for the 1981–82 season, canadian coach bruce patterson took the reins, while irish international john o'connor joined from killester. tom hinga, a 6'5" forward from colorado, became the first paid player for marian. a mid-table finish in 1982 meant the club had to seriously raise sponsorship and finance to compete in the new semi-professional era. the irish basketball association (iba) promoted a scheme whereby american investors put money into clubs, including marian. george murphy from chicago was the principal investor in the club. the club also acquired sponsorship from yoplait, and as a result, the national league team was called team yoplait for the next four seasons (1982–86). unfortunately, results on court were not so good and the team was relegated from the top flight at the end of the 1982–83 season.