Windsor Express CEO expects success

by Brett Hedges

The National Basketball League of Canada’s newest franchise’s president hopes his professional basketball team, the Windsor Express, will be a vital part of the Windsor-Essex community.

Dartis Willis, president and CEO of the Windsor Express, described how the franchise came to be and how much he wants the community to be a part of the team’s success in its infancy.

“The league has some stringent criteria they use to determine whether or not a franchise would fit in a particular city,” said Willis, who is from Detroit. “We had roughly a year to plan so when the application officially went in all of the things like the operational, structural, financial and market assessment were done prior. We had some time to look at the pros and cons within the application.”

Shortly after the announcement of the team, the Express executives started their search for a head coach. After narrowing down the list of candidates to four, the job was awarded to Bill Jones.

“Bill Jones stood out of the final four and had some unique characteristics about him,” said Willis. “What he’s done in his past really fit well with what we were trying to achieve here from a strategic standpoint.”

After Bill Jones was named head coach the teams headed into the NBL draft with the first overall pick. With that pick, they selected 6’10” centre Robert Curtis and promptly traded him to the Saint John Mill Rats to bring back University of Windsor graduate Isaac Kuon.

“Windsorites are very firm on utilizing some of the home talent,” said Willis. “We happened to identify Isaac Kuon early on during the all-star game last year and he stood out both on a professional standpoint and on the court. Isaac performed quite well in the game but off of the floor he was a gentlemen, was very well spoken and talked highly about what they did at the University of Windsor.”

For the home-opener against the Halifax Rainmen Nov. 3, Willis purchased 6,000 tickets and gave them away to the public in order to establish a fan base and following for the team.

“This is my third venture where the public had to play a part,” said Willis. “Anytime you start something where fans are the key driver of how successful you’ll be it’s always important that you engage the public so they have that hometown feel of a professional sports team.”

The message has been received by at least one family in Windsor and Essex County. Michael Yeboah, 30, a paramedic with Essex-Windsor EMS plans to go to the game with his wife Kari.

“I’m excited about the Windsor Express,” said Yeboah. “I love basketball and the fact that Windsor has a professional team is great for a city that is so sports-oriented.”

As far as his expectations for the franchise in its inaugural season, Willis was brief.

“The same question has been echoed by several people,” said Willis. “My expectation is always that we’ll be successful, that we’ll be integrated in the community, that we’ll be a vital part of the community as well as winning and being a great entertainment piece for the community.”