Worcester Wolves

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Worcester Wolves
Worcester Wolves logo
League British Basketball League
Established 2000; 24 years ago (2000)
History Worcester Wolves
2000–present
Arena Worcester Arena
(Capacity: 2,000)
Location Worcester, Worcestershire
Team colours Navy Blue, Gold and White
Main sponsor University Of Worcester
Head coach United Kingdom Paul James
Ownership United Kingdom Roger Clarke
Website WorcesterWolves.org
Uniforms
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Home jersey
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Team colours
Home
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Away jersey
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Team colours
Away

Worcester Wolves is a basketball team from the city of Worcester which competes in the British Basketball League. From the start of the 2013–14 season they played their home games at the newly constructed 2,000-seat capacity Worcester Arena, moving away from their previous home at the University of Worcester, where they had previously been based since the team's establishment in 2000.

Franchise history

File:WorcesterWolvesLogo.png
Worcester Wolves logo, used from 2000 until 2013

New arena, new franchise

The historic city of Worcester has, until recent years, not had much of a basketball history. Worcester City Chiefs were an active lower league club during the mid-1990s before moving to Solihull in 1996, leaving the city without a major basketball club. This changed in May 2000 when Roger Clarke and Mick Donovan announced the formation of the Wolves franchise to play at the University of Worcester's brand new £2.5 million 'state of the art' Sports Hall.

Starting low, aiming high

In their first season of action (2000–01) in National Basketball League Division 3 the Wolves finished second in the 12 team league with an 18–3 record. Local rivals Bristol Bombers pipped them to the title, however luck would soon swing their way the following season.

Initially placed in the regionalised NBL Division 2 in the "clean sheet reorganisation" of 2001, the Wolves played only the first game of the season in that division before being elevated (ahead of Bristol) into NBL Division 1 when Doncaster withdrew at the start of the season.

University College Worcester Basketball Scholarships became available in September 2002 for talented players to study and play at the same time, and the club attracted a wealth of new talent including Ty Shaw (Idaho), Keith Jarrett and Rikki Prince (Both from Birmingham Bullets) that became the foundations of a strong first team.

Rapid rise

The excellent facilities and organisation which earned them the promotion continued to stand them in good stead, and over the years they became firmly established in what has now been renamed EBL Division 2, and won promotion to EBL Division 1 following an excellent campaign in 2003–04. Despite finishing in second place, behind London Capital, they managed to straighten the record by beating them in the Playoff final at the National Indoor Arena, winning 95–87. The victory capped off an excellent season that saw the Wolves also lift the Patron's Cup, following a 111–100 win against Hackney White Heat in the final, which was played in front of a raucous and passionate home crowd at the University of Worcester.

Worcester had a reasonably successful debut season (2004–05) in EBL Division 1, finishing above fellow promotion winners London in 4th place with 13–9 record, which earned them a place in the post season playoffs. They built on their successes for the second season and finished 2005–06 in 4th place with a 17–9 record in the expanded Division 1. That season also saw the Wolves claim their biggest success to date, winning the National Trophy at the SkyDome Arena in Coventry, beating holders Sheffield Arrows 97–82 in the final.

Mixing with the elite

At the end of the 2005–06 season, the British Basketball League, the country's elite league was, not for the first time, suffering a membership crisis with three franchises, Birmingham Bullets, Brighton Bears and London Towers withdrawing from the league set-up. Although the Wolves management have claimed it was always their intention to move into the BBL, the possibility of it happening so quickly seemed near impossible. However, with the lack of a West Midlands-based franchise in the league, the BBL approached the Wolves and elected them into the league,[1] along with London United.

2006–07 season

With an influx of new players, including former Plymouth Raider Solomon Sheard, Caja Rioja's Sergio Rodriguez and James Noel of the Masters College all signing up for the new-look team, expectations of upsetting the big boys was high, but the fairy tale beginning never materialized. The Wolves opened the season with a 77–82 loss at home to Plymouth on 30 September, 2006, and followed that with 21-point loss away to Milton Keynes Lions (74–96). It was a case of third time lucky as, on October 7, in front of a packed crowd at the "Wolves' Lair", Worcester edged past the Chester Jets with an 82–79 victory and Andy Harper posting 28 points for the home side.

