YouTube Gold: The Carolina Cougars

NORTH CAROLINA - 1970: Doug Moe #34 of the Carolina Cougars of the ABA shoots a jumpshot circa 1970 in North Carolina.A lot of people thought that pro sports didn’t arrive in the Carolinas until the Charlotte Hornets arrived as an NBA expansion team in 1988.

That wasn’t the case though because the Houston Mavericks moved to the state after a two-year run in the Lone Star state and became the Carolina Cougars.

It was a very different North Carolina then. The cities were much smaller and the Cougars were conceived of as a regional team that would play in Greensboro, Charlotte and, occasionally, Raleigh.

The team only lasted here for five years, but it had a decent impact. First there were a lot…