Skyliners Frankfurt

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Fraport Skyliners
Fraport Skyliners logo.png
League ProA
Founded1999;25 years ago (1999)
HistorySkyliners
(1999–2000)
Opel Skyliners
(2000–2005)
Deutsche Bank Skyliners
(2005–2011)
Fraport Skyliners
(2011–present)
Arena Süwag Energie ARENA
Capacity5,002
Location Frankfurt, Germany
Team colorsBlue, White and Orange
   
Main sponsor Fraport
CEOYannick Binas
General manager Marco Völler
Head coach Denis Wucherer
Affiliation(s) Skyliners Juniors
Championships1 FIBA Europe Cup
1 German Championship
1 German Cup
Website fraport-skyliners.de
Former logo as Deutsche Bank Skyliners from 2005 until 2011 Frankfurt BBall.png
Former logo as Deutsche Bank Skyliners from 2005 until 2011

The Skyliners Frankfurt, currently known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. [1] Their home arena is Ballsporthalle.

Contents

The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga since 1999. Its greatest accomplishments were the German Cup competition title in 2000, the German national championship in 2004 and the FIBA Europe Cup in 2016.

Its most famous player has been Pascal Roller, who was selected as Basketball Bundesliga All-Star seven times and played 122 games for the German national basketball team. Roller played ten seasons for the Frankfurt Skyliners until his retirement in 2011. Besides Roller, numerous other players of the German national team played multiple seasons for the Skyliners. A notable non-German basketball player is Mario Kasun, who played for the Skyliners when he was discovered and eventually drafted by the NBA team Orlando Magic in 2002.

History

The foundation

In 1999, Gunnar Woebke, then manager and former player of TV Tatami Rhöndorf moved his team from Bad Honnef to its current location. The declared goal was to place the team in a big arena in a large city to become a top team in the Basketball Bundesliga and in Europe in the near future. In Bad Honnef, this did not seem possible. After going through several options – including the idea to send the team to Cologne – Sylvia Schenk, the director of Frankfurt's sports department officially announced Frankfurt as the team's new location. Franz-Ludwig Solzbacher, a businessman from Bad Honnef helped organize the Skyliners' first steps but remained patron of the TV Rhöndorf and bought a second division license from EnBW Ludwigsburg to keep Rhöndorf from being relegated.

Later years

Johannes Voigtmann, playing for the Skyliners in 2015 2015-03-01 Fraport Skyliners vs Mitteldeutscher BC 19 by Michael Frey.jpg
Johannes Voigtmann, playing for the Skyliners in 2015

In its first season as a German elite team it managed to win the German Cup competition. In 2004, they won their first and only Bundesliga title, beating Baskets Bamberg in the finals by 3–2 victories. The following year, the Skyliners had a repeated appearance in the finals, but this time the Baskets Bamberg took the title by 3–2 victories. As in the year before, both teams were almost equally strong.

In 2004 and 2010, the Skyliners finished as runner-up in the German Cup competition, falling against the same opponent with identical victory splits again.

Throughout the years, the Skyliners have been known for their numerous appearances at European competitions such as the Euroleague, Saporta Cup and the Eurocup Basketball.

In 2015, the team reached the EuroChallenge Final Four, but the Germans lost both games to finish in fourth place. In the 2015–16 season, Fraport had once again an impressive European campaign, this time in the newly established FIBA Europe Cup. In the Final, Skyliners beat Pallacanestro Varese 66–62 to win its first European cup in history. [2]

After preventing a relegation to the second tier ProA in the 2021/22 Basketball Bundesliga season by receiving a wildcard, the team again finished 17th in the 2022/23 season and relegated. [3] Denis Wucherer was announced as new head coach for the following 2023/24 season. [4]

Arena

The Skyliners play their home games at the 5,002 seat Fraport Arena (until summer 2011, it was called Ballsporthalle Frankfurt).

Honours and titles

The Fraport Arena, home venue of the club since 1999 Ballsporthalle1.jpg
The Fraport Arena, home venue of the club since 1999

