The American Basketball Association (ABA) today announced the addition of the Reidsville Reapers to its record-setting roster of expansion teams for the upcoming season. “This is a wonderful addition to our Mid-Atlantic Division,” stated ABA CEO Joe Newman. “We’re planning some realignment of divisions and the Reapers are the perfect fit for the new look ABA.”
The team will be co-owned by Grady Slade Jr. and Erik Ali Norman. Grady has been studying the African Diaspora history for over 20 years; he is the author of the book “Stolen Identity” The Truth is Stranger than Fiction. He has studied at St. Joseph University, Lackawanna College and Reading Community College and was an Adjunct Professor at Lackawanna College teaching Social Media Networking in the 21st Century. As an entrepreneur, he opened his first business at the age of 18, Slade Painting, now Slade Home Improvement and also owns two hoagie shops now called Slade Family Bakery, a record label (Slade Records) where he wrote and produced five albums. “I am really excited to be a part of the ABA,” added Slade, “especially now that they have the new ABAGALE TV Network and I can showcase my team, businesses, albums, and sports in the Reidsville area via Roku and reach over 70 million people. This will be fun.”
Eric attended Reidsville public schools where he was part of the 2002-2003 Football State Championship teams. He graduated in 2006 and went on to pursue his political science degree at Winston-Salem University and is currently an organist at his church, Trinity Holy Tabernacle in Reidsville where he works in youth ministry. Eric is the owner of a semi-pro football team, the Triad Outlaws, based out of Greensboro NC. “This will be a lot of fun,” stated Norman. “I’ve learned a lot of how to operate a professional sports team and will apply much of what I learned to operating our team. We will be competitive on and off the court.” For more information, email grady.slade@yahoo.com
