When the MSU men's and women's basketball seasons wrap up each spring, high-level basketball in the Lansing area usually lays dormant until the fall.

Not this year.

The Lansing Capitals will join the International Basketball League as an expansion team for the 2006 season, the league announced last week.

"Lansing is such a great sports town, and I think they support their basketball," said Steve Ernst, team owner and director of operations at Aim High Sports in Dimondale.

The team's regular season kicks off March 31 and extends to the end of June. The first home game is scheduled for April 14.

Ernst hopes to utilize the basketball talent pool in Lansing to fill up the roster and stands.

"I think it's always been a market that people come out of the woodworks to lace their shoes up or come watch people they've watched play in the past," he said. "We don't have a lot of venues (in Lansing) for people to play, but we got a lot of players."

While trying to keep the team Lansing-based, Ernst also wants to keep the team at a professional level and fill it with quality players. One such player could be former MSU point guard Marcus Taylor.

"Marcus would be the type of talent we'd be looking for," Ernst said, adding that the team hasn't contacted Taylor yet.

The International Basketball League, or IBL, is a comprised of 26 Minor League Basketball teams and is entering its second season of existence.

Its unique rules make for quicker and higher-scoring games than in the NBA. The rules, including only one timeout per quarter, a 22-second shot clock and immediate inbound passes, resulted in a team scoring average of 127 points in 2005.

"They've changed the rules where it makes it so exciting, and the speed is increased and there's more scoring," said James King, co-owner of the Battle Creek Knights, the 2005 IBL champions.

One of the reasons the league can be successful when others like the Continental Basketball Association have failed is because of its clustered scheduling, according to King. Teams play almost all of their games in a certain region and usually travel by bus, not plane. King said this allows owners to "maintain the bottom line."

The league's other Michigan teams are based in Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Holland and Macomb County.

Although King considered the inaugural season to be a success — his team averaged 1,700 fans per game — he has seen growth during the offseason. Battle Creek's sponsorships have jumped from 60 to 122, and the players' talent level has increased.

"The quality players are contacting us so they can showcase their skill so they can get their second or third look to go to a different level," he said. "(Sponsors) realize it is quality entertainment and quality basketball."

King agrees with Ernst that having local players is important to the team but not at the expense of devaluing the league and its talent.

"We try to get homegrown people out there, but they have to have the quality skills to play the game," King said. "We don't want to minimize the league as a professional league."

The Capitals, who have yet to name a coach, will play their home games at Aim High Sports in Dimondale, about 11 miles southwest of campus.

Open tryouts are being held at 9 a.m. March 3, and Ernst expects both players with professional experience and players who haven't played organized basketball in 10 years to show up.

Tickets to games will be $6 for fans 18 and older and $4 for children, according to the team's Web site.