Remembering the Columbus Quest
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Columbus Quest players celebrate winning the inaugural American Basketball League trophy. Photo: Patrick Murphy-Racey/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
Columbus once had a powerhouse women's pro basketball team, but it proved to be ahead of its time.
Flashback: The Columbus Quest played in the American Basketball League, which launched in 1996 shortly after the popular U.S. women's team won Olympic gold.
- The team's logo featured an eagle gripping a basketball within the "Q" of Quest.
🏆 Columbus went 31-9 that first season and won the inaugural championship.
- League MVP Nikki McCray, Buckeyes great Katie Smith and others earned a trip to the White House.
Between the lines: Though the ABL started first and initially offered better pay, the rival WNBA had better attendance and the NBA's financial support.
- McCray switched leagues, but Columbus still went 36-8 in its second season and won another title over the Long Beach StingRays.
Yes, but: The ABL's struggles mounted in its third season.
- The StingRays disbanded a few months after the finals due to low ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. Their general manager joined Columbus, then abruptly quit — leaving head coach Brian Agler's wife, Robin, to take over the top job.
- When Agler left midseason to coach a WNBA expansion team, top scorer Tonya Edwards took over as player-coach.
- Columbus was 11-3 when the league ended on Dec. 22, 1998, and filed for bankruptcy.
What they said: An area high school player bemoaned the impact of the team's demise.
- "I hope to play college basketball at some level," Heath's Nikki Novell said. "Even though I know I'll never play in the pros, [the ABL] lets us know it's there."
What they did: Former Quest players turned to substitute teaching, housekeeping and other odd jobs to get by as they sought other playing opportunities.
- Shanele Stires waited tables at Max & Erma's before joining the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. Decades later, she's now head coach at Cal Poly.
Smith joined her in Minnesota and has had a long playing and coaching career.
- Columbus still has a "great fanbase" for women's sports, Smith told us in April.
The bottom line: Given the recent rise in women's sports popularity, maybe a pro basketball team could make its return locally someday.
