Henk Norel (born 17 September 1987) is a Dutch retired

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He currently is a performance coach for the

Heroes Den Bosch Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several spons ...

of the

Dutch Basketball League The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT L ...

(DBL). He was drafted with the 47th overall pick in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other el ...

by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. He also appeared in 79 international games representing the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Early life

During his younger years Norel played for SV Argon, a team based in

Mijdrecht Mijdrecht is a town in the Netherlands with about 16,000 residents. It is located in the municipality of De Ronde Venen, about west of the main A2 motorway, between Utrecht and Amsterdam. The main street is the Dorpstraat, where most shops an ...

. In the 2004–05 season he played for a junior team of Demon Astronauts, a professional club from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Professional career

Norel entered the

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two team ...

team in 2005, but played on loan for CB Prat and

Lucentum Alicante Club Baloncesto Lucentum Alicante is a professional basketball team based in Alicante, Valencian Community. Lucentum Alicante played in Liga ACB for the last time in 2012, after selling its place in the league to CB Canarias. In August 2015, d ...

the following seasons. In the

2009 NBA Draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other el ...

Norel was drafted by the

with the 47th overall pick, which made him the 7th Dutch player who was drafted. Starting from the 2009–10 season Norel became a rotation player for Joventut in the Liga ACB. In the 2012 offseason Norel signed a three-year deal with

CAI Zaragoza Basket Zaragoza 2002 S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Basket Zaragoza and as Casademont Zaragoza for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Zaragoza, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is t ...

, another team from the ACB. In his first season his numbers rose, as he averaged 13.3 points per game and was 5th in

PIR Pir or PIR may refer to: Places * Pir, Kerman, a village in Kerman Province, Iran * Pir, Satu Mare, commune in Satu Mare County, Romania Religion * Pir (Alevism), one of the 12 ranks of Imam in Alevism * Pir (Sufism), a Sufi teacher or spiritu ...

rating in the league. After Norel suffered a knee injury in May 2013, he took a long time to recover. His first appearance back on the court was in January 2014. On 26 June 2017, Norel left Zaragoza after five seasons. On 4 August 2017, Norel signed with RETAbet.es GBC. In his first month with GBC, Norel received the

ACB Player of the Month Award The ACB Player of the Month Award is a basketball award that recognises the best Liga ACB player for each month of the season. This award has been given out since the 1991–92 season, and it is not decided by the Performance Index Rating, desp ...

for October. He was named to the

All-Liga ACB First Team The All-Liga ACB Team ( es, Quinteto Ideal de la ACB) is an award for the top-tier professional basketball league in Spain, the Spanish ACB League. It is the yearly selection of the league's top 10 basketball players by position. The award began w ...

after the 2017–18 season. On 26 July 2018, Norel signed with Cafés Candelas Breogán of the Liga ACB. On 6 December 2019, Norel signed a contract until 2021 with

of the

(DBL). It marked the first time Norel signed with a team from his home country. In his debut season in the DBL, Norel averaged 7 points and 4.7 rebounds over seven games. On 3 August 2020, Norel announced his retirement citing lingering knee injuries as reason, but on January 9, 2021, the

announced the return of Norel. On 18 February, Norel retired again after appearing in two games. He joined the club's staff as performance trainer.

National team career

Norel represented the

Netherlands national basketball team The Netherlands men's national basketball team ( nl, Het Nederlands nationaal basketbalteam) represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland. The Dutch have reached the Eu ...

in international competitions. With the Netherlands, he played at

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

. On 17 May 2018, Norel announced his retirement from the Dutch national team, as he indicated he needed rest to focus on his club career. Over an 11-year span, Norel played 79 games with the Netherlands.HENK NOREL BEËINDIGT INTERLANDCARRIÈRE
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References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileDraftexpress.com ProfileSpanish League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norel, Henk 1987 births Living people Basket Zaragoza players CB Breogán players CB Lucentum Alicante players CB Prat players Centers (basketball) Dutch expatriate basketball people in Spain Dutch men's basketball players Dutch Basketball League players Heroes Den Bosch players Gipuzkoa Basket players Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Sportspeople from Gorinchem Power forwards (basketball)