There’s a new contender in the ring for the American Basketball Association (ABA) Championship Weekend in Atlanta over April 10-12. While 3 of the 4 remaining teams were here last year, the 2025-26 ABA Central Region Champions, the Nashville Aces, are coming down from Tennessee to join the party for the first time ever.

So why should you root for the Aces?

The Team

The Nashville Aces are owned by Allen Rogers, Jr. and Duncan McClure — two former ABA players who we remember from the Music City Jazz before the Jazz relocated to Alabama and became the Circle City Pythons — and they are in their third year of operation.

Allen is the head coach, and he is assisted by Denise Knowles and Josh Eddy. Team colors are black and gold, which means that all four teams in Atlanta use black as their primary color.

While we had to do a bunch of research on the Austin Bats, Buffalo eXtreme, and Silicon Valley Panthers, we are quite familiar with the Nashville Aces. We covered the ABA Central Region Red Division all season long, and guess which division the Aces are in.

Last season, we called the 2024-25 Central Region Red Division Championship Game that the Aces played in, and there was quite a controversial ending. We were confused as we called it, the Aces successfully protested the results, and after experiencing and learning from that ordeal together, the Aces and Minotaur have been good friends ever since. So we’re super pumped to watch them battle for the league title this year!

The Aces didn’t just dumb-luck their way into Championship Weekend. They thumped the 2022-23 ABA Champions to begin the season. They beat the second-place Red Division team twice in the regular season to give that team its only losses of the year. They beat the ABA South Region Finalists on the road.

Then they lost 4 of their 5 starters to other leagues midseason while they were undefeated, and almost everyone gasped in anguish. Everyone, that is, except the coaches, players, and staff of the Nashville Aces.

What no one else knew was that the Aces had planned for that kind of thing. They celebrated the new opportunities for those four players, brought in the next men up, and continued rolling. Never broke a nervous sweat. The rest of us looked on in amazement.

In the Central Region playoffs, the Aces eliminated the second-place Red Division team by beating them a third time, they eliminated the Blue Division Champion, and then they took out the two-time defending ABA Champions for the Central Region crown and a perfect 23-0 record.

In their semifinal game, the Aces will take on the Buffalo eXtreme (23-0) out of West Seneca, New York on April 10 at about 6:30-ish p.m. ET / 5:30-ish p.m. CT or about 30 minutes after the first semifinal game has concluded in Atlanta.

What Impressed Us

Knowing most of their players the way we do, we were not surprised to see the Aces romp through the first portion of the season. It didn’t matter who stood in front of them, Nashville mowed them down.

They never took an opponent for granted, they never failed to prepare, and they never gave anything but their best efforts. It was clear to us that they were the class of the Central Region.

But when they lost 80% of their starting lineup all at once, we’ll admit it: we had concerns. We knew the gauntlet that was headed their way for the rest of the season, especially in the playoffs. Yet, here they are.

So what impresses us about the Nashville Aces? The ice in their veins. Our hats are off to the organization for preparing for this sort of thing, but even more impressive is how not a single player even blinked. They took on their new roles and executed flawlessly.

When they fell behind by double-digits more than once throughout the Central Region Championship Game, did they panic? We did, but the Aces didn’t. The camera would tighten up on the Aces’ huddle during timeouts, and the coaching staff was calmly telling the players to relax, have fun, and just do their thing. No yelling. No throwing things. No pleas for urgency.

Just ice in their veins.

Three Guys to Watch in Atlanta

We have known and watched George Stanberry (#22) play for years on multiple teams in multiple leagues, and he still never ceases to amaze us. As the top scorer for the Aces with 527 points on the season, it’s a weird sensation when George “only” scores 38 points in a game, as he did in the Central Region Championship Game. We’re left thinking, “Wow, that opponent shut him down pretty well!”

With any other player, putting up 38 in such a huge game would be amazing. But we’re spoiled by King George scoring 55, as he did in the regional semifinal, or 50, as he did on the road against the second-place Red Division team.

He averaged about 35 points a game this season, including a couple of clunkers in the first two games. Take those outliers out of the equation, along with a diplomatic international ABA game in which he played sparingly and still scored 23, and King George averaged 40 points a game.

This is why we screamed at the television screen throughout the Central Region Championship Game to “GIVE THE BALL TO GEORGE!!!”

George also led the Aces in treys and assists, and he ranked third on the team in steals. He was named 2025-26 First Team All-ABA.

It really doesn’t matter who the opponent is or how they try to contain George. He’s just that good. Fans from all across the ABA will be impressed when they watch him play.

We’ve said it on social media, and we’ll say it here: next to the word “clutch” in the dictionary is a picture of Derrick Jolly (#0). He doesn’t sport gaudy stats, but when the Aces lost 4 starters all at once, Derrick was one of the next men up who calmly said, “I got this.”

The 6’1″ SG wound up tied for fifth on the team with 195 points, third on the team in treys with 32, and fourth on the team in rebounds and assists.

With Jolly, though, it’s not so much a matter of quantity. He’s all about quality. It’s when he strikes that makes him so much fun to watch.

In the fourth quarter of the Central Region Championship Game, the Aces had come back from being down by 11 with just over 5:30 left to play and had taken an extremely fragile 2-point lead with about a minute left. Anxiety was high across the board. We were at home, dying a thousand deaths as we watched on TV.

Jolly fired one up from the right side of the arc, and SPLASH! A three-pointer! The Aces had a little breathing room.

Not long afterwards, with just seconds left to play and the Aces up by 6, the opponent fired up a three, missed, and there was Jolly throwing his body toward the ball and blocking the opponent’s rebounder out. Nashville gains possession. Game over. Clutch. No stat there, but clutch just the same.

Throughout the season, as opponents had a 3D play in the works, Jolly was often the guy who stole the ball or blocked the shot or made the crucial rebound to kill the 3D light and avoid disaster. Clutch.

If the Aces find their backs against the wall at any point during Championship Weekend, keep your eye on #0. Don’t know if we’ve mentioned it yet, but he’s clutch.

Another one of the Aces who we love to watch play is Tahj Wells (#33). We’re big fans of defense, and Tahj has proven himself to be a defensive force to be reckoned with.

One of the starters who the Aces lost midseason to another league was their primary defender, Jimario Rivers. Next man up? Tahj Wells. And boy has he embraced that role.

Leading the team in rebounds with 162, Tahj averages about 11 boards per game. The 6’10” center also leads the team in blocks with 25 — more than twice as many as any other teammate.

Tahj has played internationally in Belize, El Salvador, and Saudi Arabia, so going to Atlanta for the ABA Championship Weekend won’t intimidate him a bit.

If you love defense and agree that defense wins championships, you’ll want to watch for big #33.

Do the new guys from Music City have what it takes to win an ABA title without four of their original starters? We haven’t seen them miss a beat.

With King George, Clutch Jolly, Big Man Tahj, and the rest of the crew in black and gold who have ice in their veins, it’s going to be an absolute dogfight in Atlanta.

Where to Find The Nashville Aces

This is the fourth of a four-part series highlighting each team in the 2025-26 ABA Championship Weekend. You might also be interested in Everything You Need to Know About Championship Weekend because it will tell you how to get tickets to see the Aces in person or how to purchase the PPV to watch them from home.

Also check out:

• Why You Should Root for the Buffalo eXtreme
• Why You Should Root for the Austin Bats
• Why You Should Root for the Silicon Valley Panthers