Fort Wayne Mad Ants

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Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Fort Wayne Mad Ants logo
LeagueNBA G League
Founded2007
HistoryFort Wayne Mad Ants
2007–present
ArenaAllen County War Memorial Coliseum
LocationFort Wayne, Indiana
Team colorsNavy blue, gold, cool gray[1][2]
     
General managerChris Taylor[3]
Head coachTom Hankins
OwnershipIndiana Pacers
Affiliation(s)Indiana Pacers
Championships1 (2014)
Conference titles2 (2014, 2015)
Division titles2 (2014, 2018)
Websitefortwayne.gleague.nba.com

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is the home venue for the team. The team is the first minor league basketball franchise to play in Fort Wayne since the Fort Wayne Fury of the Continental Basketball Association. The Mad Ants won their first D-League championship in 2014. In September 2015, the Indiana Pacers purchased the Mad Ants and became the Pacers' one-to-one Development League affiliate.[4]

History[]

In April 2007, the NBA Development League (D-League) announced it was expanding to Fort Wayne in 2007–08 season.[5] The franchise held a name-the-team contest on their website where fans could vote on one of the four finalists: Lightning, Fire, Coyotes, and Mad Ants. The winning name of Mad Ants was chosen as a salute to the city's and fort's namesake, General "Mad" Anthony Wayne.[6]

For the 2007–08 season, the Mad Ants were affiliated with the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers. The Pistons were founded in Fort Wayne by industrialist and piston manufacturing company owner Fred Zollner as the Zollner Pistons, before moving to Detroit in 1957. The Mad Ants added the Milwaukee Bucks as their third affiliate for the 2008–09 season. The Bucks were previously a parent club for the Tulsa 66ers until Professional Basketball Club, LLC (owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder) purchased the 66ers to be Oklahoma City's exclusive affiliate.[7]

In 2012–13, the Mad Ants, in addition to their affiliations with the Pistons, Pacers, and Bucks, were also affiliated with the Charlotte Bobcats.[8]

In 2013–14, the Mad Ants made it to the D-League Finals for the first time with a 126–118 victory over the Sioux Falls Skyforce, winning the second round series 2–0.[9] The Mad Ants defeated the Santa Cruz Warriors 2–0 in the Finals series to claim their first D-League title.[10] Following that season, the Mad Ants were affiliated with the remaining NBA teams that did not have exclusive affiliates, after the Phoenix Suns and the Orlando Magic associated with the Bakersfield Jam and the Erie BayHawks respectively, and D-League teams were created for both the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.

In September 2015, Pacers Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) purchased the Mad Ants, thus making the team the Pacers' one-to-one D-League affiliate. Brian Levy was named general manager by PS&E.[11] In 2017, the Mad Ants changed their colors to navy blue, gold, cool gray and white, the same colors as their parent club, the Indiana Pacers. Also in 2017, the Developments League was rebranded as the NBA G League following a sponsorship deal with Gatorade.

The Mad Ants were featured in the 'MyCareer' mode in NBA 2K19, a basketball game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports.

Season-by-season[]

Season-by-season records
Season Division Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses Pct.
Fort Wayne Mad Ants
2007–08 Central 4th 17 33 .340
2008–09 Central 5th 19 31 .380
2009–10 Eastern 5th 22 28 .440
2010–11 Eastern 3rd 24 26 .480
2011–12 Eastern 8th 14 36 .280
2012–13 Eastern 2nd 27 23 .540 Lost First Round (Santa Cruz) 0–2
2013–14 Eastern 1st 34 16 .680 Won First Round (Reno) 2–0
Won Semifinals (Sioux Falls) 2–0
Won Championship (Santa Cruz) 2–0
2014–15 Central 2nd 28 22 .560 Won First Round (Maine) 2–0
Won Semifinals (Canton) 2–0
Lost Championship (Santa Cruz) 0–2
2015–16 Central 5th 20 30 .400
2016–17 Central 2nd 30 20 .600 Lost First Round (Maine) 1–2
Fort Wayne Mad Ants
2017–18 Central 1st 29 21 .580 Lost Conf. Semifinal (Erie) 116–119
2018–19 Central 3rd 23 27 .460
2019–20 Central 4th 21 22 .488 Season cancelled by COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 13th 6 9 .400
Regular season record 314 344 .477 2007–2021
Playoff record 11 7 .611 2007–2021

