Remembering the Charlotte Hornets 25 years later: Who are these guys?

Over the last 6 days, we have been chronicling the early years of the Charlotte Hornets franchise as we approach the 25th Anniversary of the team's first game. This time around, we'll talk about the most important thing a franchise needs, a head coach and some players that would make up the 1988-89 edition of the Charlotte Hornets.

Scheer begins an extensive hunt for a coach

Carl Scheer, who was hired as the first Vice President and General Manager of the Charlotte Hornets on June 25, 1987, would have a plan to look for a head coach that would roam the sidelines of the new Charlotte Coliseum for the Hornets first season, and after an extensive search, he would select Dick Harter, who was an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers at the time, to be the very first head coach in Charlotte Hornets history on June 3, 1988.  Harter had a background as an college and NBA coach, first breaking into the head coaching capacity at Rider University for a season, before leaving there to be the coach at Penn, where he spent 5 1/2 years as their coach.  His best years came during his time at the University of Oregon, where his teams were known as the "Kamikaze Kids" from 1971 until the time he left for Penn State University as it's head coach from 1978-83.

Harter made his NBA coaching debut as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons in 1983 and served in that capacity until the 1986 season, where he moved to Indiana to serve as a Pacers assistant coach.  The extensive background that Harter had coaching in college and in the NBA was exactly what Carl Scheer and owner George Shinn had in mind during the search.  With the coach in place, the next thing the Hornets would add on to their list of needs to make the team work, a list of players, in the expansion draft and in the 1988 NBA Draft, and for Scheer and Director of Player Personnel Gene Littles, they would hit the ground running to build that first roster to take the floor of the Charlotte Coliseum.

Who are these guys?

On June 23, 1988, the Hornets, along with the Miami Heat, led by a group headed by Broadway producer Zev Buffman and former NBA player/coach and Charlotte native Billy Cunningham, participated in the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft.  The players that the Hornets and Heat were going to get came from previous established teams in the league.  Charlotte won the coin toss, allowing Miami to select first in the expansion draft, and Miami would take Arvid Kramer from the Dallas Mavericks.  Charlotte had the next pick in the draft, and the Hornets would select the player that would have a huge impact on basketball in Charlotte, Dell Curry, who was with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Another player that would be an integral part of the Hornets was Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, who was picked 6th by Charlotte.  There was a few draft day trades during the expansion draft, and the Hornets were involved in one, as they sent Mike Brown, who was picked 8th by Charlotte, to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Kelly Tripucka.

In all, the Hornets picked 11 players in the expansion draft, and in the NBA Draft, held on June 28th, 1988, Charlotte used the 8th pick in the draft to select Rex Chapman out of the University of Kentucky, to set up the roster for the expansion Charlotte Hornets to take the floor for its inaugural campaign in 1988:

1988-89 Charlotte Hornets inaugural season roster

Forwards(6):

• Kurt Rambis(Signed as a Free Agent on July 28, 1988)
• Tim Kempton(Signed as a Free Agent on August 17, 1988)
• Robert Reid(Acquired from Houston in exchange for Bernard Thompson on July 18, 1988)
• Brian Rowsom(Signed as a Free Agent on October 6, 1988)
• Tom Tolbert(Selected 34th by Charlotte in 1988 NBA Draft)
• Kelly Tripucka(Acquired by Charlotte from Utah in exchange for Mike Brown in 1988 Expansion Draft)

Guards(7):

• Muggsy Bogues(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Rex Chapman(Drafted 8th by Charlotte in 1988 NBA Draft)
• Dell Curry(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Rickey Green(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Michael Holton(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Ralph Lewis(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Sidney Lowe

Centers(3):

• Earl Cureton(Signed as a Free Agent on July 20, 1988)
• Dave Hoppen(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Greg Kite

The roster is set, the coaching staff has been assembled, and for the Charlotte Hornets, there was only one more thing left to do....play some basketball.  In the 7th and final chapter of this series, we will look back at the day that would live in Charlotte and Carolina sports history forever, as the Charlotte Hornets would hit the floor of the Charlotte Coliseum for the first time as a team, as Charlotte would finally make the big time at last on that Friday night in November of 1988.