Worcester Wolves
League	NBL Division 2
Established	2000; 25 years ago (2000)
History	Worcester Wolves 2000–present
Arena	Worcester Arena
Capacity	2,000
Location	Worcester,Worcestershire
Team colours	Navy blue, white, orange
Ownership	University of Worcester
Championships	0BBL Championship 1BBL Playoffs 1BBL Cup 1BBL Trophy
Website	worcesterwolves.org

TheWorcester Wolves are abasketball club inWorcester,England. The team plays in theNBL Division 2, the third tier of British basketball. The club was formed in 2000, and from 2006 until 2021 competed in theBritish Basketball League, the top tier of British basketball. Since2013, the Wolves have played their home games at the 2,000-capacityWorcester Arena.

The historic city of Worcester has, until recent years, not had much of a basketball history. Worcester City Chiefs were an active lower league club during the mid-1990s before moving toSolihull in 1996, leaving the city without a major basketball club. This changed in May 2000 when Roger Clarke and Mick Donovan announced the formation of the Wolves franchise to play at the University of Worcester's new sports hall.

In their first season of action (2000–01) inNational Basketball League Division 3 the Wolves finished second in the 12 team league with an 18–3 record. Local rivals Bristol Bombers pipped them to the title, however luck would soon swing their way the following season.

Initially placed in the regionalised NBL Division 2 in the "clean sheet reorganisation" of 2001, the Wolves played only the first game of the season in that division before being elevated (ahead of Bristol) into NBL Division 1 when Doncaster withdrew at the start of the season.

University College Worcester Basketball Scholarships became available in September 2002 for talented players to study and play at the same time, and the club attracted a wealth of new talent including Ty Shaw (Idaho), Keith Jarrett and Rikki Prince (Both fromBirmingham Bullets) that became the foundations of a strong first team.^{[citation needed]}

The excellent facilities and organisation which earned them the promotion continued to stand them in good stead, and over the years they became firmly established in what has now been renamedEBL Division 2, and won promotion to EBL Division 1 following an excellent campaign in 2003–04. Despite finishing in second place, behindLondon Capital, they managed to straighten the record by beating them in the Playoff final at theNational Indoor Arena, winning 95–87. The victory capped off an excellent season that saw the Wolves also lift the Patron's Cup, following a 111–100 win againstHackney White Heat in the final, which was played in front of a raucous and passionate home crowd at the University of Worcester.

Worcester had a reasonably successful debut season (2004–05) in EBL Division 1, finishing above fellow promotion winners London in 4th place with 13–9 record, which earned them a place in the post season playoffs. They built on their successes for the second season and finished 2005–06 in 4th place with a 17–9 record in the expanded Division 1. That season also saw the Wolves claim their biggest success to date, winning the National Trophy at theSkyDome Arena inCoventry, beating holdersSheffield Arrows 97–82 in the final.^{[citation needed]}

At the end of the2005–06 season, the British Basketball League, the country's elite league was, not for the first time, suffering a membership crisis with three franchises,Birmingham Bullets,Brighton Bears andLondon Towers withdrawing from the league set-up. Although the Wolves management have claimed it was always their intention to move into the BBL, the possibility of it happening so quickly seemed near impossible. However, with the lack of aWest Midlands-based franchise in the league, the BBL approached the Wolves and elected them into the league,^[1] along withLondon United.

2006–07 season
With an influx of new players, including formerPlymouth Raider Solomon Sheard, Caja Rioja's Sergio Rodriguez andJames Noel of theMasters College all signing up for the new-look team, expectations of upsetting the big boys was high, but the fairy tale beginning never materialized. The Wolves opened the season with a 77–82 loss at home to Plymouth on 30 September 2006, and followed that with 21-point loss away toMilton Keynes Lions (74–96). It was a case of third time lucky as, on 7 October, in front of a packed crowd at the "Wolves' Lair", Worcester edged past theChester Jets with an 82–79 victory andAndy Harper posting 28 points for the home side.

However the Wolves struggled and soon fell behind the pack, spending most of the season at the foot of the table. The highlight of the season for theMidlands club came on 20 January 2007, when second-placeSheffield Sharks were the visitors to the Wolves' Lair. The home side caused, without doubt, the biggest shock of the season by defeating the title-challengers 70–65, a result that would ultimately hand the Championship toGuildford. Despite this moral boosting win, Worcester continued to flounder and ended the season in tenth and last place with just four league wins to their name, eventually forcing head coach Josh Cooprider to resign after a 4–36 Champaign (4–41 overall).^{[citation needed]}

2007–08 season
On 15 July, Wolves announced that formerBirmingham Bullets head coachSkouson Harker would lead the team into the2007–08 season.Worcester had a record of 14–19, and 20–20 overall qualifying for the playoffs. They lost to Newcastle Eagles in the first round. PlayersJames Life andAnthony Paez were the BBL's two leading scorers, Paez leading the league with 24.5 points per game. Centre Shaun Durant led the league in rebounds with 11.2 per game. Wolves also reached the semi-finals of theBBL Trophy in Sheffield. Anthony Paez finished second in MVP voting in the BBL. Point GuardChuck Evans recorded back to back triple doubles earlier in the season.

