Cholet
Cholet logo
LeaguesPro A
Founded1975 (1975)
HistoryCholet Basket
(1975–present)
ArenaLa Meilleraie
Capacity5,191
LocationCholet, France
Team colorsRed and white
   
PresidentPatrick Chiron
Vice-president(s)Alain Lafat
Head coachLaurent Vila
Championships1 French Championship
2 French Cups
1 La Semaine des As Cup
Retired numbers2 (4, 10)
Websitecholet-basket.com

Cholet Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Cholet, France. The club plays in the LNB Pro A. Their home arena is La Meilleraie. Established in 1975, Cholet won its first French championship in the 2009–10 season. In 1998 and 1999, Cholet won the French Cup.

History

Establishment

The team debuted in the 1st division in the 1987–88 season and after managing to get to the premier league in only 12 years. The team were able to sustain themselves in the league, and were consistently in the top 10 teams having a highly successful youth system. This youth system has allowed the club to produce professional players season after season. After winning the National Cup in 1999, Cholet got automatically qualified for its first participation to the Euroleague (3 victories – 13 defeats). During the 2004–05 season 10 of the 12 players in the first team derived from the youth system. Some of the most illustrious players who had their debut in the team are Antoine Rigaudeau, Jim Bilba and Mickaël Gelabale.

During the 2008–2009 season, Cholet was defeated by Virtus Bologna in the EuroChallenge's Final (75–77).

In 2010, Cholet finished 1st of the 2009–2010 Pro A League regular season and won the championship after defeating Le Mans in the Play-Offs Final (81–65). Thanks to its national champion title, Cholet is automatically qualified for the 2010–2011 Euroleague season. Cholet was eliminated during the first round (4 victories – 6 defeats) of the 2010–2011 Euroleague after defeating prestigious (and at the time unbeaten) Fenerbahçe Ülker (82–78).

In 2011, Cholet, defending its title finished 1st again of the 2011-12 Pro A League regular season and was only defeated during the finals by SLUC Nancy (74-76).

Logos

Evolution of the Logo
–2012 2012–2019 2019–present

Youth academy

Cholet Basket is intensively focusing on its Youth Academy to provide players to its professional squad. During the 2004–05 season, 10 of the 12 players of the Pro squad have progressed through the club Youth Academy. It is also one of the only six European clubs to have provided two players to the same NBA draft in 2009, with Rodrigues Beaubois and Nando De Colo beside Real Madrid (2005), Joventut Badalona (2009), Fenerbahçe Ülker (2008), KK Partizan (2002) and Pau-Ortez (2003).

Notable Players that have progressed through the Cholet Youth Academy (Espoirs)

Players

Retired numbers

Cholet Basket retired numbers
No. Nat. Player Position Tenure
4FranceAntoine RigaudeauPG1987–1995
10FranceJim BilbaPF1988–1992, 2002–2007

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Cholet Basket roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
SG 2 United States Blakes, Gerry 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 30 – (1993-11-16)16 November 1993
G 11 France Ayayi, Gérald 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 22 – (2001-08-24)24 August 2001
C 13 France Sako, Neal 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 25 – (1998-08-13)13 August 1998
F/C 14 France Tillie, Kim 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 35 – (1988-07-15)15 July 1988
F/C 15 Netherlands Nzekwesi, Emmanuel 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 26 – (1997-09-05)5 September 1997
PG 26 France Goudou-Sinha, Enzo 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 25 – (1998-11-26)26 November 1998
F/C 29 France L'Etang, Amael 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) 18 – (2005-06-29)29 June 2005
SF 31 France Salaun, Tidjane 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 18 – (2005-08-10)10 August 2005
SG 40 France Bordes, Matéo 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 19 – (2004-01-31)31 January 2004
PG 44 United States Campbell, T. J. 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 35 – (1988-01-23)23 January 1988
SF 77 Czech Republic Hruban, Vojtech 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 34 – (1989-08-29)29 August 1989
Head coach
  • France Laurent Vila
Assistant coach(es)
  • France Fabrice Lefrançois
  • France Antoine Chevrier
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: September 27, 2023

FIBA Hall of Famers

Cholet Basket Hall of Famers
Players
No.Nat.NamePositionTenureInducted
4FranceAntoine RigaudeauG1987–952015[1]

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. French Cup Leaders Cup European competitions
2006–07 1 Pro A 7th
2007–08 1 Pro A 8th Runner-up Champion 3 FIBA EuroCupGS
2008–09 1 Pro A 9th Round of 16 2 EurocupQ
3 EuroChallengeRU
2009–10 1 Pro A 1st Round of 32 Quarterfinalist 2 EurocupRS
2010–11 1 Pro A 2nd Round of 16 Quarterfinalist 1 EuroleagueRS
2011–12 1 Pro A 4th Semifinalist Quarterfinalist 1 EuroleagueQR1
2 EurocupRS
2012–13 1 Pro A 10th Round of 16 2 EurocupRS
2013–14 1 Pro A 13th Round of 16 3 EuroChallengeL16
2014–15 1 Pro A 14th Round of 16
2015–16 1 Pro A 13th Round of 32
2016–17 1 Pro A 11th Round of 16
2017–18 1 Pro A 15th
2018–19 1 Pro A 15th
2019–20 1 Pro A 6th*
2020–21 1 Pro A 14th 3 Champions LeagueRS
2021–22 1 Pro A 8th
2022–23 1 Pro A 7th 4 Europe CupRU

Achievements

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.
France France
 United States
Other countries

Head coaches

  • 1970s: Romania Dragoş Nosievici
  • 1987–89: France Jean Galle
  • 1989–91: France Jean-Paul Rebatet
  • 1991–95: France Laurent Buffard
  • 1995–96: France Alain Thinet (7 games) then France Eric Girard (1 game) then France Jean Galle
  • 1996–2001: France Eric Girard
  • 2001–02: Montenegro France Savo Vucević
  • 2002–03: France Jean-François Martin
  • 2003–04: Turkey Erman Kunter
  • 2004–06: France Ruddy Nelhomme
  • 2006–10: Turkey Erman Kunter
  • 2010–12: Turkey France Erman Kunter
  • 2012–14: France Jean-Manuel Sousa
  • 2014–15: France Laurent Buffard
  • 2015–16: France Jérôme Navier
  • 2016–18: France Philippe Hervé
  • 2018: France Régis Boissié
  • 2018–21: Turkey France Erman Kunter
  • 2021–present: France Laurent Vila

References

  1. ↑ "FIBA.basketball". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
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