Durham Wildcats

Durham Wildcats
League British Basketball League
Established 2005
History Durham Wildcats
2005-present
Arena Newton Aycliffe
Leisure Centre

(Capacity: 1,200)
Location Newton Aycliffe, Durham
Team colours Blue/white(home) yellow/black(away)
Head coach United Kingdom Lee Davie
Website GoDurhamWildcats.com
Uniforms
Home
Away

Durham Wildcats is a basketball team based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. They are currently members of the British Basketball League, the top-level competition in the United Kingdom, and play their home games at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.

Established in 2005, the club has enjoyed a rapid rise through the English Basketball League system with three successive promotions in three seasons between 2009 and 2011, from Division 3 (North) to the British Basketball League.

Franchise history

In 2001 the merge of the Belmont Basketball Club and a group of U16 players from Belmont School resulted in a club that competed in the Durham County Local League playing with teams in the 1st and 3rd divisions.

In 2005 Wildcats were officially founded with a team that competed in the EBL Division 3 North for four seasons.

In the first two seasons Wildcats played their home games at Spennymoor Leisure Centre in County Durham. At the start of the 2007-2008 season the team moved to the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, which is located in southern Durham.

In the 2008-2009 season the Wildcats won a highly competitive, and close-fought, EBL Division 3 North, gaining promotion to EBL Division 2.

On 28 February 2010 they won their first national silverware beating Westminster Warriors in the Patron's Cup Final (96-70), that was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. They went on to win the League title with 18-2 wins gaining promotion to EBL Division 1. On 25 April 2010 they beat Team Northumbria (70-67) in the Play-offs Final at the Amaechi Basketball Centre, completing the Division 2 Treble.

Wildcats' had a mixed 2010-2011 season in Division 1 and weren't able to emulate the success of the past few seasons. A mediocre 7-11 record gave them a 7th-place finish as well as only making it to the 3rd Round of the National Cup and Quarter-finals of the post-season Play-offs.

After weeks of rumours, it was officially announced on 26 May 2011 that the Wildcats would be the latest addition to the British Basketball League following the withdrawal of Worthing Thunder.[1]

On 17 July 2015 it was announced that the Wildcats would not be participating in the 2015-16 BBL season. The team had previously recruited players from Durham University, however players called up to the team on international student visas were found to be ineligible to play. The team is now seeking to re-structure and join the league at a later date.[2]

Home arenas

Spennymoor Leisure Centre (2005-2007 and 2009)
Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre (2007-present)

Season-by-season records

Season Division Tier Regular Season Post-Season Trophy Cup Head Coach
Finish Played Wins Losses Points Win %
Durham Wildcats
2005–2006 EBL Div. 3 (N) IV 6th 16 7 9 14 0.438 Did Not Qualify 2nd Round (NS) 2nd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2006–2007 EBL Div. 3 (N) IV 4th 20 13 7 26 0.650 Lost in Quarter-finals to Cardiff Celts, 53–71 3rd Round (NS) 3rd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2007–2008 EBL Div. 3 (N) IV 7th 20 11 9 22 0.550 Did Not Qualify Quarter-final (NS) 1st Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2008–2009 EBL Div. 3 (N) IV 1st 22 18 4 36 0.818 Lost in Semi-final to Westminster Warriors, 85–90 3rd Round (NS) 2nd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2009–2010 EBL Div. 2 III 1st 20 18 2 36 0.900 Winners in Final to Team Northumbria, 70–67 Winners (PC) Quarter-final (NC) Dave Elderkin
2010–2011 EBL Div. 1 II 7th 18 7 11 14 0.389 Lost in Quarter-final to London Leopards, 68–77 1st Round (NT) 3rd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2011–2012 BBL I 11th 33 3 30 6 0.090 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC) Dave Elderkin
2012–2013 BBL I 10th 33 10 26 20 0.303 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC) Dave Elderkin
2013–2014 BBL I 8th 33 14 19 28 0.424 Lost in Quarter-final to Newcastle Eagles, 157–194 (agg) 1st Round (BT) Quarter-final (BC) Lee Davie
2014–2015 BBL I 12th 36 8 28 16 0.286 Did Not Qualify - (BT) - (BC) Lee Davie

Trophies

Players

Current roster

Durham Wildcats roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht.
G 7 United States Italy Martin, Sam 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
F 9 United Kingdom Madourie, Joel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
G 11 United States Jones, Chris 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
F 13 Croatia Urli, Fran 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
G 22 Greece Democratic Republic of the Congo Mayindombe, Panos 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
G 32 United States United Kingdom Bucci, Ralph (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
G 33 United States United Kingdom Buchberger, David 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
F/C 44 United States Puk, John 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Head coach
  • United Kingdom Lee Davie
Assistant coach(es)
  • United States Ralph Bucci

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 1st February 2015

References

External links

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