However the Wolves struggled and soon fell behind the pack, spending most of the season at the foot of the table. The highlight of the season for the Midlands club came on January 20, 2007, when second-place Sheffield Sharks were the visitors to the Wolves' Lair. The home side caused, without doubt, the biggest shock of the season by defeating the title-challengers 70–65, a result that would ultimately hand the Championship to Guildford. Despite this moral boosting win, Worcester continued to flounder and ended the season in tenth and last place with just four league wins to their name, eventually forcing head coach Josh Cooprider to resign after a 4–36 Champaign (4–41 overall).

2007–08 season

On July 15, Wolves announced that former Birmingham Bullets head coach Skouson Harker would lead the team into the 2007–08 season. Worcester had a record of 14–19, and 20–20 overall qualifying for the playoffs. They lost to Newcastle Eagles in the first round. Players James Life and Anthony Paez were the BBL's two leading scorers, Paez leading the league with 24.5 points per game. Centre Shaun Durant led the league in rebounds with 11.2 per game. Wolves also reached the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy in Sheffield. Anthony Paez finished second in MVP voting in the BBL. Point Guard Chuck Evans recorded back to back triple doubles earlier in the season.

2008–09 season

The 2008–09 season wouldn’t be quite as successful as the previous, and started off with a dismal run of defeats including a 135–103 blowout away to Cheshire Jets on the opening weekend of the campaign, as Wolves waited for their point guard, Will Funn and other import to be cleared to play. In fact, it wasn’t until Wolves’ fifth game of the season, at Everton Tigers, that the first victory came, the result was an impressive 101–106 win against a team who had previously gone undefeated. Anthony Paez posted an incredible 31 points for Wolves in that game.

The team saw first round exits in both the Trophy and the BBL Cup and also missed out on the post-season Play-offs, finishing in 10th place with an 14–24 overall record, (11–22 BBL Championship) down slightly from the previous season. At one point the club was 9–12 after a three-game winning streak only to lose starting import point guard for the season.[2] Following the end of the campaign the club announced on May 19, 2009, that player/coach Harker would be replaced by former Wolves star Chuck Evans as the team’s coach for the upcoming season, with Harker continuing as a player only.[3][4]

2009–10 season

After failing to agree to his higher wage demands, franchise star Paez left the Wolves for pastures new during the close season.[5] Days later, Wolves announced their first signing of the season, with US guard Chey Christie joining the roster after a spell in Sweden.[6] He was later joined by British Virgin Islands international Randy George,[7] BBL veteran Anthony Martin,[8] and the return of Harry Disy, after his move to France broke down.[9]

Their season didn't start off well, with an opening-day 94–81 defeat away to Milton Keynes. Following a 96–83 loss at Cheshire Jets, the team’s third defeat in three games, changes were made including the departure of new recruit Anthony Martin.[10] Wolves’ first league win came two weeks later in a 98–80 demolition of London Capital at home, and with the signing of Martin’s replacement Nerijus Karlikanovas coming in,[11] things were starting to look up with wins over Leicester and Milton Keynes.

However, the franchise was thrown into turmoil when, on November 27, it was announced that six players were having their contracts terminated by the club following an unauthorised strike over racially orientated comments made by Head Coach Chuck Evans during a video analysis session. This sent the basketball community of Worcester into an uproar; the story receiving more comments than any other Worcester News story in 2009.[12][13] Coach Evans ultimately handed in his resignation.[14] Although their names were first kept confidential, the players were later identified as Randy George, Chey Christie, and Lithuanians Evaldas Zabas, Vidmantas Uzkuraitis and Nerijus Karlikanovas, with former player/coach Skouson Harker facing disciplinary action that ultimately led to his departure from the club.[15] Harker's father wrote this letter of support for his son to the Worcester News.[16] Due to the depletion of the roster, a weakened team including several second-team promotees lost heavily 111–59 away to Glasgow Rocks two days later.[17] On December 1, the BBL announced in a statement on its website that it had agreed to the postponement of Wolves’ next five games until later dates, plus in accordance with the league’s rules, the franchise had been fined an undisclosed amount.[18] The following week the club announced the appointment of former Guildford, Thames Valley Tigers and England national team coach Paul James as Chuck Evans' successor.[19]

