[2][3] The Stuff held the 1st pick of the 1999 IBL draft,[4] which they used to select Devin Davis.
[5] However, Davis never played for the franchise, and the final roster for the first season was announced in late November 1999: the first players were Roderick Blakney, Lenny Brown, Allen Edwards, Damon Flint, Damon Frierson, Phil Hickey, Courtney James, Chris Kingsbury, Soumaila Samake, Alex Sanders, Eric Taylor and Wayne Turner.
In their first season, the Cincinnati Stuff finished with a record of 43-21 and won the East Division, qualifying for the playoffs, where they lost 2-0 in the conference semifinals against the Richmond Rhythm.
[7] In June 2000 Joby Wright announced that he would not return to coach the Stuff for the 2000-01 season.
[8] In the 2000 NBA draft Soumaila Samake, who averaged 9.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game,[9] was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the 36th pick: he is the only player drafted from the IBL to the NBA.