Brussels Basketball
| Brussels Basketball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leagues | BNXT League |
| Founded | 1958 |
| History | Excelsior Brussels (1958–2013) Brussels Basketball (2013–present) |
| Arena | Neder-Over-Heembeek sports complex |
| Capacity | 1,500 |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Team colors | Blue, White |
| Main sponsor | Circus |
| President | André De Kandelaer |
| Head coach | Serge Crèvecoeur |
| Website | www |
Brussels Basketball, also known as Excelsior Brussels, is a professional basketball club based in Neder-Over-Heembeek (Brussels), Belgium. The team competes in the BNXT League and hosts its home games at the Neder-Over-Heembeek sports complex, which has a capacity of up to 1,500 spectators.
History
[edit]Founded in 1958 as the basketball section of Excelsior Brussels,[1] the club spent decades in Belgium’s lower leagues.
After six years in the third division, Serge Crèvecoeur joined in 2008 and immediately led the team to promotion to the second division. Over the next seasons, Excelsior steadily improved—finishing 4th and 5th with quarterfinal appearances, then reaching the semifinals in 2011–12. Despite slipping to 10th and missing the playoffs in 2012–13, the club was promoted to the top Belgian division that year as part of an expansion to include a capital city team.
The club rebranded its first division team as Brussels Basketball to better promote the city and boost the league’s appeal, with main sponsor Basic-Fit joining at the same time and influencing the name change to Basic-Fit Brussels. The rest of the club retained the Excelsior identity. The club received a C-licence, which allowed them to play with a lower budget in the league.[2]
The first two seasons in the top division were difficult, but the closed league format allowed the club to grow steadily. In their third season, they narrowly missed the playoff finals, which they reached the following year in 2016–17.[3] Strong performances in both the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons earned them places in the FIBA Europe Cup.[4]
Following the 2016–17 vice-championship, Crèvecoeur left and was replaced by assistant coach Laurent Monier. The 2017–18 season under Monier was less successful. Crèvecoeur returned for the 2018–19 season and immediately led the team to third place in the playoffs and a Belgian Cup semifinal.
In 2019, Basic-Fit withdrew as main sponsor, prompting a rebrand to Phoenix Brussels and an increased reliance on public funding and political support.[5] The COVID-19 pandemic brought serious financial challenges, threatening the first team’s survival—but the club ultimately endured.
As the club faced growing challenges, Serge Crèvecoeur departed once again. He was replaced by Ian Hanavan, who took charge for the 2020–21 season—the final season of the standalone Belgian league. Hanavan remained in place for the start of the 2021–22 campaign, marking the debut of the new BNXT League,[6] but was quickly dismissed by the board due to underperformance. Jean-Marc Jaumin took over and managed to stabilize the team during the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons. During his tenure, the club secured a new main sponsor in betting platform Circus,[7] rebranding as Circus Brussels. However, this naming ended in 2023 following a new law that banned gambling promotion in sports.[8]
Serge Crèvecoeur returned ahead of the 2023–24 season with the objective of rebuilding the team.[9] The first season under his renewed leadership showed signs of improvement despite limited expectations. In the following 2024–25 campaign, the team achieved further progress, culminating in its first playoff qualification since the 2018–19 season.
Infrastructure
[edit]Upon the club's establishment in 1958, the team played outdoors on the field of the King Baudoin/Boudewijn Stadium (then the Heysel/Heizel Stadium). Brussels Basketball currently plays its home games in the multifunctional sports hall of the Neder-Over-Heembeek sports complex. The hall features retractable seating and typically accommodates around 1,000 spectators, though it can hold up to 1,500, as it did during the 2017 Belgian playoff finals against Oostende. Owned by the municipality rather than the club, this has historically led to scheduling and organisation conflicts.
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.[10]
The club recognized early the necessity of upgrading its infrastructure. In 2013, upon entering the first division, the president André De Kandelaer stated, "Our hall is not designed for the first division" and "If a serious project develops, it will certainly not be at Neder-Over-Heembeek".[11] In 2017, a plan was unveiled for a 3,000-seat arena on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau, but it failed to materialize.[12] In 2021, a more ambitious proposal for a 4,000-seat arena at the same location was introduced, though this project did not progress either.[13]
Honours
[edit]- Runners-up (1): 2016–17
- Belgian Third Division
- Group winner (1): 2008-09
Names
[edit]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
[edit]| 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 Cup | RS | 1–5 | |
| 2017–18 | 1 | Division I | 8th | 12–26 | Quarterfinalist | 3 Champions League | QR3 | 0–2 | |
| 4 FIBA Europe Cup | RS | 2–4 | |||||||
| 2018–19 | 1 | PBL | 3rd | 23–17 | Semifinalist | ||||
| 2019–20 | 1 | PBL | 9th | 6–11 | Quarterfinalist | 4 FIBA Europe Cup | RS | 2–4 | |
| 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 | 6th | 14th | 17-15 | Quarterfinalist | |||
| 2024-25 | 1 | BNXT | 5th | 5th | 25-11 | Round of 16 | |||
Players
[edit]Current roster
[edit]| Brussels Basketball roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Updated: June 24, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Depth chart
[edit]| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench |
|---|---|---|
| C | ||
| PF | ||
| SF | ||
| SG | ||
| PG |
Notable players
[edit]Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Criteria |
|---|
|
To appear in this section a player must have either:
|
Lionel Bosco- Terry Deroover
- Aleksander Lichodzijewski
- Alexandre Libert
- Domien Loubry
- Guy Muya
- Éric Struelens
- Jonathan Tabu
- Kevin Tumba
Jason Washburn
Steve Ross
Max Kouguère
Sigfredo Casero-Ortiz
Okko Järvi
Augustas Pečiukevičius
William Robeyns
Pape Badji
Dejan Kravić
Thomas Massamba- Dino Pita
Ryan Richards
Taylor Brown- Julian Gamble
- Brandon Peterson
- Colt Ryan
- Brandon Ubel
Head coaches
[edit]- Serge Crèvecoeur: 2008–2017, 2018–2020, 2023–present
- Laurent Monier: 2017–2018, 2020
- Ian Hanavan: 2020–2021
- Jean-Marc Jaumin: 2021–2023
References
[edit]- ^ "De club: Excelsior Brussels". Bruzz (in Dutch). 10 July 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "Basketclub Excelsior Brussels krijgt licentie". Nieuwsblad.be. 22 April 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Excelsior Brussel speelt Europees". Nieuwsblad.be. September 17, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ^ "Le Basic-Fit Brussels devient le Phoenix Brussels et reste à Neder-over-Heembeek". July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
- ^ "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Yannick Desiron et Luka Kotrulja rejoignent le Brussels". Inforbasket (in French). June 19, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Basket-ball : le Phoenix Brussels va déménager au Palais 12 jusqu'en mars 2021". BX1 (in French). December 22, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ ""Notre salle n'est pas conçue pour la D1"". La DH (in French). October 6, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ "Un nouveau stade de basket pour le Brussels". L'Écho (in French). June 6, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ "A l'ombre de l'Atomium, un projet de dôme de basket-ball à l'américaine : trop ambitieux et trop cher ?". RTBF (in French). April 21, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
