2019 TBL season
# 2019 TBL season

The 2019 TBL season is the second season of The Basketball League (TBL) after one season as North American Premier Basketball (NAPB).

After the first NAPB season, league president Dave Magley acquired the league as sole owner, moved the headquarters to Indiana, and named Evelyn Magley as the new CEO. On July 14, the league was rebranded as The Basketball League. On August 16, 2018, Paul Mokeski was named the commissioner of the league after having served the previous season as head coach and general manager of the Nevada Desert Dogs.

During the previous season, four expansion teams were announced for 2019 in the Raleigh Firebirds, San Diego Waves, Tampa Bay Titans, and a Bellevue, Washington-based team. After the league rebrand, the Bellevue team, the Ohio Bootleggers, and the Vancouver Knights were no longer mentioned as members for the 2019 season. The Basketball League also added the Jamestown Jackals from the North American Basketball League and the New York Court Kings from the American Basketball Association. The Nevada Desert Dogs were renamed the Mesquite Desert Dogs and the Kentucky Thoroughbreds were renamed the Owensboro Thoroughbreds. Upon the 2019 season schedule release, the Rochester Razorsharks were also removed from the league.

During the season, there were many canceled and rescheduled games. The league apparently cut its season short with the New York Court Kings and Kansas City Tornadoes either folding or ceasing operations for the season.

## Standings

Final standings:

| Team | W | L | PCT |
| - | - | - | - |
| Yakima SunKings | 22 | 6 | .786 |
| Kansas City Tornadoes | 16 | 8 | .667 |
| Mesquite Desert Dogs | 15 | 9 | .625 |
| Albany Patroons | 16 | 11 | .593 |
| Raleigh Firebirds | 15 | 13 | .536 |
| Jamestown Jackals | 14 | 13 | .519 |
| San Diego Waves | 11 | 13 | .458 |
| Tampa Bay Titans | 11 | 18 | .379 |
| Owensboro Thoroughbreds | 7 | 20 | .259 |
| New York Court Kings | 3 | 17 | .150 |

## Playoffs

There were ten teams in the league with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs. The second place Kansas City Tornadoes elected not to participate in the playoffs. The semifinals were split in a generalized East and West series despite not having divisions during the regular season. Each round of the playoffs were played as a best-of-three series.

| Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| W1 | Yakima SunKings | 2 | | | |
| W2 | Mesquite Desert Dogs | 0 | | | |
| W2 | Mesquite Desert Dogs | 0 | W1 | Yakima SunKings | 1 |
| | | | E1 | Albany Patroons | 2 |
| E1 | Albany Patroons | 2 | E1 | Albany Patroons | 2 |
| E2 | Raleigh Firebirds | 1 | | | |

## Draft

The 2019 player draft for the league was held on December 3, 2018, and the league's ten teams took turns selecting players who had all competed at the college level in the United States at some point.

Julian Harris of UT Arlington was the first overall TBL selection taken by Raleigh Firebirds.

Although some of the players chosen in the draft had played semi-professional or professional basketball after college graduation, only the United States colleges they attended are listed.

| Pos. | G | F | C |
| - | - | - | - |
| Position | Guard | Forward | Center |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College | Year graduated |
| 1 | 1 | Julian Harris | F | United States | Raleigh Firebirds | UT Arlington | 2018 |
| 1 | 2 | Xzavier Taylor | F/C | United States | Jamestown Jackals | Purdue Fort Wayne | 2018 |
| 1 | 3 | Zack Taylor | F | United States | Tampa Bay Titans | Louisville | 2018 |
| 1 | 4 | Zerrion Payton | G | United States | San Diego Waves | Westminster College | 2017 |
| 1 | 5 | Quincy Scates | G | United States | Owensboro Thoroughbreds | Tennessee Wesleyan University | 2016 |
| 1 | 6 | Jeremy Burright | F | United States | Kansas City Tornadoes | Lower Columbia College | |
| 1 | 7 | Alonzo Murphy | F | United States | Albany Patroons | Lincoln University | 2015 |
| 1 | 8 | Dushone Brown | F | United States | Mesquite Desert Dogs | Los Angeles Harbor College | |
| 1 | 9 | Richard Townsend-Gant | F | United States | Yakima Sun Kings | Vancouver Island | |
| 1 | 10 | Darnell Foreman | F | United States | New York Court Kings | University of Pennsylvania | 2018 |
| 2 | 11 | Rahim Williams | G | United States | New York Court Kings | Youngstown State | 2018 |
| 2 | 12 | Brenton Scott | G | United States | Yakima Sun Kings | Indiana State | 2018 |
| 2 | 13 | Zach Cassita | G | United States | Mesquite Desert Dogs | North Park University | |
| 2 | 14 | Josh Cameron | G | United States | Albany Patroons | Coastal Carolina University | |
| 2 | 15 | Darien Walker | F | United States | Kansas City Tornadoes | Valparaiso | 2016 |
| 2 | 16 | Gerald Campbell | G | United States | Owensboro Thoroughbreds | Central State University | |
| 2 | 17 | Spencer Parker | F | United States | San Diego Waves | Bowling Green State University | 2017 |
| 2 | 18 | Arthur Tally | F | United States | Tampa Bay Titans | Claflin University | |
| 2 | 19 | Charles Foster | G | United States | Jamestown Jackals | Kansas State | 2018 |
| 2 | 20 | Timothy Plummer | F | United States | Raleigh Firebirds | State College of Florida | |
