CABA catapults talent, ambition

The way Carl Lanham sees it, the Creative Advancement Basketball Association came along about 15 years too late.

When Lanham's USC Aiken playing career was finished in 1986, he set out to play professionally.

Despite trying out for more teams in more leagues than he can recall, Lanham's life as a pro really never got off the ground.

Now serving as coach of the Augusta Storm, Lanham said the exposure and experience that the newly formed CABA provides might serve to save someone else's ambitions.

"It could have even helped me out back then," said Lanham, who plays some for the Storm as well.

"There's so many guys that fall by the wayside. Maybe this will help."

The CABA was created earlier this year, in part, by Dan Dudley, who named the league after the Creative Advancement Center afterschool program he started a decade ago.

To form the current CABA, four existing teams in Eastern North Carolina were paired with new teams in South Carolina (Anderson, Charleston, Greenville, Greenwood and Spartanburg).

Local interest sparked the insertion of the league's 10th team, the Storm, a few weeks after the rest of the CABA's season already had started.

Augusta is currently 2-2, and its next home game is at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Storm will play Spartanburg in the Paul Knox Middle School gym in North Augusta.

Lanham compared the Storm to the Dallas Mavericks - heavy on offense and still trying to figure out defense.

"You'll be surprised by the caliber of talent there," Dudley said. "All the games are very competitive."

Dudley, who lives in Duncan, S.C., has been a part of numerous semi-pro sports leagues and teams in the South, including the Augusta Cougars basketball team, which played in the early 1990s.

What's different about this league, Dudley said, is that it operates on a non-profit basis. The central point there being that no players are paid.

That opens the CABA's doors to current college players looking to hone their games during the summer months.

Dudley said North Carolina's Raymond Felton already has signed on to play next summer.

Then there's guys like Antonio Grant, a 2001 graduate from South Carolina and a North Augusta native.

Grant and others are hoping that a scout's eye will latch on to them, potentially leading to a professional career.

Dudley said some players have already been picked up by the NBA's Developmental League.

That concept thrills everyone, Lanham included.

"That's really my motivating factor," he said.

Reach Travis Haney at (706) 823-3219 or travis.haney@augustachronicle.com.