South Adelaide Panthers is a

NBL1 Central NBL1 Central, formerly the Premier League, is a semi-professional basketball league in South Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball South Australia partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to ...

club based in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching South Adelaide Basketball Club (SABC), one of the major administrative basketball organisations in Adelaide's southern suburbs. The Panthers play their home games at Marion Basketball Stadium.

Club history

Background

The South Adelaide Basketball Club (SABC) was formed in 1952. It was one of the foundation clubs in the sport of basketball in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

SA State League / NBL1 Central

The first official season of the SA State League took place in 1957. The Panthers women were grand finalists in the first two seasons, winning the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 1958. The men's team won their first SA State League championship in 1963, going on to win nine more in 1965, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995 and 1997. The women's team saw little success in the SA State League following 1958, with their only other grand final appearance coming in 2003. In 2022, the men's team won the NBL1 Central Grand Final to claim their first championship since 1997. The men's team returned to the NBL1 Central Grand Final in 2024, where they lost 92–90 to the

Forestville Eagles Forestville Eagles is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching Forestville Eagles Basketball Club (FEBC), the major administrative basketball ...

SEABL and WBC

In 1981, the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL) was established, with the Panthers competing in the inaugural season. In 1984, the

Women's Basketball Conference The Women's Basketball Conference (WBC) was a women's basketball league in Australia. The WBC began in 1984 and served as a second-tier national league under the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). It operated for six seasons until it wa ...

(WBC) was established. The Panthers joined the WBC in 1985 and won the WBC championship in 1986. The 1986 WBC squad was coached by

Phil Smyth Philip John Smyth AM (born 11 May 1958) is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He won three National Basketball League (NBL) championships with the Canberra Cannons before going on to be a three-time championship-w ...

. The WBC became the SEABL women's competition in 1990, but the Panthers women did not join the SEABL.

Retired numbers

In March 2015, the Panthers retired the playing numbers of three of the club's greatest men's players:

Michael Ah Matt Michael Henry George Ah Matt (30 November 1942 – 14 February 1983) was an Indigenous Australian professional basketball player. He played for the Australian national basketball team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Ah Matt was born on 30 November ...

(#8),

Scott Ninnis Scott Ninnis (born 25 December 1965) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as the head coach of the Adelaide Lightning of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). He won three National ...

(#9) and Mark Davis (#33). The three jerseys hang in the rafters at Marion Stadium. Ah Matt in 1963 led the Panthers to the first of their 10 titles while twice winning the St George Trophy—now the Frank Angove Medal—as the fairest and most brilliant player in South Australia, under 21. Ninnis arguably is one of the most successful Australian basketball players of all time, having won titles at every senior level. He was a star for South Adelaide, winning the 1995 Woollacott Medal as the state's fairest and most brilliant player and winning championships with the club in 1987, 1989, 1995 and 1997. American forward Davis was brought to Adelaide by South in 1985 when the club was looking for an import and was told there was one "killing it" in New Zealand. Davis won five championships with the Panthers and a record five Woollacott Medals.

References

External links

SABC's official website
{{NBL1 Central Premier League (Australia) teams Basketball teams established in 1957 Basketball clubs in Adelaide 1957 establishments in Australia NBL1 Central