Current roster[]

Fort Wayne Mad Ants roster
  • v
  • t
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
G 5 Gray, Josh 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1993–09–09 LSU
G — Jarreau, DeJon (TW) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998–01–23 Houston
F 1 Lawrence, Anthony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1996–09–06 Miami (FL)
G 4 McKnight, Quincy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1995–12–05 Seton Hall
G 14 Miles, Daxter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1995–01–05 West Virginia
F 7 Robinson, Devin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995–03–07 Florida
G — Washington, Duane (TW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2000–03–24 Ohio State
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate
  • (TW) Two-way affiliate player
  • (I) Inactive
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: September 10, 2021

Head coaches[]

Head coaches of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants
# Head coach Term Regular season Playoffs Achievements
G W L Win% G W L Win%
1 Jaren Jackson 2007–2009 100 36 64 .360 — — — —
2 Joey Meyer 2009–2012 115 51 64 .443 — — — —
3 Steve Gansey 2012 35 9 26 .257 — — — —
4 Duane Ticknor 2012–2013 50 27 23 .540 2 0 2 .000
5 Conner Henry 2013–2015 100 62 38 .620 12 10 2 .833 Won Championship (2013–14)
6 Steve Gansey 2015–2020 243 123 120 .506 4 1 3 .250
7 Tom Hankins 2021–present 15 6 9 .400 — — — —

NBA affiliates[]

  • Indiana Pacers (2007–present)
  • Atlanta Hawks (2014–2015)
  • Brooklyn Nets (2014–2015)
  • Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2012–2015)
  • Chicago Bulls (2014–2015)
  • Denver Nuggets (2014–2015)
  • Detroit Pistons (2007–2015)
  • Los Angeles Clippers (2014–2015)
  • Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2015)
  • Minnesota Timberwolves (2014–2015)
  • New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2015)
  • Portland Trail Blazers (2014–2015)
  • Toronto Raptors (2014–2015)
  • Washington Wizards (2014–2015)

In popular culture[]

  • In the television series One Tree Hill episode "You've Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie In It", James Lafferty's character Nathan Scott receives an offer to coach the team. The episode originally aired September 29, 2008 on The CW Network.[12]
  • In the video game NBA 2K19 the Mad Ants are featured in the MyCareer gamemode.

See also[]

  • History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana

References[]

  1. ^ Wiening, Logan (July 8, 2017). "Mad Ants Unveil New Look at Three Rivers Festival Parade". NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  2. ^ "Fort Wayne Mad Ants Reproduction Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "Fort Wayne Mad Ants Announce Basketball Operations Changes". OurSports Central. September 15, 2021.
  4. ^ Pacers buy D-League's Mad Ants to enhance player development
  5. ^ "NBA selects Fort Wayne for D-League franchise". The Journal Gazette. April 10, 2007. Archived from the original on May 1, 2007.
  6. ^ "The Ants Are Coming!". NBA Development League. June 18, 2007. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  7. ^ "NBA Development League". Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  8. ^ Greene, Dana (July 17, 2012). "Reno Bighorns new Jazz D-League affiliate". ABC4.com. KTVX. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  9. ^ "NBA Development League: Skyforce at Mad Ants Game Info". Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  10. ^ Fort Wayne Mad Ants Capture 2014 NBA Development League Title Archived April 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Brian Levy Named General Manager of Fort Wayne Mad Ants
  12. ^ Warden, Steve (September 25, 2008). "TV plot bringing team to 'Tree Hill'". The Journal Gazette. Retrieved October 1, 2008.

External links[]

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