A.O. Near East B.C. is one of the oldest professional basketball clubs in Greece. The basketball club was founded in 1927. The team is located in Kaisariani, which is a suburb of the city of Athens. Near East's home arena, Near East Indoor Arena, is located only about 2 miles from the downtown center of Athens. It takes its name from the Near East Foundation.
History Early history Near East B.C. was one of the teams that participated in the first Pan-Hellenic Basketball tournament, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. In 1936, Near East B.C. won its first official Greek League championship, by defeating the University of Athens basketball team in Thessaloniki. To this day, this is still the only Greek national championship the club has won. In 1937, Near East B.C. finished second in the Greek League championship, as the University of Athens basketball club defeated them in the championship's final.
Recent history In more recent times, the Near East basketball team struggled to hold on to its position in the top-tier-level league in Greece, the first division Greek Basket League. In 1998, the team won the top Greek pro league's second division championship, the Greek A2 League. The team participated in the European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup, in the years 1999–00 and 2000–01. In 2001–02, the team competed in the Greek first division, for the last time in recent years.
Near East B.C. in international competitions
Arena Near East plays its home domestic league games at the 1,300 seat Near East Indoor Arena.
Titles and honors Domestic: Greek League Champion: 1936 Greek 2nd Division Champion: 1998
Notable players
Greece: Antonis Asimakopoulos Marios Batis Dimitris Fosses Kostas Kaimakoglou Georgios Karagkoutis Nikos Papanikolopoulos Kostas Politis Christos Tapoutos Kostas Tsartsaris Nikos Vetoulas Vangelis Vourtzoumis Vassilis Xanthopoulos - Anatoly Zourpenko
USA: Anthony Bowie Lynn Greer Shawn Respert Randy White David Vaughn III
Rest of Americas: Andrés Guibert Ian Lockhart
Europe: - Franko Nakić
Oceania: Shane Heal
Head coaches Takis Koroneos
External links Eurobasket.com Team Page