Cholet Basket

French basketball team

Cholet Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Cholet, France. The club plays in the LNB Pro A. Their home arena is La Meilleraie. Established in 1975, Cholet won its first French championship in the 2009–10 season. In 1998 and 1999, Cholet won the French Cup.

The team debuted in the 1st division in the 1987–88 season and after managing to get to the premier league in only 12 years. The team were able to sustain themselves in the league, and were consistently in the top 10 teams having a highly successful youth system. This youth system has allowed the club to produce professional players season after season. After winning the National Cup in 1999, Cholet got automatically qualified for its first participation to the Euroleague (3 victories – 13 defeats). During the 2004–05 season 10 of the 12 players in the first team derived from the youth system. Some of the most illustrious players who had their debut in the team are Antoine Rigaudeau, Jim Bilba and Mickaël Gelabale. During the 2008–2009 season, Cholet was defeated by Virtus Bologna in the EuroChallenge's Final (75–77). In 2010, Cholet finished 1st of the 2009–2010 Pro A League regular season and won the championship after defeating Le Mans in the Play Offs Final (81–65). Thanks to its national champion title, Cholet is automatically qualified for the 2010–2011 Euroleague season. Cholet was eliminated during the first round (4 victories – 6 defeats) of the 2010–2011 Euroleague after defeating prestigious (and at the time unbeaten) Fenerbahçe Ülker (82–78). In 2011, Cholet, defending its title finished 1st again of the 2011 12 Pro A League regular season and was only defeated during the finals by SLUC Nancy (74 76).

Cholet Basket retired numbersNo. PlayerPositionTenure 4 Antoine Rigaudeau PG 1987–1995 10 Jim Bilba PF 1988–1992, 2002–2007

Cholet Basket Hall of FamersPlayers No. Nat. Name Position Tenure Inducted 4 Antoine Rigaudeau G 1987–95 2015