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Würzburg Baskets

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FIT/One Würzburg Baskets
LeaguesBasketball Bundesliga
Champions League
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
History
List
  • SCH Würzburg Baskets
    (2007–2010)
    s. Oliver Baskets
    (2010–2016)
    s. Oliver Würzburg
    (2016–2023)
    Würzburg Baskets
    (2023–present)
Arenatectake Arena
Capacity3,140
LocationWürzburg, Germany
Team colorsBlack, Red, Grey
     
Main sponsors.Oliver
PresidentSteffen Liebler
Head coachSašo Filipovski
Team captainFelix Hoffmann
Websitewuerzburg-baskets.de

FIT/One Würzburg Baskets (formerly known as Würzburg Baskets and s.Oliver Baskets) is a German professional basketball club located in Würzburg. After one year of absence from the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the club has returned to first division German basketball in the 2015–16 season.

It was founded in 2007 with the aim to substitute the original club of the city, who was known as DJK Würzburg, which stood for "Deutsche Jugendkraft" (German youth power), and was affiliated to the DJK-Sportverband (Sport Association), which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. The club has gained fame through its basketball department, in which NBA players Dirk Nowitzki and Maxi Kleber got their starts.

History

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The old DJK Würzburg

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Main article: DJK Würzburg

The DJK Sport Association was founded on 16 September 1920 in Würzburg. Due to the geographic location of its home office, the DJK soon founded a local club in Würzburg. However, the different athletic departments found themselves divided among various Catholic clubs. During the Third Reich, all DJK affiliates were banned by the government. After World War II, the DJK consolidated all of its local departments into DJK Würzburg. Today the club has over 3000 members, including a variety of non-Catholic members.

The club's top women's handball team played in the Handball-Bundesliga Frauen, the top flight of women's handball in Germany, from 1976 to 1985, during the 1987–88 season and from 1993 to 1995.

The club's basketball department gained fame in the 1990s as both the men's and women's teams qualified for the top German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) division. The women's team played many years in the first and second divisions and was crowned German Champion in 1993. In 1989, the men's team made the jump into the second division. In 1997, featuring Dirk Nowitzki in the line-up, DJK Würzburg claimed the 2nd Division South title, qualifying for the Basketball Bundesliga. In 2001, DJK spun off its men's basketball team into a private corporate entity, now known as the Würzburg Baskets, to capitalize on their growth as a professional basketball team. DJK Würzburg has produced numerous players who have gone on to have success in the BBL, with the senior men's German national basketball team and, for Nowitzki, the NBA.

In 2005, the club resigned its spot in the BBL and the club stopped competing.

The current club

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In 2007, American businessman Jochen Bähr acquired a license in the Regional league for a new team in Würzburg with the aim to reach the Pro A in few seasons.

In 2011, the Würzburg Baskets, now by the name of s.Oliver Baskets (after their new sponsor s.Oliver), gained promotion from the PRO A (German Second Division), and moved up to the Basketball Bundesliga (German First Division). In its first season back in the first division, in 2011–12, the team reached the German League semi-finals, after beating Alba Berlin by 3–1 in the quarterfinal series of the playoffs. In 2012–13 the actual club played in Europe for the first time, in the second tier Eurocup.[1] In 2013–14 they relegated from the BBL. They immediately promoted back to the first tier in the 2014–15 season. The 2015–16 season was finished on rank 8, thus qualifying for the playoffs for the second time after 2012. In quarterfinals the team was eliminated by future league champion Brose Baskets, losing every game with at least a 35-point margin.

Members of the team in January 2023.

On 15 July 2016 the team changed their name from "s.Oliver Baskets" to "s.Oliver Würzburg" to strengthen the identification of team and city. Additionally the sponsoring contract with s.Oliver was extended through 2019.[2]

In the 2018–19 season, Würzburg played in the FIBA Europe Cup. Würzburg reached the finals of the cup, its first European finals, in which it lost to Dinamo Sassari over two legs.