2008–09 season
The2008–09 season wouldn’t be quite as successful as the previous, and started off with a dismal run of defeats including a 135–103 blowout away toCheshire Jets on the opening weekend of the campaign, as Wolves waited for their point guard, Will Funn and other import to be cleared to play. In fact, it wasn’t until Wolves’ fifth game of the season, atEverton Tigers, that the first victory came, the result was an impressive 101–106 win against a team who had previously gone undefeated. Anthony Paez posted an incredible 31 points for Wolves in that game.

The team saw first round exits in both the Trophy and theBBL Cup and also missed out on the post-season Play-offs, finishing in 10th place with a 14–24 overall record, (11–22 BBL Championship) down slightly from the previous season. At one point the club was 9–12 after a three-game winning streak only to lose starting import point guard for the season.^[2] Following the end of the campaign the club announced on 19 May 2009, that player/coach Harker would be replaced by former Wolves star Chuck Evans as the team’s coach for the upcoming season, with Harker continuing as a player only.^[3][4]

2009–10 season
After failing to agree to his higher wage demands, franchise star Paez left the Wolves for pastures new during the close season.^[5] Days later, Wolves announced their first signing of the season, with US guard Chey Christie joining the roster after a spell inSweden.^[6] He was later joined byBritish Virgin Islands international Randy George,^[7] BBL veteranAnthony Martin,^[8] and the return of Harry Disy, after his move to France broke down.^[9]

Their season didn't start off well, with an opening-day 94–81 defeat away to Milton Keynes. Following a 96–83 loss at Cheshire Jets, the team’s third defeat in three games, changes were made including the departure of new recruit Anthony Martin.^[10] Wolves’ first league win came two weeks later in a 98–80 demolition of London Capital at home, and with the signing of Martin’s replacement Nerijus Karlikanovas coming in,^[11] things were starting to look up with wins over Leicester and Milton Keynes.

However, the franchise was thrown into turmoil when, on 27 November, it was announced that six players were having their contracts terminated by the club following an unauthorised strike over racially orientated comments made by Head Coach Chuck Evans during a video analysis session. This sent the basketball community of Worcester into an uproar; the story receiving more comments than any other Worcester News story in 2009.^[12][13] Coach Evans ultimately handed in his resignation.^[14] Although their names were first kept confidential, the players were later identified as Randy George, Chey Christie, andLithuanians Evaldas Zabas, Vidmantas Uzkuraitis and Nerijus Karlikanovas, with former player/coachSkouson Harker facing disciplinary action that ultimately led to his departure from the club.^[15] Harker's father wrote this letter of support for his son to theWorcester News.^[16] Due to the depletion of the roster, a weakened team including several second-team promotees lost heavily 111–59 away toGlasgow Rocks two days later.^[17] On 1 December, the BBL announced in a statement on its website that it had agreed to the postponement of Wolves’ next five games until later dates, plus in accordance with the league’s rules, the franchise had been fined an undisclosed amount.^[18] The following week the club announced the appointment of former Guildford,Thames Valley Tigers andEngland national team coachPaul James as Chuck Evans' successor.^[19]

In June 2021, the owners withdrew the team from theBBL.^[20] Since the2021–22 season, the Wolves play in theNBL Division 3, the British fourth tier league.^[21]

St. John's Sports Centre (2000–2013)

Worcester Arena (2013–present)

Notes:

• In 2001 the NBL was restructured so Division One became the third tier replacing Division Two.
• In 2003 the NBL was replaced by the EBL which reverted Division Two back to the third tier.

Playoffs

• BBL Playoff Winners:2013-14

Cup

• BBL Cup Winners:2019-20

Trophy

• BBL Trophy Winners:2013-14

Other

• NBL Division Two Playoff Winners: 2003–04
• National Trophy Winners: 2005–06
• Patron's Cup Winners: 2003–04

Note: Flags indicatenational team, as has been defined underFIBA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIBA nationality.

No. Pos. Nat. Player 4  GBR John Lenton-Jinks 9 G  GBR Lucas Mcgregor 18 G  GBR Shaun Parren-Rackley  ESP Sergi Estany

• Basketball in England
• British Basketball League
• University of Worcester

• Official Worcester Wolves website
• Worcester Wolves news from WorcesterNews.co.uk
• Worcester Wolves onFacebook
• Worcester Wolves channel onYouTube

• Basketball teams established in 2000
• Basketball teams in England
• University of Worcester
• Sport in Worcester, England
• Former British Basketball League teams
• 2000 establishments in England

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2019
• Use British English from October 2019
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2023