Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional

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 ...

club from Aalst,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. The club competes in the top tier

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the DBL and PBL. The inaugural s ...

and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...

of 2,800 people. Okapi is a long-time participant of the Belgian first division, is the owner of one Belgian Cup and two Supercups. As well, Aalst was a regular participant in European competitions in the past. In its history the team has included many quality players who would be named Belgian League MVP or have played for top Euroleague and NBA teams, such as Chris Copeland and

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History

Okapi was founded on 15 November 1949 by a group of friends in Aalst, almost all going to the school named Aalsterse Athenuem. Piet de Coninck van Noyen was one of the founders. In 1956, Odilon Ringoir became the first chairman of the club. In 1957, the municipality of Aalst allowed the team to play outside at the Hopmarkt and as a result more spectators watched the team's matches. In the winter months, the team played inside a shoe factory in Terjoden. In the 1958–59 season, Okapi promoted to the fourth national league. In 1969, the first foreign players where signed to keep up with opposing teams. In the 1969–70 season, Okapi won the national second division title in an impressive way by going unbeaten in all 44 games. In the 1970–71 season, the club made its maiden debut at the First National League. The team stayed there for five years until it was relegated again. The downfall lasted shortly as the team promoted back the next season. In the following seasons, Okapi enjoyed the first league in which local Derbys against Black Boys Aalst were played. In 1980, the team relegated once again. In the 2011–12 season, Aalstar won its first trophy ever with its Belgian Basketball Cup victory. Okapi defeated

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgians, Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketbal ...

96–89 after overtime. By winning the Cup, Okapi qualified for the

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

the next season, which it also won after defeating BC Oostende. In 2013, Okapi won the Supercup for the second consecutive year by beating Oostende once again. In the 2013–14 season, Okapi reached the Finals of the Belgian League for the first time. In the Finals, the team was swept by Oostende, which went on to win its third straight title. In June 2020, the team changed its name from Okapi Aalstar back to Okapi Aalst. Since the 2021–22 season, Okapi plays in the

, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.

Honours and titles

Belgian League: *Runners-up (1): 2013–14

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

* Winners (1): 2011–12 **Runners-up (3): 1963–64, 1997–98,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

*Winners (2): 2012, 2013

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Asso ...

*Winners (1): 2005–06

Season by season

Logos

Okapi Aalstar logo.png, The official Okapi Aalstar crest Crelan Okapi.png, Crelan Okapi Aalstar
(2015–2020)

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Notable players

References

External links

Eurobasket.com team profile
{{Ethias League Basketball teams in Belgium Sport in East Flanders Okapi Aalster Pro Basketball League Basketball teams established in 1949 1949 establishments in Belgium