Birmingham Knights

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birmingham Knights
League British Basketball League
Established 2011
History Birmingham Knights
2013-present
Arena North Solihull
Sports Centre
(Capacity: 600)
Location Birmingham, West Midlands
Team colours Red and White
Head coach United Kingdom Paul Douglas
Ownership Oaks Consultancy
Website BirminghamKnights.co.uk
Uniforms
Home
Away

Birmingham Knights is a British professional basketball team based in Birmingham, England, and current members of the British Basketball League.

Franchise history

The club was established in 2011 after a successful bid to join the British Basketball League, marking professional basketball's return to the city of Birmingham since the Birmingham Panthers folded in 2008.[1][2] The franchise is operated by Oaks Consultancy[3] and the team was due to start playing in the 2012–13 season, using the International Futsal Arena as the venue for home games.[4] However, after a "short-term delay" to the venue alternations, the franchise postponed play until the 2013–14 season.[5]

In February 2013, it was announced that former Birmingham Bullets player and Panthers assistant coach Paul Douglas will coach the new team in their inaugural season in the BBL. It was also revealed that due to ongoing venue issues, the new team would now play its home games at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre, located on the campus of Birmingham City University.[6]

A competition was run via the team's official website where fans were asked to suggest names for the new club, and on the 14th May 2013 the winning entry was announced as the Birmingham Knights.[7]

In an addition to the coaching team, former Bullets star Tony Simms was announced as Coach Douglas' assistant in July.[8] Whilst in another setback to the club's ongoing venue troubles, the Knights ownership announced on 25th July that the team would now stage its home games at the North Solihull Sports Centre, in Chelmsley Wood, as it became apparent that the sports hall floor at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre was incapable of carrying the temporary bleacher seating used to house spectators during games.[9]

Home arena

North Solihull Sports Centre (2013-present)

Players

Current roster

Birmingham Knights roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht.
PG 4 United Kingdom Gayle, Michael (C) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
PG 6 United Kingdom Mills, Kieran 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
F 7 United Kingdom Rolls-Tyson, Joshua 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
SG 8 United Kingdom Gayle, Martyn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
PG 9 United Kingdom Dalia, Parmjit 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
C 10 Australia McKeown, James 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
G 11 United Kingdom Dawes, Jordan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
SF 12 United States Battle, Armond  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
SG 13 United Kingdom Maher, Aaron 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
G 20 United States Besson, Brent 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
F 22 United Kingdom Hopkins, Emile 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
F 23 United Kingdom Lewis, Ryan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
C 45 United Kingdom Nigeria Izevbigie, Glen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Head coach
  • United Kingdom Paul Douglas
Assistant coach(es)
  • United Kingdom Peter Easy
  • United Kingdom Tony Simms
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 8th December 2013

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mark Woods (2011). "Birmingham next sop in BBL expansion". MVP 24-7. Retrieved 2012-04-08. 
  2. ↑ "Oaks brings BBL basketball back to Birmingham". Oaks Consultancy. 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-08. 
  3. ↑ "Oaks brings BBL basketball back t Birmingham". Oaks Consultancy. 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-08. 
  4. ↑ "Futsal joins to bring BBL basketball back to Birmingham". Oaks Consultancy. 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-08. 
  5. ↑ "Manchester Giants and East London Royals join BBL". HoopsFix.com. 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-19. 
  6. ↑ Mark Woods (2013). "Douglas to guide newcomers Birmingham". MVP 24-7. Retrieved 2013-05-30. 
  7. ↑ "Meet the new Birmingham Knights". BBL Birmingham. 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-14. 
  8. ↑ "Knights make Simms official". UK American Sports Fans. 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-25. 
  9. ↑ Rob Jeffries (2013). "Knights announce venue change". UK American Sports Fans. Retrieved 2013-07-25. 

External links

Competitions
Seasons
Awards
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.