Pro basketball is one step closer to returning to central Vermont and the hallowed Barre Municipal Auditorium.
On Tuesday, the VT Coyotes team owner Anthony Marques announced head coach Jesse Palmer and general manager Kris Bador, officially welcoming the American Basketball Association (ABA) back to the Granite City.
Starting in 2025, the Coyotes will play their home games at "The Aud," formerly the home of the state's first ABA team — the Vermont Frost Heaves.
Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon and Nicolas Storellicastro, city manager, were on hand at the press conference to share their excitement about the return of professional basketball.
"If the Coyotes are successful, Barre's successful," Storellicastro said at the event.
"It means we have 10 nights of the year when you can come watch professional basketball, you know, a stone's throw from your house. So it's good for us to have this building occupied," he said. "It's great for people to have something to do in this region and to have a team that we can rally around together as a community."
Barre has been without a pro basketball team since the Frost Heaves folded in 2011.
"It's been three and a half, four months of like, solid work," said team owner Anthony Marques, a former Frost Heaves staff member under coach Jeff Strohm.
"The idea kind of sprouted, I want to say maybe four or five months ago. And we've just been doing anything to elevate our chances of getting to this point," he said. "So, here we are."
The Coyotes' next challenge will be fielding a roster of players. The ABA allows teams to roster 12 players for road games, and 13 players for home games.
Team officials said the Coyotes are currently planning a combine event that will be held in Barre sometime in November. The team will use the event to take stock of local basketball talent as they work to fill their roster.
"We're at a professional level. Not everybody's going to get a participation ribbon at this level," said new general manager Kris Bador.
"We're looking for high-character guys that are willing to accept roles to make us better as a team," he said. "High caliber guys, good attitudes, positive attitudes, team-first guys, community guys, guys that want to come in here and work together, grow together. Guys that want to win."
The Coyotes will join the Bennington Martens as Vermont's two ABA teams. The Martens will kick off their season with a game versus the Boston Sharks on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Berkshire Community College.
The Coyotes will begin ABA play in the 2025-26 season.
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