Pittsburgh Rens ABL

The Pittsburgh Rens were members of the American Basketball League, a short-lived circuit that operated for a season and a half starting in 1961. Rens was short for??Renaissance,??a clean air and civic revitalization project launched by city leaders in the late 1940s.??The Rens were owned by Ray "Archie," Eugene, and Lenny Litman, prominent Pittsburgh businessmen brothers, along with local insurance executive Oscar (Sparky) Adams. Ray Litman, who had made his mark as a fight promoter, had sought to obtain an NBA franchise for the city but to no avail. When the ABL was announced, Pittsburgh was keen to join. The team's home was the then state-of-the art Civic Arena and one of their star players was Connie Hawkins who would later gain fame in the ABA and NBA.????