BAL (basketball)
| PrismaWorx BAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Error creating thumbnail: File missing | |||
| Leagues | BNXT League | ||
| Founded | 9 April 2013 | ||
| History | BAL (2013–present) | ||
| Arena | Sporthal Boshoven | ||
| Capacity | 1,000 | ||
| Location | Weert, Limburg, Netherlands | ||
| President | Jeroen van Veen[1] | ||
| Head coach | Radenko Varagić | ||
| 2021–22 position | BNXT League, 15th of 21 | ||
| Championships | 1 Dutch Cup | ||
| Website | basketbalacademielimburg | ||
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Basketball Academie Limburg, commonly known as BAL and for sponsorship reasons as PrismaWorx BAL, is a Dutch basketball club based in Weert in the province of Limburg. The club was founded in 2013 as an academy to develop youth players from the province of Limburg. The club entered the Dutch Basketball League for the 2017–18 season after the dissolution of the professional team BSW. Currently, the team plays in the BNXT League.
In 2021, BAL won its first-ever trophy when it won the DBL Cup in surprising fashion as the team was ranked eight in the DBL that season.[2]
History
[edit | edit source]Foundation
[edit | edit source]The club was established on 9 April 2013 to function as a club for regional talent from the province of Limburg. In its first years, the team played with several youth teams in domestic competitions.
In the 2017 offseason the professional club BSW from Weert and BAL intended a merger, which would integrate BSW into BAL.[3] Following BSW going defunct during this offseason, BAL decided to take its place in the DBL. As BAL played in the same home arena and the team consisted of several of the same players, the team can be considered a phoenix club. Radenko Varagić coached the team.
First DBL seasons
[edit | edit source]In its debut season, BAL finished in the ninth and last place in the DBL, winning 4 out of its 32 games. The team consisted of a selection of young promising players, such as guard Sam van Dijk who was named the DBL Most Improved Player in the club's debut season. On 1 August 2018, BAL signed its first ever foreign player when American center Tony Washington signed for one year.[4] In its second season, BAL once again finished last in the DBL with this time five wins in 2018–19.
In the 2020–21 season, BAL reached the playoffs for the first time after finishing in the eight seed. This season the team also won the 2021 DBL Cup, the club's first-ever trophy.[2] In the semi-finals, BAL upset first-seeded ZZ Leiden and in the final the team was too strong for Yoast United. Trevor Jasinsky led the team in scoring in the final with 27 points.
Since the 2021–22 season, BAL plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[5]
In June 2024, BAL signed its first name sponsorship contract and agreed to be named PrismaWorx BAL for three years, starting from the 2024–25 season.[6]
Honours
[edit | edit source]- Champions (1): 2021
- Runners-up (1): 2021
Season by season
[edit | edit source]| Champions | |
| Playoff berth | |
| (X) | National ranking standings |
| MIP | Most Improved Player |
| RS | Rising Star of the Year |
| CoY | Coach of the Year |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | National playoffs | Dutch Cup | BNXT playoffs | Head coach | Individual awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win% | ||||||||
| BAL | ||||||||||||
| 2017–18 | 1 | DBL | 8th | 32 | 4 | 28 | .125 | – | Withdrew | – | Radenko Varagić | Sam van Dijk (MIP) |
| 2018–19 | 1 | DBL | 9th | 34 | 5 | 29 | .147 | – | Eightfinals | – | ||
| 2019–20[note 1] | 1 | DBL | 6th | 24 | 9 | 15 | .375 | – | Eightfinals | – | ||
| 2020–21 | 1 | DBL | 8th | 21 | 12 | 9 | .571 | Lost quarterfinals to ZZ Leiden (148–183) | Champions | |||
| 2021–22 | 1 | BNXT League | 15th (7th) |
30 | 11 | 19 | .367 | – | Fourth Round | Won first round (Yoast, 163–152) Lost second round (Feyenoord, 138–158) |
Sander Hollanders (RS) | |
| 2022–23 | 1 | BNXT League | 18th | 28 | 7 | 21 | .250 | – | Fourth Round | Lost, first round (Liège Basket, 161–188) | Oshean Brathwaite (RS) | |
| 2023–24 | 1 | BNXT League | 10th | 28 | 9 | 17 | .346 | Lost quarterfinals to Donar (1–2) | Quarterfinalist | Not held | Radenko Varagic (CoY) | |
| 2024–25 | 1 | BNXT League | 18th | 36 | 6 | 30 | .167 | – | Eightfinals | – | ||
Players
[edit | edit source]Current roster
[edit | edit source]| BAL roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: September 30, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
Individual awards
[edit | edit source]- Sander Hollanders – 2022
- Sam van Dijk – 2018
- Jacco Fritz – 2018
- Nino Gorissen – 2018
- Ivan Simic – 2019
Top scorers by seasons
[edit | edit source]The following players led BAL in scoring in each DBL or BNXT League season:[7]
| Season | Name | PPG |
|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Netherlands Sam van Dijk | 12.2 |
| 2018–19 | United States Tony Washington | 12.2 |
| 2019–20 | United States Trey Burch-Manning | 14.5 |
| 2020–21 | United States Trevor Jasinsky | 15.8 |
| 2021–22 | Republic of Ireland D. J. Mitchell | 16.0
|
| 2022–23 | Belgium Noel Botuli | 11.9
|
| 2023–24 | Belgium Noel Botuli | 12.7
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| 2024–25 | France Lionel Colson | 14.9
|
Club records
[edit | edit source]Bold denotes still active with team. As of 14 April 2021:
| Category | Player | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wietze Nossek | 120 |
| Points scored | Wietze Nossek | 754 |
| Rebounds | Roel Aarts | 443 |
| Assists | Roel van Overbeek | 329 |
| Steals | Roel van Overbeek | 94 |
| Blocks | Roel Aarts | 41 |
| Three-point field goals | Sander Hollanders | 141 |
Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ The 2019–20 season was ended prematurely in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ BAL verwelkomt plan voor invoering BENE-League
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External links
[edit | edit source]
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