before the 92-93 season began, however, former michigan all-american cazzie russell, who had coached for seven seasons in the cba was signed as coach. the team improved slightly to lift itself off the foot of the division, but still finished 92-93 with a losing record of 21-35. their record was only marginally better than the 20-36 fort wayne fury. in 1993 mitchell butler from ucla was selected as columbus' first round draft pick, but the 6' 5" shooting guard instead chose to sign undrafted with the washington bullets of the nba. the horizon slumped back into last place by the 1993–94 season, again managing just 18 wins.