Saginaw Basketball Legend and Community Leader Eugene Seals Jr. Leads New Professional Basketball Organization

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Professional basketball is coming to Saginaw, Michigan!

The Basketball League (TBL) is excited to announce that Saginaw, Michigan, has officially been awarded a new TBL market, with the Saginaw County Cavalry set to begin play during the 2027 TBL season.

At the center of the new organization is a name already well known throughout the Saginaw community.

Eugene Seals Jr. is coming home to lead professional basketball in the community that helped launch his own basketball journey.

Seals will serve as Team Market Owner of the Saginaw County Cavalry and is joined in the ownership group by partners Willie McKether and Jimnesia Perkins.

Together, their vision extends far beyond what happens on the basketball court.

“We are thrilled to bring professional basketball to a market we’re proud to call home. It is our goal to use this wonderful game to impact the youth with the role models we intend to represent us and, in doing so, create a family-friendly, affordable and fun entertainment experience.”

— Eugene Seals Jr., Team Market Owner, Saginaw County Cavalry

FROM SAGINAW HIGH TO PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL

For Seals, this opportunity represents a remarkable full-circle moment.

A 2000 graduate of Saginaw High School, the 6’6″ standout established himself as one of Michigan’s top high school basketball players.

During his senior season, Seals averaged 16.5 points and 12.2 rebounds, earned All-State honors and helped lead Saginaw High to the Class A state semifinals. He finished second in the 2000 Michigan Mr. Basketball voting and also earned All-Area and All-Saginaw Valley League recognition. He was an honorable mention USA Today All-American and competed in both the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan All-Star Game and Wendy’s All-America Classic.

His performance earned him a full scholarship to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he played for legendary coach and former Saginaw High coach Charlie Coles.

Seals’ versatility became a defining feature of his collegiate career. He played all five positions for the RedHawks, became a two-time co-captain, earned Miami’s Richard Shrider Defensive Player of the Year honor and received the Holdie Wilson Award for exemplifying team spirit.

Following college, Seals participated in the NBA Summer League before taking his talents around the world, playing professionally in countries including Spain, Macedonia, Colombia and Mexico.

Basketball took Eugene Seals around the world.

But Saginaw brought him home.

FROM PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE TO COMMUNITY LEADER

What makes the arrival of the Saginaw County Cavalry particularly meaningful is what Seals chose to do after his playing career.

He invested himself back into his community.

Today, Seals serves as President and CEO of the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce, assuming the leadership position in July 2024 after previously serving the Chamber in membership, sponsorship sales and its Momentum Minority and Women-Owned Business and Mentorship Program.

His commitment to Saginaw extends deeply into youth development as well.

Through Pride Basketball 21/Pride Academy 21, Seals has helped provide training, camps, AAU basketball and development opportunities for young athletes throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region.

Pride Academy’s mission is about more than developing basketball players. Its coaching philosophy emphasizes helping young athletes become better people on and off the court.

The program has already produced athletes who have advanced into college and professional basketball, and its girls program captured a 2022 national championship.

That combination of basketball experience, business leadership and commitment to young people is exactly what TBL believes professional basketball ownership can represent.

A COMMUNITY ASSET FOR SAGINAW COUNTY

For TBL CEO Evelyn Magley, the Saginaw County Cavalry represents more than league expansion.

It represents an opportunity to place a professional basketball organization in the hands of leadership already deeply invested in its community.

“We are so excited to have someone of Eugene’s character and commitment to community heading our expansion into the great state of Michigan. Eugene understands basketball, but more importantly, he understands people and the responsibility that comes with becoming a community asset. We believe the Saginaw County Cavalry can become something very special for families, young people and businesses throughout Saginaw County.”

— Evelyn Magley, CEO, The Basketball League

That philosophy is central to TBL’s mission:

Use basketball to show love to community.

TBL believes its teams should become community assets—organizations that create professional opportunities for players while also connecting with schools, businesses, families, nonprofits and young people throughout their markets.

With Seals and his partners leading the organization, that mission already has deep roots in Saginaw.

A NEW MIDWEST RIVALRY IS COMING

The addition of the Saginaw County Cavalry also strengthens TBL’s growing Midwest footprint.

The Cavalry will enter a regional conference that includes three teams in Ohio, two in Indiana and one in Illinois, creating natural geographic rivalries and giving fans throughout the region another exciting professional basketball destination.

And Saginaw knows basketball.

This is a community with a rich basketball tradition, passionate fans and generations of talented players.

Now, it will have a professional TBL team to call its own.

SAGINAW, THE CAVALRY IS COMING!

The Basketball League will enter its ninth season in 2027, with more than 30 teams across the United States and Canada competing as part of the league’s growing professional basketball platform.

The 2027 season is scheduled to begin in late February, followed by approximately three months of regular-season competition and a postseason culminating in June.

For Eugene Seals Jr., Willie McKether, Jimnesia Perkins and the entire Saginaw community, opening night will represent something bigger than the beginning of another basketball season.

It will represent a homecoming.

A former Saginaw High standout who once left home to pursue his basketball dreams will now help create opportunities for another generation—right where his own journey began.

Saginaw County, get ready.

The Cavalry is coming. 

CONNECT WITH THE SAGINAW COUNTY CAVALRY

Eugene Seals Jr.
Team Market Owner

Phone: 989-272-2720
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @saginaw_county_cavalry
Facebook: @saginaw_county_cavalry