Elkhart, IN – The Pro Basketball Association announced on Monday that the Elkhart Mavericks will be joining the PBA. The league is set to have their Pro combine and Draft in April and the regular season kicks off in May. The 21 week season will be action packed this Spring-Summer and feature the top pro clubs domestically. The Mavericks are a top flight organization having played this season in the Maximum Basketball League. The PBA in a joint press release with the MBL this past weekend announced forming a alliance between the two leagues where the MBL would play their Fall-Winter season and the PBA in the Spring-Summer. The leagues are working together to bring a higher level of professional standard to the minor league system in the United States more akin to what’s expected in Minor League Baseball with their A-AA-AAA system of developing players for the next level. The PBA announced the National Map with plans for divisions across the Country. The Elkhart Mavericks are the first franchise announced in the Midwest Division with several others to be announced shortly.

Owner and Head Coach Chakiea Jackson-Sheppard is a graduate of Elkhart Memorial High School, Kankakee Community College, and IPFW where she played college basketball. She has coached at every level including High School for girls and boys. She has been a head coach at the professional level for 3 years in the minor leagues including the ABA and in the Maximum Basketball League (MBL).

“When I got a chance to visit with Chakiea and really just talk about basketball in the States, community, and organization I knew immediately she was a perfect fit for what we’re trying to build across the Country. Michael Andrae Wright in our league office and MBL C.E.O. Aramus Brown had told me about Elkhart and what made their organization special so I’m excited to see them join the Association.” PBA Commissioner – Chris Terrell