2011 establishments in New Brunswick Defunct National Basketball League of Canada teams 2017 disestablishments in New Brunswick Basketball teams disestablished in 2017