In the 2024-2025 season the FIT/ONE Würzburg Baskets will attend in the Basketball Champions League (BCL) the first time. They will start in the regular season in group A with the three other teams Nanterre 92 from French, Hapoel Holon from Israel and Igokea from Bosnia and Herzegovina. [3]

On 10 July, 2024 the team changed their name from "Würzburg Baskets" to "FIT/One Würzburg Baskets" because of the new name sponsor FIT/One, who is located in the fitness scene. [4]

Honours

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Numerous Bavarian amateur titles Women's German Basketball Champions: 1993 Men's 2nd Division South Basketball Champions: 1997

European competitions

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FIBA Europe Cup

Logos

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  • 2010–2016 Logo
    2010–2016 Logo

Season by season

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Season Tier League Pos. German Cup European competitions
2007–08 4 RegionalLiga 3rd
2008–09 4 RegionalLiga 1st
2009–10 3 ProB 3rd
2010–11 2 ProA 2nd
2011–12 1 Bundesliga 4th
2012–13 1 Bundesliga 9th 2 Eurocup
RS
3–3
2013–14 1 Bundesliga 17th
2014–15 2 ProA 2nd
2015–16 1 Bundesliga 8th
2016–17 1 Bundesliga 14th
2017–18 1 Bundesliga 9th 4 FIBA Europe Cup
QR1
1–1
2018–19 1 Bundesliga 9th 4 FIBA Europe Cup
F
 Runners-up
2019–20 1 Bundesliga 8th Round of 16
2020–21 1 Bundesliga 16th Group stage
2021–22 1 Bundesliga 12th Round of 16
2022–23 1 Bundesliga 10th Round of 16
2023–24 1 Bundesliga 4th Round of 16
2024–25 1 Bundesliga Round of 16 2 Champions League

Team

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Current roster

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Würzburg Baskets roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PG 0 United States Qatar Lewis II, Mike 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 26 – (1998-02-19)19 February 1998
F 1 United States Ivory Coast Seljaas, Zachary 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 27 – (1997-07-11)11 July 1997
G 2 Germany Koné, Bazou 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 31 – (1993-12-13)13 December 1993
PG 4 Germany Böhmer, Julius 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 22 – (2002-01-19)19 January 2002
C 5 Canada Klassen, Owen 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 33 – (1991-10-31)31 October 1991
F 6 Germany Ugrai, Max 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 29 – (1995-07-28)28 July 1995
C 7 Germany Steinbach, Hannes 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 18 – (2006-05-01)1 May 2006
F 8 Germany Pisic, David 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 21 – (2003-10-29)29 October 2003
F 9 Germany Skladanowski, Christian 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 20 – (2004-04-19)19 April 2004
F 10 Germany Bleck, Fabian 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 31 – (1993-03-19)19 March 1993
F 11 United States Phillips, Nelson 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 26 – (1998-12-15)15 December 1998
F 13 Germany Gerhard, David 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 20 – (2004-01-31)31 January 2004
G 14 Germany März, Jonas 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 21 – (2003-08-08)8 August 2003
F 22 Germany Wank, Lukas 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 27 – (1997-01-19)19 January 1997
G 55 United States Williams, Tyrese 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 24 – (2000-03-23)23 March 2000
G 56 Puerto Rico Panama Jackson, Jhivvan 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 26 – (1998-08-27)27 August 1998
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: October 1, 2024

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

Notable players

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See also: Category:s.Oliver Würzburg players
To appear in this section a player must have played at least two seasons for the club AND either:

– Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
– Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.

Notable coaches

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Second team

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Würzburg's second team plays in the Regionalliga, the German 4th division.

Fan culture

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Friendships

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For many years, the fan-base of Würzburg has been connected, in a friendly way, with the supporters of the Baskets Bonn.[5]

Rivalries

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Within the Basketball Bundesliga, the city closest to Würzburg is Bamberg. Hence, between the Baskets Würzburg and the Baskets Bamberg, there has been an intense rivalry.[6] Traditionally, the rivalry has been dominated by Bamberg because of its superior finances.

Kit manufacturer

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2017: KICKZ[7]

2022–present: Spalding

References

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  1. ^ s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg – Welcome to Eurocup, eurocupbasketball.com. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  2. ^ Aus den s.Oliver Baskets wird s.Oliver Würzburg Archived 20 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, s.Oliver Würzburg. Retrieved 18 July 2016
  3. ^ "KLUBS AUS ISRAEL, FRANKREICH UND BOSNIEN IN DER BCL ZU GAST" (in German). wuerzburg-baskets.de. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  4. ^ "FIT/ONE WÜRZBURG BASKETS: NAMENSPONSOR AUS DER REGION" (in German). wuerzburg-baskets.de. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  5. ^ Baskets: Doppelspieltag am vorletzten Wochenende der Hauptrunde, WÜRZBURG erleben, 22 April 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2017 (in German)
  6. ^ Vorschau: Brose Baskets (1) – s.Oliver Baskets (8), Simon Walter, Freddy Löblein (BASKETBALL.DE), 6 May 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2017 (in German)
  7. ^ Kader, soliver-wuerzburg.de. Retrieved 14 September 2017. (in German) [dead link‍]
[edit]
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