DAKOTA 1999-00 2000-01 WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONS

DAKOTA 2001-02 2002-03 NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2003-04 REGULAR SEASON 2004-05 WESTERN CONFERENCE

DAKOTA WIZARDS 2001 CHAMPIONS

DAKOTA WIZARDS 2002 CHAMPIONS

DAKOTA WIZARDS 2004 CHAMPIONS

Dakota Wizards
IBA 1995-2001
CBA 2001-2006

Although the Dakota Wizards have only been in the CBA since the 2001-02 season, the seeds of North Dakota professional basketball go much farther back in time. In the 1993-94 season, the CBA tested out a "Dakota Capital Classic" playoff tournament in Bismarck, where the 8th, 9th and 10th seeded teams in each conference played a two-game "play-in" series so as to advance to the regular playoff season. Although the tournament was a big draw, the CBA did not return to Bismarck for future expansion.

That didn't stop professional basketball from coming to North Dakota's state capital, though. From 1995 to 2001, the Bismarck, N.D. team known as the Dakota Wizards played in the International Basketball Association, a midwestern loop with teams based along North America's prairie states and westernmost provinces. The Wizards struggled in the early years of the IBA, but by the 1999-2000 season the Wizards were extremely competitive, winning the league's Western Division regular season title. In the 2000-01 season, the Wizards won the IBA championship, the league's last under that title.

In the 2001-02 season, the Wizards, along with two other IBA teams - the Saskatchewan Hawks and the Fargo-Moorhead Beez - became part of a reconstituted Continental Basketball Association. The rivalry between Dakota and Fargo-Moorhead, a strong one since their IBA days, was renewed in the CBA, as the two teams fought tooth and nail for the National Conference regular season crown.

The Wizards held the strong hand, thanks to the skills of head coach Dave Joerger (2001-02 CBA Coach of the Year) and the league's most valuable player, Miles Simon. Simon was the Wizards' sparkplug, averaging 23 points and 5 assists per game. Simon also set a league record with 60 consecutive free throws completed. In the playoffs, Dakota swept Fargo-Moorhead in a best-of-three series, and faced the Rockford Lightning in a one game "winner takes all" playoff. The game was evenly contested, with the score tied 33 apiece in the first quarter, 59 apiece in the half, with 21 ties and 21 lead changes in the contest. But thanks to the efforts of Miles Simon, the Wizards finished off the game with a 116-109 victory. For his efforts, Simon became the first player in CBA history to earn three individual player awards in the same year - 2002 Newcomer of the Year, 2002 League MVP and 2002 Playoff MVP.

In the 2002-03 season, the Wizards continued their dominant play, as league MVP Andy Panko 22.8 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game) helped Dakota earn 212.5 quarter points and the regular season National Conference title. The Yakima Sun Kings, however, knocked the Wizards out of the playoffs in the first round, winning three games of a best-of-five series.

One year later, Dakota was back on top, dominating the 7-team, single-division CBA that year. Not only did the Wizards defeat Idaho 132-129 in the CBA finals, they did it in front of their hometown crowd at the Bismarck Civic Center, and helped earn Dave Joerger his second CBA Coach of the Year award. This time the Wizards' playoff MVP was Maurice Carter, who posted 36 points (including 14-for-14 from the free throw line) in the 2004 finals game. Barely a week after earning his championship hardware, Carter received an NBA call-up to the New Orleans Hornets for the rest of the season.

After Dave Joerger left for a job with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Dakota hired Casey Owens as the next head coach. Dakota won another conference title, but could not advance out of the first round of the playoffs (which were eventually won by Sioux Falls, with Joerger as their head coach). Surprisingly, Owens was released from his coaching duties, and the Wizards organization hired former Baylor University head coach Dave Bliss for the 2005-06 season. Despite the high-profile signing of Bliss, the Dakota Wizards struggled throughout the 2005-06 season, missing the playoffs completely.

On March 28, 2006, the Dakota Wizards withdrew from the CBA, with plans to join the NBA Developmental League.

IBA STATISTICS
             W   L  PCT   GB     Result
1995-1996    7  17  .292  13     not in playoffs
1996-1997   17  13  .567   9     lost IBA championship
1997-1998   14  20  .412   9     not in playoffs
1998-1999   12  22  .353  10     not in playoffs
1999-2000   30   6  .833  --     lost in semifinals
2000-2001   30  10  .750  --     Won IBA Championship

CBA STATISTICS
             W   L   QW     QP   Result
2001-2002   26  14  95.0  173.0  Won CBA Championship
2002-2003   31  17 119.5  212.5  lost in semifinals
2003-2004   34  14 114.0  216.0  Won CBA Championship
2004-2005   32  16 101.0  197.5  lost in semifinals
2005-2006   19  29  88.0  145.0  did not make playoffs

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
1995-1996 Did not make playoffs
1996-1997 Won in semifinals over Magic City, 2 games to 1
          Lost in IBA Championship to Black Hills, 1 game to 2
1997-1998 Did not make playoffs
1998-1999 Did not make playoffs
1999-2000 Won in quarterfinals over Winnipeg, 2 games to 0
          Lost in semifinals to Magic City, 1 game to 3
2000-2001 Won in quarterfinals over Magic City, 2 games to 0
          Won in semifinals over Saskatchewan, 2 games to 0
          Won IBA Championship over Des Moines, 3 games to 2

CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
2001-2002 Won in semifinals over Fargo-Moorhead, 3 games to 0
          Won CBA Championship Game over Rockford, 116-109
2002-2003 Lost in semifinals to Yakima, 1 game to 3
2003-2004 Won in semifinals over Rockford, 3 games to 1
          Won CBA Championship Game over Idaho, 132-129
2004-2005 Lost in semifinals to Sioux Falls, 2 games to 3
2005-2006 Did not make playoffs