Spirou Basket, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome which can host 6,300 people.

Spirou
Spirou logo
NicknameKarolo's
LeaguesBNXT League
FIBA Europe Cup
Founded1989; 35 years ago (1989)
HistorySpirou Monceau
1989–1990
Spirou Basket de Charleroi
1990–present
ArenaSpiroudome
Capacity6,300
LocationCharleroi, Belgium
PresidentJean-Jacques Cloquet
Head coachSam Rotsaert
Championships10 Belgian Championships
5 Belgian Cups
7 Belgian Supercups
Websitewww.spiroubasket.be

Established in 1989, the team is named after the long-running Belgian comics magazine Spirou, the publisher of which, Dupuis, is based in Marcinelle, Charleroi.

History

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Spirou Charleroi has won the Belgian League championship ten times (1996–99, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), the Belgian Cup 5 times (1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2009), and the Belgian Supercup 7 times (1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010).

In the 2010–11 season, Spirou made its debut in the Euroleague, the highest continental league of Europe. The following season, Spirou played in the regular season for the second time in a row.

On July 29, 2014, Jacques Stas became the new head coach of the club while his predecessor Giovanni Bozzi replaced him as team president.[1]

Since the 2021–22 season, Spirou plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[2]

Sponsorship names

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The Spiroudome

Partly due to sponsorship reasons, the club has known several names:

  • Spirou Monceau (1989–1990)
  • Spirou Charleroi (1990–2011)
  • Belgacom Spirou (2011–2014)
  • Proximus Spirou (2014–2018)

Current roster

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

Spirou roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
PG 1   Félix, Menth 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 22 – (2002-02-04)4 February 2002
SG 5   Polet, Adedayo 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 19 – (2005-07-01)1 July 2005
F 7   Adzeh, Craig 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 21 – (2003-05-26)26 May 2003
SF 8   Knudsen, Gustav 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 21 – (2003-04-16)16 April 2003
PG 10   Samardzic, Milan 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1999-05-25)25 May 1999
PF 11   Minchev, Yordan 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1998-10-17)17 October 1998
C 12   Bilolo, Maxime 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 20 – (2004-05-17)17 May 2004
PF 17   Pintelon, Xander 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 21 – (2003-01-10)10 January 2003
F 19   Brandwijk, Willem 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 29 – (1995-04-03)3 April 1995
SG 22   Smout, Quinten 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 22 – (2002-02-15)15 February 2002
PG 24   Williams, Cobe 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 24 – (2000-07-13)13 July 2000
SG 25   Hollanders, Sander 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 23 – (2001-09-13)13 September 2001
C 47   Izaw-Bolavie, Archange 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 23 – (2001-06-21)21 June 2001
Head coach
  •   Sam Rotsaert
Assistant coach(es)
  •   Frederic Wilmot

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Updated: October 13, 2024

Honours

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Season by season

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Season Tier League Pos. Belgian Cup Supercup European competitions
2006–07 1 First Division 3rd 3 FIBA EuroCup RS
2007–08 1 First Division 1st 2 ULEB Cup RS
2008–09 1 First Division 1st Champion 2 Eurocup T16
2009–10 1 First Division 1st Runner-up Runner-up 2 Eurocup RS
2010–11 1 First Division 1st Semifinalist Winner 1 Euroleague RS
2011–12 1 First Division 2nd Runner-up 1 Euroleague RS
2012–13 1 First Division 3rd Last 16 2 Eurocup RS
2013–14 1 First Division 5th Semifinalist 2 Eurocup RS
2014–15 1 First Division 5th Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup RS
2015–16 1 First Division 5th Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup RS
2016–17 1 First Division 4th Quarterfinalist 3 Champions League RS
2017–18 1 First Division 3rd Semifinalist 4 FIBA Europe Cup RS
2018–19 1 First Division 5th Semifinalist 3 Champions League QR3
4 FIBA Europe Cup RS
2019–20 1 First Division 5th[a] Runner-up 4 FIBA Europe Cup R2
  1. ^ The 2019–20 season was cancelled prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notable players

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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:

  • 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.

References

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  1. ^ "Jacques Stas coach Belgacom Spirou Charleroi". Eurobasket.com. July 29, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
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