Thomas Petrus A. Koenis (born 11 December 1989) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Standing at , he played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position. He started his career with the Den Helder Seals in 2007, before signing with

West-Brabant Giants West-Brabant Giants was a Dutch professional basketball club based in Bergen op Zoom. The club was established in 2003 and dissolved in 2011. The team played its games at Sporthal de Boulevard and its main colors were red and white. History The cl ...

in 2009. After two seasons for the Giants, Koenis signed with

Donar Thor (from ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility. Beside ...

. In 2015, he signed with

ZZ Leiden ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a professional basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Sportcomplex 1574. Z ...

where he stayed for two seasons before returning to Donar. Koenis played 15 season of professional basketball, with nine of them being with Donar. After his career, Koenis' number 14 was retired by the club to honour him. In international play, Koenis represented the

Netherlands men's national basketball team The Netherlands men's national basketball team () represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland. The Dutch have reached the European Basketball Championship on 16 occasio ...

in 41 games.

Early life

Koenis was born in

Hoogkarspel Hoogkarspel ( West Frisian: ''Hougkarspel'') is a village in the municipality Drechterland, located in the north west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. The name derives from the words ''hoog'' (Du ...

and first played football as a keeper and was also interested in judo. He started playing basketball at age 13 with BV Enkhuizen.

Professional career

Koenis started his professional career with the Den Helder Seals in 2007. After two seasons Koenis left Den Helder for

WCAA Giants West-Brabant Giants was a Dutch professional basketball club based in Bergen op Zoom. The club was established in 2003 and dissolved in 2011. The team played its games at Sporthal de Boulevard and its main colors were red and white. History The cl ...

from

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...

, because the club from Den Helder was bankrupt. When the Giants also decided to leave the Dutch Basketball League in 2011, Koenis signed a 3-year contract with the

GasTerra Flames GasTerra is a Dutch partially state-owned company that is active in the worldwide trade and supply of natural gas. It is owned by Royal Dutch Shell (25%), ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exp ...

from

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. In the 2015 offseason, Koenis signed a 2-year deal with

. On 9 June 2017, returned to Donar by signing a 3-year contract. On 10 January 2018, Koenis scored 25 points while shooting 9/9 from the field, accumulating an efficiency rating of 36 in a 109–69 win against Keravnos in the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

. This earned him the Top Performer honour for Round 2 of the FIBA Europe Cup second round. In the 2017–18 season, Koenis was named to the

All-DBL Team The Dutch Basketball League (DBL) All-Star Team, also known as All-DBL Team, is a team constituted by the main players in a season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. This team is based o ...

for the first time. On 25 June 2022, Koenis announced his retirement from professional basketball at age 32. On 6 December 2022, Donar retired Koenis' jersey number 14, while also naming a stand in the

MartiniPlaza MartiniPlaza (formerly Martinihal Groningen) is an indoor arena located in Groningen, Netherlands. It is used as an exhibition complex, theater and sports arena. The arena is the home of the basketball Basketball is a team sport in which t ...

after him.

Post-playing career

Koenis was hired as the technical manager of the

Den Helder Suns The Den Helder Suns are a professional basketball club based in Den Helder, Netherlands. The club was founded in 2016 and currently plays in the BNXT League. The team has played at the highest domestic level since years. The Suns play their home ...

in June 2023.

Awards and accomplishments

Club

;Donar *2×

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 Le ...

: 2013–14, 2017–18 *4×

NBB Cup The Basketball Cup, for sponsorship reasons the TOTO Basketball Cup and formerly the NBB Cup (), is an annual cup competition for Netherlands, Dutch basketball teams organised by the Basketball Nederland. Every team in the Netherlands can partici ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2021–22 * Dutch Supercup (2):

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual

*2× MVP Under 23: 2008–09, 2011–12 *3×

DBL All-Star The Dutch Basketball League All-Star Gala was a yearly basketball event in the Netherlands, organised by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). During the event the yearly All-Star Game was played, which included the best players of a given DB ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

*2×

DBL All-Defense Team The Dutch Basketball League (DBL) All-Defense Team is a team constituted by the best defensive players in a season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. This team is based on players' perform ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenis, Thomas 1989 births Living people ZZ Leiden players Centers (basketball) Den Helder Kings players Donar (basketball club) players Dutch Basketball League players Dutch men's basketball players People from Drechterland Basketball players from North Holland West-Brabant Giants players