BC Oostende

History

The club was founded on 25 May 1970 and started playing as Sunair Oostende. The team colors were blue and yellow. BCO – a nickname of the club – started in the Belgian Second Division but promoted in its first season after it took the title. But in the First Division the team relegated immediately. But BCO bounced back and promoted once again and got its final spot in the First Division, as they never relegated since.

In the 1974–75 season the club made its first appearance in Europe, when it played 10 games in the Korać Cup. In 1979 the first trophy was won by Oostende: the Belgian Basketball Cup with Ron Adams as head coach. In 1981 the first national title became a fact for BC Oostende, Roger Dutremble was head coach. The club eventually won 6th straight titles in a row in Belgium. In 1988 the club won the first and only BeNeLux Cup.

Before the 1999–2000 season the club got its first name change, as the name of the club became Telindus Oostende, which referred to the new main sponsor. After the club won some more trophies to add to its honour list, the club got a new arena in the Sea'rena – that was named the Sleuyter Arena after one season and had a capacity of 5,000 people – in 2005.

Fourteen consecutive championships (2011–2025)

Before the start of the 2010–11 season the club name was changed in Telenet (BC) Oostende. In the second Telenet season Jean-Marc Jaumin was fired by the club and the Croatian coach Dario Gjergja took over his tasks. After that the club won the national title, by beating Spirou Charleroi 3–2 in the Finals, Game 5 ended in 75–74 after overtime.

The championship in 2011 was the start of a nice streak for Gjergja, as BCO won the double in 2012–13. Star player of the team was Matt Lojeski, who was named League MVP.

In 2013–14, the club won the double once again, as BCO beat Okapi Aalstar 3–2 in the Finals. Oostende earlier beat Antwerp Giants in the Cup Final. The Serbian point guard Dušan Đorđević shined for Oostende, as he was the Belgian Cup MVP and the league MVP.

On September 23 (2014), the club retired Veselin Petrović's number 10.

In 2017, the club won its sixth-consecutive championship. After the 2016–17 season, main sponsor Telenet left the club in order to sponsor Antwerp Giants instead.

In 2018, the club set a new record by winning its seventh consecutive championship. https://sporza.be/nl/2018/06/13/oostende-verovert-voor-eigen-volk-7e-titel-op-een-rij/ In the 2018–19 season, the team was named Filou Oostende after a sponsorship agreement with beer brand Filou, brewed by Van Honsebrouck Brewery.

In 2019 Ostend became champions again, for the eighth time in a row. They beat Antwerp in the finals.

In 2020 Ostend was declared champions when the 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were leading the standings at that time. On July 2, 2020, head coach Dario Gjergja extended his contract for five more year. On July 7, team captain Đorđević extended his contract for two more years until 2022.

On 9 June 2021, Ostend secured their 10th consecutive domestic title. By beating Mons-Hainaut in the final series (3-1) Ostend brought home the 7th double in 10 years, as they beat Mechelen in the cupfinal earlier in the season.

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

On May 8, 2024 the club retired Dusan Djordjevic's shirt number 20. He won 12 consecutive national championships with the team.

Sponsorship names

For sponsorship reasons, the name of the club has been frequently changed.

• Sunair Oostende: (1970–1999)
• Orange Oostende: (1999–2000)
• Telindus Oostende: (2000–2008)
• Base Oostende: (2008–2010)
• Telenet Oostende: (2010–2017)
• Filou Oostende: (2018–present)

Honours

Domestic competitions

• Belgian League :Champions (26): 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018-19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25
• Belgian Cup :Winners (21): 1961–62, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2024–25
• Belgian Supercup :Winners (12): 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021
• **Second division **: : Winners (3): 1958–59, 1970-71, 1972-73

Regional competitions

• BNXT League
  • Winners (1): 2023–24
  • Runners-up (2): 2021-2022, 2022–23
• BNXT Supercup :Winners (4): 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
• BeNeLux Cup :Winners (1): 1987–88

