FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2014
Contact:   Craig Fata, Vice President
(844) THE-MPBA / craig.fata@theMPBA.com

ST. LOUIS – The Midwest Professional Basketball Association has added to its front office staff by bringing on a number of minor league and collegiate basketball veterans, Commissioner C. Edward “Ed” Schumer announced today.

“I believe a staff with this much combined talent and experience simply has not existed in minor league basketball in America—until now,” Schumer said.

Assisting Schumer will be Craig Fata of Normal, Illinois, as Vice President and Director of Communications and Compliance.  Fata joins the MPBA after serving as the Director of Operations and play-by-play broadcaster for the two-time minor league champion Bloomington (Illinois) Flex basketball team.  Fata has traveled from the East Coast to Fairbanks, Alaska with major college and professional minor league teams, giving him a great deal of insight on team and league operations. 

After working as a radio news anchor/reporter and news director, he gained extensive experience in crisis, executive, and strategic communications, working first for a decade in a municipal fire department, and then for a state agricultural policy organization.

Consulting Director John Spezia of Danville, Illinois, brings more than thirty years of basketball experience in an impressive array of roles, including a hall-of-fame career as a national champion junior college coach, NCAA Division I assistant coach, international coach, youth coach, scout, administrator, and youth/college/pro camp instructor and director in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and the Philippines.  He was also named National Junior College Division II Athletic Director of the Year, and twice earned  National Junior College Division II Coach of the Year honors.

Spezia has given presentations to several foreign government sports councils on sports tourism and youth sports development, and has served as assistant EuroBasket Summer League camp director and coach.  Spezia has racked up more than 450 victories as a high school, college and professional coach, and as an individual shooting instructor, helped more than 200 athletes earn college scholarships.

A.J. Guyton of Peoria, Illinois, will also serve as a Consulting Director for the league.  Guyton, a two-time minor league coach of the year, led the Bloomington Flex to championships in 2012 and 2013, and a perfect 18-0 record in 2014.  Guyton was a consensus All-American under Bob Knight at Indiana University before being drafted in the second round by the Chicago Bulls in 2000.  After spending two years in Chicago and one with the Golden State Warriors, Guyton enjoyed a nine-year professional career in Europe and the Middle East.

A third Consulting Director for the MPBA is Scott Sloyer of St. Louis.  Sloyer brings nearly thirty years of senior-level experience in the sports and entertainment industries, working with companies such as Reebok, Tickets.com, and ETix.  Sloyer has also served for more than thirty years as an NCAA basketball official.

Jim Sheppard of Urbana, Illinois, has been brought on as the MPBA’s Director of Sales and Marketing.  Sheppard spent more than twenty years as the “Voice of the Illini,” thrilling University of Illinois home fans with his public address calls at Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium.  Additionally, Sheppard has extensive sales experience in the radio and newspaper industries, as well as currently serving on the museum committee of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

Schumer is also pleased to announce that a twenty-plus-year National Basketball Association official will serve as the MPBA’s Director of Officiating.  Ron Olesiak of Chicago will head up the MPBA officials training and evaluation program.  Since retiring from active NBA duty, Olesiak has continued to work with the NBA and WNBA as an observer of officials, and stays sharp and physically fit by officiating minor league basketball games around the Midwest.

Greg Halbleib of Bloomington, Illinois, joins the MPBA as Assistant Director of Communications and Compliance.  Halbleib is highly decorated, highly respected news and sports broadcasting veteran, and has been involved in minor league sports for nearly ten years, serving as broadcaster and media relations director for several hockey, baseball, and indoor football clubs—often simultaneously.  As part of his duties, he has been integral in sales, sponsorships, marketing and game day operations for baseball and hockey.  He also brings a lengthy career as a baseball umpire, both on the field and as an instructor and supervisor.  Halbleib is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Steve Hollaway of Peoria, Illinois, is the MPBA’s Director of Information Technology.  Hollaway owns and operates TeknoLogik, an IT consulting and web development firm he started after serving 6 years in the Illinois National Guard.  Penny Riddle of Gridley, Illinois, will serve as the MPBA’s Administrative Executive.

“You won’t find a front office with this much ability until you get into the highest levels of collegiate and professional sports,” Schumer said.  “We’re going to redefine the space,” Schumer said.

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The mission of the MPBA is to attract the top minor league basketball players, coaches, owners and staff members from across the United States, and to provide that talent with the opportunity to develop their skills in a professional environment; the MPBA will also provide its fans and supporters with a fun, value-based entertainment experience, as well as incorporate community outreach programs into its members’ operations.