Brussels Basketball

Brussels Basketball is a professional basketball club based in Brussels, Belgium. The team plays in the BNXT League. Home games are played at the Sports Complex Neder-Over-Heembeek.

Brussels Basketball
Brussels Basketball logo
LeaguesBNXT League
Founded1957 (1957)
HistoryExcelsior Brussels
(1999–2013)
Brussels Basketball
(2013–present)
ArenaSports Complex Neder-Over-Heembeek
Capacity1,200
LocationBrussels, Belgium
Team colorsRed, Black
   
Main sponsorCircus
PresidentAndré De Kandelaer
Head coachSerge Crevecoeur
Websitewww.brusselsbasketball.be

History

The club was founded in 1957. In 1999 Excelsior merged with AERA Castor and renamed itself AERA Excelsior Brussel VZW. After 7 years in the 3e Nationale, the Belgian third division, Excelsior promoted to the 2e Nationale in 2009. In the first two years, Excelsior finished 4th and 5th and was defeated in the quarterfinals. In the 2011–12 season Excelsior reached the semifinals and in the 2012–13 season, it finished 10th while missing the Playoffs.

The club moved to the professional Scooore League, the first tier in Belgium, for the 2013–14 season. Excelsior received a C-licence, which allowed them to play with a lower budget in the league.[1] The club also got a new main sponsor in Basic-Fit, and was renamed Basic-Fit Brussels.

During the 2016–17 season, Brussels participated in a European competition for the first time by entering the 2016–17 FIBA Europe Cup season.[2] Brussels finished fourth and last in Group A, winning one out of six games. Along with this, the club finished in the third place in the Belgian League and reached the Finals for the first time in club history by beating Antwerp Giants in the semi-finals.[3]

In July 2019, the club announced it changed its name to Phoenix Brussels.[4] From December 2020 to March 2021, Phoenix played its home games in the Palais 12. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no people in attendance.[5]

Since the 2021–22 season, Brussels plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[6] On June 17 2022, the club signed a sponsor agreement with Circus, leading to a name change; the club colours were also changed to red.[7] The team also signed Belgian national team player Kevin Tumba.[8]

In march 2023 Brussels announced that head coach Jaumin would be replaced by Serge Crevecoeur for the 2023-2024 season.[9]

In early 2023, Belgium adopted a new law prohibiting the promotion of gambling. Consequently, the club had to remove their sponsor "Circus" from their name during the summer of the same year.[10]

Arenas

Upon the club's establishment in 1957, the team played outdoors on the field of the King Baudouin Stadium (then the Heysel Stadium). The current home arena of Brussels is the Sports complex Neder-Over-Heembeek.

Since 2017 the team regularly plays gala matches in Palais/Paleis 12. In the 2020–2021 season, the team made a temporary move to the venue for all games from December 2020 to April 2021.[11]

Honours
Runners-up (1): 2016–17

Names

Due to sponsorships and other reasons, the name of the club has frequently changed:

  • Excelsior Brussels (1999–2013)
  • Basic-Fit Brussels Basketball (2013–2019)
  • Phoenix Brussels Basketball (2019–2022)
  • Circus Brussels Basketball (2022–2023)
  • Brussels Basketball (2023–present)

Season by season
Season Tier League Pos. BNXT W–L Belgian Cup European competitions
2008–09 3 3e Nationale 2nd
2009–10 2 2e Nationale 5th
2010–11 2 2e Nationale 5th
2011–12 2 2e Nationale 4th
2012–13 2 2e Nationale 10th
2013–14 1 Division I 8th 8–28 Round of 16
2014–15 1 Division I 10th 10–18 Round of 16
2015–16 1 Division I 4th 21–16 Round of 16
2016–17 1 Division I 2nd 28–19 Semifinalist 4 FIBA Europe CupRS1–5
2017–18 1 Division I 8th 12–26 Quarterfinalist 3 Champions LeagueQR30–2
4 FIBA Europe CupRS2–4
2018–19 1 PBL 3rd 23–17 Semifinalist
2019–20 1 PBL 9th 6–11 Quarterfinalist 4 FIBA Europe CupRS2–4
2020–21 1 PBL 10th 4–22 Play-in Round
2021–22 1 BNXT 9th 16th 9-19 Quarterfinalist
2022–23 1 BNXT 10th 16th 9-19 Quarterfinalist
2023–24 1 BNXT