Total titles: 3

Worldwide

Runners-up: 2016

European competition

Domestic competition

Players

Current roster

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

Fraport Skyliners roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
G 1 Flag of Germany.svg Albrecht, Bruno 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)22 – (2001-10-28)28 October 2001
G 2 Flag of the United States.svg McClain, Kevin 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)27 – (1996-10-21)21 October 1996
G 3 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Warnholtz, Aiden 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)24 – (2000-02-04)4 February 2000
F 4 Flag of Germany.svg Samare, Jordan 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)22 – (2002-01-12)12 January 2002
G 6 Flag of the United States.svg Coplin, Booker 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)26 – (1997-11-19)19 November 1997
SG 8 Flag of Germany.svg Vrcic, Bruno 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)23 – (2000-11-24)24 November 2000
C 9 Flag of Nigeria.svg Ajayi, Josh 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)27 – (1996-12-27)27 December 1996
G 10 Flag of Germany.svg Onyia, Alvin 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)23 – (2000-11-25)25 November 2000
G 15 Flag of the United States.svg Henry, Cameron 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)25 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999
PF 21 Flag of Germany.svg Brenneke, Lorenz 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)24 – (2000-01-02)2 January 2000
SF 22 Flag of Germany.svg Onyejiaka, Justin 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)19 – (2004-06-06)6 June 2004
C 25 Flag of Germany.svg Knauf, Jacob 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)27 – (1997-03-12)12 March 1997
F 33 Flag of Germany.svg Völler, Marco 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)35 – (1989-01-06)6 January 1989
PF 44 Flag of Germany.svg Adekunle, Nolan 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)21 – (2002-05-04)4 May 2002
F 55 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Muenkat, David 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)23 – (2000-07-02)2 July 2000
F 98 Flag of Germany.svg Hecker, Felix 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)25 – (1998-08-07)7 August 1998
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
Updated: March 28, 2024

Retired numbers

Skyliners Frankfurt retired numbers
NoNat.PlayerPositionTenureDate retired
11 Flag of Germany.svg Pascal Roller PG 1999–2011October 4, 2011 [6] [7]

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have played at least two seasons for the club AND either:

– Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
– Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.

Head coach position

Season by season

Season Tier LeaguePos. German Cup European competitions
1999–001 Bundesliga 3rdChampion2 Saporta Cup R16
2000–011 Bundesliga 8thFourth position1 Euroleague RS
2001–021 Bundesliga 3rdThird position1 Euroleague RS
2002–031 Bundesliga 7th2 ULEB Cup RS
2003–041 Bundesliga 1stRunner-up2 ULEB Cup RS
2004–051 Bundesliga 2ndFourth position1 Euroleague RS
2005–061 Bundesliga 14th2 ULEB Cup RS
2006–071 Bundesliga 13th
2007–081 Bundesliga 4th2 ULEB Cup RS
2008–09 1 Bundesliga 7thThird position3 EuroChallenge RS
2009–10 1 Bundesliga 2ndRunner-up
2010–11 1 Bundesliga 3rdFourth position3 EuroChallenge RS
2011–12 1 Bundesliga 9th2 Eurocup RS
2012–13 1 Bundesliga 15th
2013–14 1 Bundesliga 11th
2014–15 1 Bundesliga 6th3 EuroChallenge
4th
2015–16 1 Bundesliga 3rd Third position 3 FIBA Europe Cup
C
2016–17 1 Bundesliga 10th3 Champions League PO
2017–18 1 Bundesliga 8th Qualifying round
2018–19 1 Bundesliga 11th Semifinals 2 EuroCup T16
2019–20 1 Bundesliga 7th Round of 16
2020–21 1 Bundesliga 11th Group stage
2021–22 1 Bundesliga 17th Quarterfinals
2022–23 1 Bundesliga 17th
2023–24 1 ProA Second League First round

Junior team

The second team of Skyliners plays in the ProB, the German third division. To develop its young players further, the Skyliners have merged some of their youth departments with Eintracht Frankfurt Basketball. [8]

Kit

Manufacturer

YearManufacturer
1999–2000
Mazine
2000–2012
 Nike
2012–2016
 Peak [9]
YearSponsor
2014–2016
 Fraport [9]

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References

  1. ↑ "Frankfurt Skyliners". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Frankfurt Topple Varese For Maiden European Title". FIBA Europe. 1 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Chemnitz zieht in die Playoffs ein, Frankfurt steigt ab". basketball.de. 7 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "CDenis Wucherer übernimmt Trainerposten in Frankfurt". basketball.de. 20 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Meister und Pokalsieger". Easycredit-bbl.de. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "Eintracht und FSV erfolgreich, Fraport Skyliners verlieren". www.journal-frankfurt.de. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Auf ganz neuen Wegen". www.fnp.de. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Teams der NBBL Südwest – Eintracht Frankfurt / FRAPORT SKYLINERS Archived 12 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine , nbbl-basketball.de. Retrieved 29 March 2016. (in German)
  9. 1 2 Home | FRAPORT SKYLINERS, fraport-skyliners.de. Retrieved 30 September 2015. (in German)
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