A.O. Near East B.C. is one of the oldest professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

clubs in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The basketball club was founded in 1927. The team is located in

Kaisariani Kaisariani () is a suburban town and a municipality in the eastern part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration in Greece. Geography Kaisariani is located about southeast of Athens city centre, and of the Acropolis of Athens. T ...

, which is a suburb of the city of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Near East's home arena, Near East Indoor Arena, is located only about 2 miles from the downtown center of Athens. It takes its name from the

Near East Foundation The Near East Foundation (NEF) is an American international social and economic development organization based in Syracuse, New York. The NEF had its genesis in a number of earlier organizations. As the scope of relief expanded from aid to Greek, ...

History

Early history

Near East B.C. was one of the teams that participated in the first Pan- Hellenic Basketball tournament, which took place in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. In 1936, Near East B.C. won its first official Greek League championship, by defeating the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

basketball team in

. To this day, this is still the only Greek national championship the club has won. In 1937, Near East B.C. finished second in the Greek League championship, as the University of Athens basketball club defeated them in the championship's final.

Recent history

In more recent times, the Near East basketball team struggled to hold on to its position in the top-tier-level league in Greece, the first division

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. In 1998, the team won the top Greek pro league's second division championship, the Greek A2 League. The team participated in the European-wide 3rd-tier level

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

, in the years 1999–00 and 2000–01. In 2001–02, the team competed in the Greek first division, for the last time in recent years.

Near East B.C. in international competitions

Arena

Near East plays its home domestic league games at the 1,300 seat Near East Indoor Arena.

Titles and honors

Domestic: * Greek League Champion: **1936 * Greek 2nd Division Champion: **1998

Notable players

Greece: *

Antonis Asimakopoulos Antonios Asimakopoulos (alternate spelling: Antonis) (Greek: Αντώνης Ασημακόπουλος; born July 24, 1976) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is a 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) tall power forward. Professional career ...

Marios Batis Marios Batis (alternate spelling: Mpatis) (; born 20 June 1980) is a Greek former professional basketball player and current basketball coach. During his club playing career, at a height of is a tall, he played at the point guard and shooting g ...

Dimitris Fosses Dimitris Fosses (Greek: Δημήτρης Φωσσές; born November 14, 1952, in Greece) is a Greek retired professional basketball player and coach. At 6'6 " (2.00 m) in height, he played at the power forward and center positions. Professio ...

Kostas Kaimakoglou Konstantinos "Kostas" Kaimakoglou (; born on March 15, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player who last played for UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League and the EuroCup. He is tall, and his main position is power forward, but he c ...

Georgios Karagkoutis Georgios Karagkoutis (alternate spellings: Giorgos, Karagoutis) () (born February 15, 1976, in Greece), is a retired Greek professional basketball player. At a height of 2.08 m (6 ft. 10 in.) tall, he could play at both the small forward and ...

Nikos Papanikolopoulos Nikolaos "Nikos" Papanikolopoulos (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Παπανικολόπουλος; born April 21, 1979) is a retired Greek professional basketball player and current basketball coach. During his playing career, at a height ...

Kostas Politis Konstantinos "Kostas" Politis (; 21 March 1942 – 18 June 2018) was a Greek professional basketball player and coach. Career as a player Club career Politis played with Panathinaikos, and they won 3 Greek League championships, in 1967, 1969, ...

* Christos Tapoutos *

Kostas Tsartsaris Konstantinos "Kostas" Tsartsaris (; born October 17, 1979, in Veria, Greece), is a former Greek professional basketball player and coach, who spent most of his playing career with the Greek League team Panathinaikos. At 6 ft 10 in (2.10 ...

Nikos Vetoulas Nikolaos "Nikos" Vetoulas (Greek language, Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Βετούλας; born February 6, 1974, in Patras, Greece) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach. As a player, he was a tall ...

Vangelis Vourtzoumis Evangelos "Vangelis" Vourtzoumis (alternate spelling: Vaggelis) () (born October 30, 1969) is a retired Greek professional basketball player. Professional career Vourtzoumis won three European titles on three different Greek teams. In 1993, he p ...

Vassilis Xanthopoulos Vassilis Xanthopoulos (alternate spellings: Vasilis, Vasileios, Vasilios; Greek: Βασίλης Ξανθόπουλος; born 29 April 1984) is a Greek former professional basketball player who last served as the team captain for Peristeri of the ...

* - Anatoly Zourpenko USA: *

Anthony Bowie Anthony Lee Bowie (born November 9, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a former NBA shooting guard, most renowned for his stint with the Orlando Magic. With the Magic, Bowie became one of the top bench players, oft ...

Lynn Greer Lynn Terence Greer Jr. (born October 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He was an All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2003–04 Eur ...

Shawn Respert Shawn Christopher Respert (born February 6, 1972) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He attended Bishop Borgess High School, and he came to prominence while playing college basketball at Michigan State. He played pro ...

* Randy White *

David Vaughn III David Vaughn III (born March 23, 1973) is an American retired professional basketball player. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Vaughn attended Whites Creek High School in Tennessee, and was a ''USA Today'' All-USA First-Team selection. He was later dra ...

Rest of Americas: *

Andrés Guibert Andrés Guibert Sargenton (born October 28, 1968), commonly known as Andrés Guibert, is a Cuban-Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. In 1993, Guibert defected to Puerto Rico, from the Cuban delegation at the 1993 Central American ...

* Ian Lockhart Europe: * -

Franko Nakić Franko Nakić (; born June 9, 1972) is a Croatian-Greek retired professional basketball player. Under his Greek nationality, he is known by the name of Franko Nakits. Early life Nakić was born in Šibenik, to his father, Mile Nakić, who is a C ...

Oceania: *

Shane Heal Shane Douglas Heal (born 6 September 1970) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. Playing career Heal began playing basketball when he was five years old. Australian Institute of Sport Heal held an Australian Instit ...

Head coaches

* Takis Koroneos

External links

Eurobasket.com Team Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Near East B.C. Basketball teams established in 1927 Basketball teams in Greece Kaisariani