European competitions

• EuroChallenge :Third place (1): 2010–11

Players

Current roster

Retired numbers

Season by season

Notable players

• BEL Ronny Bayer
• BEL Jean-Marc Jaumin
• BEL Sam Van Rossom
• BEL Tomas Van Den Spiegel
• BEL Matt Lojeski
• BEL Rik Samaey
• BEL Pierre-Antoine Gillet
• BEL Noah Meeusen
• BIH Mirza Teletović
• BIH Elvir Ovčina
• COL Braian Angola
• CRO Teo Čizmić
• EST Gert Kullamäe
• FIN Mikael Jantunen
• GER Denis Wucherer
• LTU Marijonas Petravičius
• LTU Rimantas Kaukėnas
• LTU Virginijus Praškevičius
• LTU Andrius Giedraitis
• RUS Jon Robert Holden
• SRB Dušan Kecman
• SRB Ivan Paunić
• SRB Veselin Petrović
• SRB Dusan Djordjevic
• USA Tre Kelley
• USA Barry Mitchell
• USA Carl Nicks
• USA Henry James
• USA Quinton Ross
• USA Vincent Yarbrough
• USA Lavor Postell
• USA Ed Cota
• USA Jason Gardner
• USA Toby Bailey
• USA Ralph Biggs
• USA Rashad Wright
• USA Jimmy Baxter
• USA Nick Fazekas
• USA Eddie Gill
• USA Bracey Wright
• USA Dwight Buycks
• USA Kennedy Winston
• USA Ed Rains
• USA Damien Jefferson
• USA Timmy Allen

References

Notes

References

1. (27 August 2006). "Sea'rena wordt omgedoopt tot Sleuyter Arena". Nieuwsblad.be.
2. 13u04. (2011-11-30). "Basketclub Oostende ontslaat coach Jean-Marc Jaumin". Nieuwsblad.be.
3. (2011-12-01). "Gjergja vervangt Jaumin als coach (Oostende) - Het Nieuwsblad". Nieuwsblad.be.
4. Justin Hamilton. "Oostende is basketkampioen na bloedstollende finale". Sporza.be.
5. "BC Telenet Oostende wint Belgische beker basketbal | Snap!". Snap.telenet.be.
6. (2013-02-16). "Amerikaan Lojeski (BC Oostende) MVP". HLN.be.
7. "Oppermachtig Oostende verlengt zijn basketbaltitel". Sporza.be.
8. (2014-04-21). "BC Oostende bekerkampioen basket | Focus & WTV". Focus-wtv.be.
9. (2014-05-18). "Dusan Djordjevic verkozen tot MVP van de reguliere competitie". Bcoostende.be.
10. (2014-04-22). "Telenet BC Oostende wins the Base Cup 2014 at the Heysel Palais 12". [[Eurobasket.com]].
11. ROSSEL, PETER. (24 September 2014). "'BCO voelt aan als familie'".
12. [http://www.gva.be/cnt/dmf20170614_02925753/telenet-oostende-is-voor-zesde-keer-op-rij-kampioen-in-het-basketbal Telenet Oostende is voor zesde keer op rij kampioen in het basketbal]
13. [http://www.madeinmechelen.be/nieuws/telenet-sponsort-voortaan-antwerp-giants-in-plaats-van-oostende/ TELENET SPONSORT VOORTAAN ANTWERP GIANTS IN PLAATS VAN OOSTENDE]
14. (31 August 2018). "Basketbalclub Oostende stelt nieuwe hoofdsponsor voor.".
15. (2020-03-14). "EuroMillions Basketball League cancelled due to coronavirus".
16. (2 July 2020). "Oostende keeps Dario Gjergja for five more years". Eurohoops.net.
17. (7 July 2020). "Dusan Djordjevic twee jaar langer bij kampioen Filou Oostende".
18. "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend".
19. (April 24, 2024). "Number retirement Dusan".