Home arenas

File:UoWSportsCentre.jpg
St. John's Sports Centre at the University of Worcester, home of Worcester Wolves until 2013.
St. John's Sports Centre (2000–2013)
Worcester Arena (2013–present)

Season-by-season records

Season Division Tier Regular Season Post-Season Trophy Cup
Finish Played Wins Losses Points Win %
Worcester Wolves
2000–2001 NBL 3 IV 2nd 22 18 3 36 0.818 Semi-final - -
2001–2002 NBL 1 III 9th 22 7 15 14 0.318 Did Not Qualify - -
2002–2003 NBL 1 III 7th 16 6 10 12 0.375 - Quarter-final (NT) -
2003–2004 EBL 2 III 2nd 20 18 2 36 0.900 Winners Winners (PC) -
2004–2005 EBL 1 II 4th 22 13 9 26 0.591 - - -
2005–2006 EBL 1 II 4th 26 17 9 34 0.654 Lost in Quarter-final to Manchester Magic, 80–76 Winners (NT) Quarter-final (NC)
2006–2007 BBL I 10th 36 4 32 8 0.111 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC)
2007–2008 BBL I 8th 33 14 19 28 0.424 Lost in Quarter-final to Newcastle Eagles, 105–96 1st Round (BT) Semi-Final (BC)
2008–2009 BBL I 10th 33 11 22 22 0.333 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC)
2009–2010 BBL I 9th 36 18 18 36 0.500 Did Not Qualify Quarter-final (BT) Quarter-final (BC)
2010–2011 BBL I 9th 33 15 18 30 0.455 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) Quarter-final (BC)
2011–2012 BBL I 3rd 30 22 8 44 0.733 Lost in Quarter-final to Cheshire Jets, 167–154 (agg) 1st Round (BT) Semi-final (BC)
2012–2013 BBL I 5th 33 20 13 40 0.606 Lost in Quarter-final to Surrey Heat, 154–151 (agg) Semi-final (BT) Quarter-final (BC)
2013–2014 BBL I 3rd 33 27 6 54 0.818 Winners in Final against Newcastle Eagles, 90–78 Winners (BT) Quarter-final (BC)
2014–2015 BBL I 3rd 36 28 8 56 0.777 - - (BT) - (BC)

Notes:

  • In 2001 the NBL was restructured so Division One became the third tier replacing Division Two.
  • In 2003 the NBL was replaced by the EBL which reverted Division Two back to the third tier.

Trophies

League

  • NBL Division Three Runners Up: 2000–01 1
  • EBL Division Two Runners Up: 2003–04 1

Playoffs

  • NBL Division Two Play Off Winners: 2003–04 1

Trophy

  • National Trophy Winners: 2005–06 1

Cup

  • Patron's Cup Winners: 2003–04 1

Players

Current roster

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

Worcester Wolves roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht.
PF 2 United States Blackwell, Perris 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
SF 5 United States Couisnard, Jay 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
G 6 United Kingdom Lufadeju, Disraeli 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
G 7 United Kingdom Dawes, Jordan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
F 9 Ivory Coast France Dibo, Remi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
PG 10 Canada Khan, Ashton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
G 11 United States Cameron, Josh 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
F 13 United Kingdom Jackman, Orlan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
PF 15 Spain Mugica, Javier 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
F 21 United Kingdom Eaves, Ben 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
C 32 Slovakia Losonsky, Pavol (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • United Kingdom Chris Lowe
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Updated: 3rd January 2016

Notable former players

See also

Notes

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External links

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