Den Helder Suns

Last updated

Den Helder Suns
Den Helder Suns logo.png
Leagues BNXT League
Founded2016;9 years ago (2016) [A]
ArenaSporthal Sportlaan
Capacity1,000
Location Den Helder, Netherlands
Team colorsBlue, Black, White, Gold
    
PresidentJames Meijer
Head coach Paul Vervaeck
2021–22 position BNXT League, 20th of 21
Retired numbers1 (5)
Website denheldersuns.nl

The Den Helder Suns are a professional basketball club based in Den Helder, Netherlands. The club was founded in 2016 and currently plays in the BNXT League. The team has played at the highest domestic level since 9 years. The Suns play their home games in the Sporthal Sportlaan, which has a capacity of 1,000 people.

Contents

History

After the bankruptcy of the Netherlands' professional BV Den Helder team during the 2013–14 season, a professional basketball representative team from Den Helder was missing for three seasons. In 2016, the Suns organisation was founded with the goal of making a return to the Dutch Basketball League (DBL). On June 30, 2017, Den Helder Suns announced it would return to the highest level in the 2017–18 season. [1] On July 14, 2017, the Suns announced "Peter van Noord head coach Den Helder Suns." [2]

In its first DBL season, Suns finished in the eight place of the regular season, above last-placed BAL. Captain Tjoe de Paula, who played for different clubs from Den Helder before, got his number retired on 19 April 2018. [3]

Since the 2021–22 season, the Suns play in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged. [4]

Season by season

Key
Playoff berth
ROY DBL Rookie of the Year
U23 DBL MVP Under 23
DT-2 BNXT League Dream Team (2nd Team)
ROS ROS
SeasonTierLeagueRegular seasonNational Playoffs NBB Cup BNXT PlayoffsHead coachIndividual awards
FinishPlayedWinsLosses Win%
Den Helder Suns
2017–18 1 DBL 8th34628.176Did not qualify Quarterfinals Did not qualify Peter van Noord Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries (ROY)
2018–19 1 DBL 5th341222.353Lost quarter-finals (Donar), 0–2 Eightfinals Boy van Vliet (ROY)
2019–20 [a] 1 DBL 7th23 [a] 716.304Did not qualify Semifinalist
2020–21 1 DBL 6th21912.429Lost quarterfinals (Donar), 158–188 First Round Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries (U23)
2021–22 1 BNXT League 20th30822.267Did not qualify Quarterfinals Lost first round (Limburg United), 163–203
2022–23 1 BNXT League 19th28622.214Did not qualifyFirst RoundLost first round (Mons-Hainaut), 165–176
2023–24 1 BNXT League 20th28523.179Did not qualifyFirst RoundDid not qualifyDaniel Nelson
2024–25 1 BNXT League 15th361224.333Lost quarterfinals (Donar), 0–2Quarterfinals Paul Vervaeck TreVion Crews (DT-2)
Matthijs Verhallen (ROS)
  1. 1 2 The 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season finished in March, the Suns played only 23 games.

Players

Retired numbers

On 19 April 2018, Suns retired its first number as Tjoe de Paula was honored, who played for BV Den Helder during the periods 2001–2003, 2004–2006, 2008–2009 and 2017–18. [3]

Den Helder Suns retired numbers
NoNat.PlayerPositionTenureCeremony date
5 Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Tjoe de Paula G 2017–201819 April 2018 [3]

Current roster

Den Helder Suns roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
G/F 0 Flag of the United States.svg Antoine, Bryan 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)25 – (2000-04-26)26 April 2000
PG 1 Flag of the United States.svg Mesidor, Reggie 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)25 – (2000-01-01)1 January 2000
F 7 Flag of the United States.svg Gilmore, Carter 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)23 – (2001-12-12)12 December 2001
C 10 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Visser, Jonas 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)24 – (2001-02-06)6 February 2001
SG 11 Flag of the Netherlands.svg De Haas, Ezra 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)17 – (2008-03-22)22 March 2008
PF 12 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Post, Steven 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)23 – (2002-02-11)11 February 2002
G 22 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Verhallen, Matthijs 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)21 – (2004-02-05)5 February 2004
G 33 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Thran, Nick 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)25 – (2000-05-03)3 May 2000
F 42 Flag of the United States.svg Stover, Drew 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)23 – (2002-02-27)27 February 2002
F 77 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Van der Heiden, Noah 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)25 – (1999-08-15)15 August 1999
Head coach
Team manager
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Marco Starrenburg

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Updated: August 1, 2025

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

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities 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.

Individual awards

Top scorers by season

The following players were the leading scorers for Den Helder in each DBL season: [5]

SeasonNamePPG
2017–18 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tjoe de Paula 14.8
2018–19 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Boy van Vliet 14.4
2019–20 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Yarick Brussen 13.1
2020–21 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries 14.7
2021–22 Flag of Luxembourg.svg Ben Kovac 16.3

Head coaches

PeriodNameHonours
2017–2023 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Peter van Noord
2023–2024 Flag of Ireland.svg Daniel Nelson
2024–present Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Paul Vervaeck

Notes

  1. The Den Helder Suns is the successor of Den Helder Kings which went bankrupt in 2014 and while it is a new organisation, it can be seen as a phoenix club.

References

  1. "Den Helder volgend seizoen terug in eredivisie basketbal! - Den Helder Actueel". www.DenHelderActueel.nl. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  2. "Peter van Noord Head Coach Den Helder Suns". Noordhollands Dagblad. 14 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Tjoe de Paula voor altijd de Helderse nummer 5" (in Dutch). Denhelderactueel.nl. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. "Bright Kings Den Helder Stats - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved 9 June 2021.