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 city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

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

Club history

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 state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. 1957 saw the formation of the

South Australian State League The NPL State League 1 South Australia is the second tier state-level football (soccer) competition in South Australia, ranked third tier in the national pyramid. The league are part of the National Premier Leagues (NPL) structure implemented ...

with both a men's and women's competition. South Adelaide, trading as the Panthers, entered a team into both competitions. The women were grand finalists in their first two seasons, finishing as runners-up to North Adelaide in 1957 and as champions in 1958 after defeating

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. On 26 September 1963, the men's team made history after defeating Budapest in their first ever grand final. The game heralded the start of an era for South Adelaide, with the Panthers men continuing on to claim 10 men's State championships (1963-65-66-69-73-87-89-91-95-97) over the ensuing decades. South Adelaide's three decades of dominance ended in 1998 with a 105–88 loss to Noarlunga City in the grand final. The women on the other hand saw dwindling prospects following 1958, with their only other grand final appearance coming in 2003, a game which saw them lose 74–51 to Forestville. In 2022, the men's team won the NBL1 Central Grand Final to claim their first championship since 1997.

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 may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

(#9) and

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

(#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, 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