Steel City Yellow Jackets Journal

by Thomas Leturgey  Pittsburgh’s most important ambassador to basketball spends many of his days at A Giving Heart Community Center, formerly the St. John Vianney Catholic Church gymnasium in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh.   "Coach" Ace Pippens may be the Owner and CEO of Pittsburgh’s only current professional championship team—the Steel City Yellow Jackets—but he is not resting on his laurels. The American Basketball Association (ABA) team owner also helms the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) squad, the Steel City Queens. That club is in pre-season tryouts and the roster is being assembled.    While that team only plays 8 games (compared to the Yellow Jackets’ 20-plus), the Queens have been inspired to advance to the next competitive step by their basketball brothers.   During the summer, Yellow Jackets co-captains Gilmore Cummings and Tone Reddic are among the players who make up a ruckus D.R.E.A.M. summer league at A G...

New ABA International President Ross Kurland. Photo courtesy of the ABA. From the desk of ABA Owner and CEO Joseph Newman Indianapolis, IN.  The American Basketball Association (ABA) today announced that Ross Kurland has been named President of ABA International, a division designed to establish the ABA brand  throughout the world.  "Ross has been with the ABA for over 13 years," stated ABA CEO Joe Newman. "He gained great experience operating the San Diego Surf prior to selling the team and moving into ABA domestic expansion.   Ross has tremendous experience internationally with his players having signed and played in over 35 countries and his team having played 45 games in 7 countries, including 25 games  in China." Following his US Army service as Community Relations Representative of the United Nations  Command in Korea, Kurland had a successful career in business including opening a boxing gym in Times Square in NYC; and following a move to San Di...

New ABA President Greg Brown By Thomas Leturgey Hard work and determination has done Baltimore’s Greg Brown well. A decade ago, Brown came to the realization that his basketball playing career–which had flourished in high school and college–was coming to an end due to a torn ligament in his hand. While visiting one day he turned to his grandmother, Velma Price, and told her about his dream of owning a professional basketball team. “You can do whatever you put your mind to,” Price told her grandson. He used some of those words of wisdom to pursue his goal. The young man worked diligently as a door-to-door Verizon Fios representative and moved up the corporate ladder. During that time, Price passed away and left Brown a small inheritance. He used that money and his own savings to purchase an American Basketball Association (ABA) franchise in his hometown. At 24, Brown founded the Baltimore Hawks and became the youngest professional basketball team owner anywhere. “Not just the United Sta...

The Steel City Yellow Jackets with Owner/Head Coach Ace Pippens (with plaque) celebrate after winning the ABA Championship. Photo by Thomas Leturgey by Thomas Leturgey with Arianna Rosemond With the Penguins eliminated in the NHL playoffs, Pittsburgh can now focus on celebrating the most recent addition to the City of Champions, the Steel City Yellow Jackets. The club, originated in 2014 and based in the Hilltop community of Allentown, earned its very first National Championship on April 23 by defeating Stockton, California's Team Trouble in Baltimore. The Championship Parade is set for Thursday, May 19 in downtown Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey will be on hand with a proclamation for the team. The parade coincides with a "PGH Opens Block Party". "We are excited to celebrate another championship here in the City of Champions," Mayor Gainey said in a press release. "We are excited to be able to bring together this celebration of music, arts, food, an...

ABA Championship Tournament MVP Kenny Holmes embraces his mother "Momma Zero" after the Steel City Yellow Jackets won the National Tournament. Photos from Holmes' Facebook page. by Thomas Leturgey Kenny Holmes' journey to the Most Valuable Player of the American Basketball Association's Championship Tournament is one of the most unique of the season. He started the season as Small Forward for the Newfoundland Rogues, but that wing of the ABA stalled for two weeks because of COVID and shut down entirely at the end of January. He had played a couple of years previously for the Steel City Yellow Jackets, but had joined the team in Canada at the urging of his friend, former Jacksonville Giants Head Coach Jerry Williams. When the Rogues closed for the year, they were undefeated at 6-0, and Pittsburgh's team was already 10-0. Holmes reached out to his friends and Co-Captains Tone Reddic, Sr. and Gilmore Cummings. They talked it over with Owner and Head Coach Ace Pip...

Steel City Yellow Jackets Owner Ace Pippens, here after winning the ABA National Championship, turns 47 today. Photo courtesy of Facebook. by Thomas Leturgey Ace Pippens plans on fishing for at least some of his 47th birthday, May 3. That's what the owner of the American Basketball Association (ABA) Champion Steel City Yellow Jackets should be doing, right? He'll probably bring his championship trophy along for the adventure. "It's been a great birthday gift," he said in a phone interview on Monday. A Homewood native and Churchill resident, Averill D. Pippens, who has been an owner since 2014, is in rarified air when it comes to championships in Pittsburgh. The Steel City Yellow Jackets won their first National Championship on April 23 and now there's talk of a Grant Street parade later in May. The Yellow Jackets have always been competitive, but many of the players had looked at this as their "David vs. Goliath" year. Jacksonville's 15-1 Giants,...

Friends and Co-Captains Antonio Reddic, Sr. (l) and Gilmore Cummings celebrate on the court after winning the ABA Championship in Baltimore. Photo via Facebook. by Thomas Leturgey Throughout the Steel City Yellow Jackets' 2021-2022 season, if you'd talk with Owner/CEO and Head Coach Averill "Ace" Pippens, or Co-Captains Antonio Reddic, Sr. or Gilmore Cummings and they would all individually elicit the same exact mantra, "This is our year." The Yellow Jackets have been perilously close to an American Basketball Association championship for many of the past few years. Last year the club lost in the semi-finals and vowed to be back this season. Throughout most of the ABA's calendar, the Yellow Jackets were near the top of the rankings. For some of the season, they only had the team from Chula Vista, California above them because that organization was also undefeated, but won two more games. It was through Reddic and Cummings' on-court leadership, and Pi...