    Players

    Current roster
    Brussels Basketball roster
    PlayersCoaches
    Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
    PG 0 United Kingdom Watson-Gayle, Jelani 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 25 – (1998-09-09)9 September 1998
    SF 1 United States Harris, Jordan 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 26 – (1997-10-09)9 October 1997
    SG 4 Belgium Deroover, Terry 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 32 – (1991-06-11)11 June 1991
    SG 5 Belgium Libert, Alexandre (C) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 33 – (1990-01-25)25 January 1990
    PG 7 Croatia Kotrulja, Luka 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1998-06-06)6 June 1998
    PG 8 Belgium Ntesa, Douglas 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 20 – (2003-08-02)2 August 2003
    SF 10 Belgium Hazard, Louis 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1998-01-13)13 January 1998
    PF 12 United States Horvath, Brandon 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 24 – (1999-04-03)3 April 1999
    C 13 Belgium Desiron, Yannick 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 31 – (1992-06-04)4 June 1992
    PF 23 France Hanquiez, Thomas 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 21 – (2001-11-20)20 November 2001
    C 44 France Ambrose, Jared 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 22 – (2001-01-22)22 January 2001
    C 55 Belgium Tshimanga, Godwin 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 22 – (2001-01-25)25 January 2001
    Head coach
    • Belgium Serge Crevecoeur
    Assistant coach(es)
    • Belgium Randy Oveneke
    Legend
    • (C) Team captain
    • Injured Injured
    Updated: September 21, 2023

    Depth chart
    Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
    C Yannick Desiron Jared Ambrose Godwin Tshimanga
    PF Brandon Horvath Thomas Hanquiez
    SF Louis Hazard Jordan Harris
    SG Alexandre Libert Terry Deroover
    PG Jelani Watson-Gayle Luka Kotrulja Douglas Ntesa

    Notable players

    Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

    Criteria

    To appear in this section a player must have either:

    • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
    • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
    • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

    Head coaches
    • Belgium Serge Crevecoeur: 2008–2017, 2018–2020, 2023–present
    • Belgium Laurent Monier: 2017–2018, 2020
    • United States Belgium Ian Hanavan: 2020–2021
    • Belgium Jean-Marc Jaumin: 2021–2023

    References
    1. "Basketclub Excelsior Brussels krijgt licentie". Nieuwsblad.be. 22 April 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
    2. "Excelsior Brussel speelt Europees". Nieuwsblad.be. September 17, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
    3. "1/2F EMBL playoffs: Basic-Fit Brussels advances to first finals appearance in club's history". Euromillionsbasketball.be. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
    4. "Le Basic-Fit Brussels devient le Phoenix Brussels et reste à Neder-over-Heembeek". July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
    5. "Phoenix Brussels Basket speelt zijn matchen tot half maart in Paleis 12". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 22 December 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
    6. "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved July 10, 2021.
    7. "Basket: nouveau sponsor, nouveau logo, nouveaux joueurs… le Circus Brussels est né !". Édition digitale de Bruxelles (in French). June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
    8. "Basket: Kevin Tumba de retour au Brussels qui change de nom et qui attire trois renforts étrangers". DH Les Sports + (in French). June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
    9. "Serge Crevecoeur de retour au Brussels:"L'amour pour ce club ne m'a jamais quitté"". DH (in French). March 3, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
    10. "Yannick Desiron et Luka Kotrulja rejoignent le Brussels". Inforbasket (in French). June 19, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
    11. "Basket-ball : le Phoenix Brussels va déménager au Palais 12 jusqu'en mars 2021". BX1 (in French). December 22, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
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