Coming off its Euroleague debut last season, EWE Baskets Oldenburg brings over half a century of basketball history with it into the club’s Eurocup debut campaign. Basketball has been in the city since the Oldenburger Turnerbund athletics club opened its basketball section in 1954. The development of a successful youth academy saw the club grow quickly as it won the German junior crown in 1962. Two years later, Oldenburg won the north regional championship and by 1966 reached the top league in Germany, where it would play for five seasons before succumbing to relegation in 1971. In 1976, American Ralph Ogden pushed Oldenburg to the top league and that time it lasted a decade. Oldenburg dropped back in 1985 but climbed to the top again for the 1987-88 season, but that too was short-lived. The turn of the millennium marked a new start for the club as it was again in the top German League, this time for good. With energy conglomerate EWE as a strong sponsor, the club established itself as a legitimate force in the German League, advancing to the German Cup Top 4 in its second season and under head coach Don Beck, reaching the playoffs in just its third season. The club got to the quarterfinals in each of the next three seasons, taking Alba Berlin to a deciding Game 5 in 2006. After five years at the helm Beck left the club, clearing the path for a fresh start. Paulding, Jason Gardner and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje formed the core of the team that would finish the 2007-08 season in fifth place and upset defending champion Brose Baskets in the playoff quarterfinals. It all clicked in 2008-09, as Oldenburg finished in third place and proceeded to take down all comers in the playoffs, edging Telekom Bonn in the final seconds of the last game of the finals on a Je’Kel Foster free throw to win its first German championship and book a ticket to the Euroleague. Oldenburg won its first-ever Euroleague game on the road against Prokom but it was its only triumph, too. Oldenburg lifted the German Supercup trophy and was the regular season champion but stepped down in the quarterfinals against Braunschweig. The club now faces another challenge - none other than reaching high in the 2010-11 Eurocup.