Carolina Storm

Season 1

The North Carolina Hurricanes were one of the original 22 teams in the WBA. Owned by who else, but some kid named, Corey Daubanton, the team decided that in the inaugural draft they would draft the best young players that they could. That scheme seemed to work, as with the #8 pick in Round 1, the Hurricanes selected 19 year old PF/C Dave Short. They followed this in the 2nd round by choosing 20 year old C Marty Williams. In fact, the team selected several other players known around the league, such as Bill Andrews and Chuck O'Rourke. Here was their original roster from the draft:

1. Dave Short

2. Marty Williams

3. Gene Allen

4. Bill Andrews

5. Doug Beliaeff

6. Bill Cash

7. Chuck O'Rourke

8. Pete Small

9. Nick Mann

10. Fred Phelan

11. Bill Alston

12. Woody O'Dea

13. Hugh Gregg

14. Chuck Herman

As the started was going to begin, Coach Daubanton started to do some trades. Trading Bill Cash to London, he was able to obtain a younger Leon Peterson and their second round pick. Using their own second round pick and London's second round pick, the Hurricanes also picked up Joe Miller. It was around this time, at the beginning of the season that Daubanton had a grand idea on how he could make his team really good. Trade all of the good players on his team so the team will be bad enough to get a top pick in the next season's rookie draft!!! Looking back, perhaps this wasn't such a great idea, as the Hurricanes gave Marty Williams to Roswell for Bennie Armstrong and Roswell's Season 5 first round pick, as well as trading Dave Short to Boston for Boston's Season 2 1st and 2nd round picks, London's Season 2 1st round pick, and Boston's season 3 1st round pick. Other trades were also made, including a trade with New York than sent Gene Allen and Boston's 2nd round pick for Pat McDaniel and NY and Boston's Season 6 first round picks. However, the most controversial trades at the time was when North Carolina traded scrub player Woody O'Dea to London for scrub player Wes Ford, which wasn't too bad considering Wes Ford was somewhere around an eight year younger scrub than O'Dea. Seeming insignificant at the time, it was later revealed by Hurricane and Disco management that Wes Ford was in fact, a real, live ladies' man with a below average IQ, and that he personally wanted to be on North Carolina, a team with a good looking cheerleaders (even though a crappy team), so he could get more excited about his game.

At the end of the season, Daubanton's goal of having a bad team was somewhat fufulled as his Hurricane's 16-46 record made him the third worst team in the league.

Season 2

With his pick (#3 overall), and Boston's pick (#8 overall), there was some expectations over what might happen. With his eyes set on Paul Wilson, a PF who didn't do much, except for the fact that we has the best rebounder ever to come out of the college level, Daubanton projected that he could trade his #3 pick down a few spots and still get him, therefore he traded it to Winifred for the #5 and #33 picks in the draft. Another before draft trade occured when the Hurricanes gave up their #8 pick from Boston and the recently obtained #33 pick to New York for a young PG in Ed Kane. As hoped for by management, the Hurricanes took Paul Wilson with their #5 pick. It was a little questionable whether Wilson was worth that high of a pick, as he really had no other game besides his 15+ rebounds a game, but it didn't seem to matter to Daubanton. Also, with possesion of the #27 pick in the first round, the Hurricanes decided to try their luck on a 17 year old kid by the name of Ed Bryant. He wasn't immediately great, but the team hoped he'd get better someday (which he really didn't).

In the pre-season, the league was surprised at how well the team was doing, ranking among the best in points scored, even though the team really didn't have a big-name scorer on the team. Everybody on the team was just contributing in some fashion or another. Of course, moving down south to a new state-of-the-art arena in South Carolina might have helped (actually not, if you read about the team's record later).

Of course, coach Daubanton wasn't in the mood to keep his team exactly the way it was. Early in the season he traded Ed Kane in a three-way deal involving Roswell and New York and got J.J. McCaughley, Frank Cox, Carl Mercer, and Roswell's season 7 2nd in return. J.J. McCaughley didn't have much time to spend in Carolina, as he was eventually traded to Brooklyn, along with their Season 3, and 7 second round picks for Gene Allen to return back to the team that originally drafted him. Another trade that never worked out was when the Hurricanes gave up a pair of first round picks (Boston's season 3 first and South Carolina's season 4 first) for 18 year old Charlie Brown. Management was hoping that at his age, he'd become a top center in the league in a few years, but they were wrong, and Charlie Brown really never had a big impact in his career (good grief!). The last trade was when South Carolina traded Carl Mercer to Baltimore for Roger Mayer, who ironically plays on Daubanton's Andorra team today.

As Season 2 went on, South Carolina had one of the better teams in the league, relying mainly on their offensive effectiveness, scoring 108.9 ppg on a 51.1 FG% as a team. Gene Allen lead the team in scoring, averaging 18.1 ppg. Other contributors included Pat McDaniel averaging 14.5 ppg on 54.7 FG%, and 5.7 apg in 23 minutes, Bill Andrews, who as Pat McDaniel's backup averaged 10.4 ppg on 54.4 FG% and 4.2 apg in 19 minutes, and Chuck O'Rourke, who averaged 11.8 ppg on 55.2 FG%, and 5.0 rpg in 22 minutes. It's also worth noting Paul Wilson, who although only averaging 5.4 ppg in 38 minutes, lead the lead with an astounishing 15.2 rebounds per game! Also, it was worth noted the efforts of Wes Ford, who although having some problems with home-cooked meals, was among the league's best with a 56.4 FG%, in what was perhaps, the only season where Wes Ford actually did play on the court when asked to. Ironically, the South Carolina franchise only went 20-20 on at home, but one the road, they played with a greater intensity, winning 31 out of 40. With a 51-29 record, South Carolina qualified for the sixth seed in the East, and was forced to play Berlin. Unfortunately, playing the Blaze wasn't a easy task, and was only able to steal one game before losing the series 3-1. The main cause of defeat could be traced to the overaggressiveness of the South Carolina defense, which allowed Berlin to get free points by giving up 28.0 fouls per game vs 12.8 of Berlin. Although the season had to end, it was a fun ride for South Carolina.

Unfortuanately, after Season 2, South Carolina made some mistakes that turned the team for the worse. Still thinking that 18 year old Charlie Brown had the potential to be a huge player in the league, the Hurricanes offered him a 7-year contract. Other controversial moves included refusing to re-sign fan favorite Wes Ford, as he didn't appear to be as productive on the court during summer camp, and the drafting of 19 year old Marcellus Hoover with the #18 pick, who was picked for his age, and not his talent (as much, much better players were still around at the time). Seeing that his mistakes would possibly lead his team to a disaster, Coach Daubanton resigned from the WBA, making the excuse that he had too much homework to do and wanted to spending his time learning how to use a new computer program he bought. Unfortunately, the South Carolina Hurricanes, later renamed as the Carolina Storm never were able to pick up the pieces after Coach Daubanton's resignation, and the team has never seen a .500 season again, and, in fact, today rates among the worst teams in the league. Nowadays, while Coach Daubanton was re-hired to take other the Utah (now Andorra) Highlanders, perhaps Carolina will make a turnaround like they did Season 2, as they do have possession of their first round pick, which should give them talent for the future.