Aris Leeuwarden is a Dutch 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 (appr ...

club based in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

. The club competes in the

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 Dutch Basketball League, DBL a ...

, and has competed at the highest national level since 2004. Aris plays its home games at the

Kalverdijkje The Kalverdijkje is an indoor sports complex in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The complex has a swimming pool, and hosts basketball, volleyball and korfball matches. It is the home arena of professional basketball club Aris Leeuwarden of the Dutch Bask ...

. Its most notable successes are reaching the DBL finals in 2013 and the

NBB Cup The Basketball Cup, formerly the NBB Cup ( nl, NBB-Beker), is an annual cup competition for Dutch basketball teams organised by the Basketball Nederland. Every team in the Netherlands can participate by signing up for the preliminary rounds. Profes ...

final in 2020.

History

The parent club was actually founded in 1992, when the clubs Sporty and Ymir merged into BV Aris. In 2004 the professional team was founded, when the team promoted from the

Promotiedivisie The Promotiedivisie (English: Promotion Division) is the second tier of basketball in the Netherlands and is the highest amateur competition in the country. At the end of a Promotiedivisie-season, a Final Four is played to decide the new champion. ...

– the Dutch second-tier league – to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

. The team, coached by Tom Simpson, was named Woon!Aris for sponsorship reasons and reached the Playoffs in its first season. After then, the team failed to reach the postseason for four seasons. In 2009–10, Aris, then named De Friesland Aris, reached the playoff semi-finals for the first time. In the 2012–13 season, Aris was in financial trouble after it lost their main sponsor Lasaulec. Despite these circumstances Aris' squad – which included All-Stars Holcomb-Faye and

Givens Givens is a surname. Notable people * Adele Givens, American comedy actress * Bob Givens (1918–2017), American animator, character designer, and layout artist * Charles J. Givens (1941–1998), American "get-rich-quick" author * David Given ...

– reached the DBL Finals. Rival #1 seed

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

was knocked out of the tournament 3–1 in the semi-finals. In the Finals Aris played

ZZ Leiden ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats. ...

and lost 0–4 to the #2 seed of the regular season. Before the start of the 2013–14 Aris signed a new main sponsor in Univé, which guaranteed the existence of the team despite its ongoing financial struggles. The capacity of

was also increased from 800 to 1,700 to further increase the stability for the club's future. In the 2019–20 season, Aris reached the final of the

Dutch Basketball Cup The Basketball Cup, formerly the NBB Cup ( nl, NBB-Beker), is an annual cup competition for Dutch basketball teams organised by the Basketball Nederland. Every team in the Netherlands can participate by signing up for the preliminary rounds. Profes ...

for the first time in history under head coach Ferried Naciri. The final, however, was never played as the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

outbreak. The final, which was to be played against

Donar Thor (; from non, Þórr ) 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 ...

, was cancelled as well after no new date could be found. Since the 2021–22 season, Aris plays in the

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

Honours

Dutch Basketball League *Runners-up (1): 2012–13

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

*Finalist (1): 2019–20 *Semifinalist (4): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2021–22

Season by season

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Notable players

Meshack Lufile Meshack Lufile (born October 21, 1992) is a Canadian professional basketball player for Reading Rockets of the NBL. Born in Burlington, Ontario Lufile made his professional debut with Aris Leeuwarden of the Dutch Basketball League. In July 2 ...

Individual awards

; All-DBL Team *Brandon Woudstra – 2005 *

Matt Bauscher Matthew Don Bauscher (born April 25, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Bauscher played three years for the Boise State Broncos, from 2005 till 2008, during his college career. He was the team captain at Boise State while ...

– 2009 *

Rein van der Kamp Rein van der Kamp (born 17 July 1979) is a Dutch former professional basketball player. In his career, Van der Kamp played for Dutch Basketball League teams Landstede Basketbal, EiffelTowers Den Bosch Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional b ...

– 2009 ;

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 ) , anthem = ( en, "William of ...

Darius Theus Darius Theus (born January 12, 1990) is an American former basketball player. He played collegiately for VCU. He played professionally in the Netherlands and Germany. Professional career In 2013, Theus signed his first pro contract with Aris Lee ...

– 2014 ;

DBL Rookie of the Year The Dutch Basketball League Rookie of the Year is an award that is yearly given to the best first-year player in the DBL, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = ...

Valentijn Lietmeijer Valentijn Lietmeijer (born May 8, 1991) is a retired Dutch professional basketball player. Career Lietmeijers first professional club was Gasterra Flames from his hometown Groningen. After being named Dutch Basketball League Rookie of the Year, ...

– 2012 ;

DBL Statistical Player of the Year The Dutch Basketball League Statistical Player of the Year is an award given to the player who has the best statistical season in the Dutch highest professional basketball league. The player with the highest Player efficiency rating receives the a ...

– 2009 * Samme Givens – 2013 *

– 2014

Top scorers by seasons

List of head coaches

The following list shows all head coaches of Aris Leeuwarden since its inception in 2004:

References

External links

Official websiteEurobasket.com Aris Leeuwarden Page
{{Aris Leeuwarden current roster Sport in Leeuwarden Basketball teams in the Netherlands Basketball teams established in 2004 Dutch Basketball League teams