2008-09 club profile: Cholet Basket
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 Following a season in which Cholet Basket won the French Semaine des As - its first domestic title in almost a decade - the club enters the new Eurocup ready for more. Even though the history of Cholet Basket is quite recent, basketball has existed in Cholet since 1926, when the basket section of the Club Omnisports Choletais de la Jeune France was established. In June 1975,
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Cholet Basket Roster 2008-09
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| Name |
Pos.
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Height
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| Nando De Colo |
G
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1.95
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| Claude Marquis |
C
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2.04
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| Rodrigue Beaubois |
G
|
1.82
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| Alan Wiggins |
F
|
2.06
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| Vincent Grier |
F
|
1.96
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| Steeve Ho You Fat |
F
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2.01
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| Kevin Seraphin |
C
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2.05
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| Thomas Larrouquis |
F
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1.96
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| Christophe Leonard |
F
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1.93
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| Michael Lee |
F
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2.05
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| Mike Mokongo |
G
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1.80
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| Randal Falker |
F
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2.01
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| Ermal Kunter |
Head Coach |
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some managers of that section decided to move and founded Cholet Basket. In its first season, 1975-76, the club played in the Reserves League. Between 1976 and 1983, Cholet reached the Excellence Departementale in the second division. After 12 years, Cholet finally reached the first division, in 1987-88, and qualified for a European competition in its first season among the French basketball elite. Players like Antoine Rigaudeau, Aymeric Jeanneau, Claude Marquis, Jim Bilba and Nando de Colo have developed in Cholet through the years. Cholet kept growing up until 1998, when it won the French Cup, reached the Korac Cup semis and did the same in the French playoffs. The grand success of the French Cup was repeated the following year, 1999, when Cholet also qualified to the Euroleague for the first time in its history.
In its first ULEB Cup season, 2002-03, Cholet was the next-to-last team to win a game, but rallied to almost advance to the elimination round. Cholet could not reach the elimination rounds in 2003-04 but with a team full of homegrown players, the club survived its ULEB Cup regular season group in the 2004-05 season, althoug PAOK swept their two-way eighthfinal series and Cholet missed the French League quarterfinals, too. In France, meanwhile, Cholet has been a regular playoff contender, but couldn't go past the quarterfinals in each of the last three seasons. It all started to change this season, however, as Cholet shocked everyone in the Semaine des As. With an unstoppable De Colo as its own homegrown superstar, Cholet thrashed defending champion Chorale Roanne 63-85 in the quarterfinals, then got a 75-63 win against Asvel in the final only to overwhelm Vichy 40-67 in the title game. Cholet now hopes to use this success to stay competitive in the Eurocup.
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Eurocupbasketball.com
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