Jean Willem "Willy" Steveniers (born 12 December 1938) is a Belgian former 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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Standing at 1.80 m (5' 11") tall, Steveniers played at the shooting guard position. He was named the Belgian Player of the Year four times. He was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

, in 1991. He is generally considered by most fans and sports journalists to have been the best Belgian basketball player of all-time. During his playing career, his nickname was, "The Emperor of Belgian Basketball".

Playing career

Club career

During his

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

career, Steveniers played in the

Belgian League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A, 2020 ...

, with Zaziko Antwerpen, Racing Mechelen, Standard Liege, Eural Goldfingers (Wilrijk), Aalst, Antwerpse, and Royal Fresh Air. He is the Belgian League's all-time top scorer, with 11,870 career points scored. He won the league's championship five times, four times with Racing Mechelen, and once with Standard Liege. With Standard Liege, he made it to the semifinals of the FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague), in the 1968–69 season. He also won the

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 ...

that season. He was named the Belgian Player of the Year in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1970. He was named to the FIBA European Selection team, in 1966. At the age of 21, he was offered an NBA contract, but he turned it down.

National team career

Steveniers was a member of the senior

Belgian national basketball team The Belgium men's national basketball team nl, Belgisch nationaal basketbalteamgerman: Belgische Basketballnationalmannschaft has represented Belgium in international basketball since 1928. The supervising body for the national team is Basketb ...

. With Belgium's senior national team, he played in 54 games. He played at the 1959 EuroBasket, and at the 1961 EuroBasket.Jean STEVENIERS (BEL).
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Coaching career

After he retired from playing professional basketball, Steveniers became a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. He was D. J. Mbenga's personal youth coach.

References

External links

*
FIBA Profile 1

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steveniers, Willy 1938 births Living people Antwerpse BC players Belgian basketball coaches Belgian men's basketball players Fresh Air Basketball players Okapi Aalstar players Point guards R.C. Mechelen players Shooting guards Standard BC Liège players