Bakken Bears

Bakken Bears
Leagues	Basketligaen ENBL
Founded	1954; 70 years ago (1954)
History	Aarhus Basketball Forening 1954–1962 Skovbakken Basketball 1962–1999 Bakken Bears 1999–present
Arena	Vejlby-Risskov Hallen
Capacity	2,050
Location	Aarhus, Denmark
Team colors	Navy, Silver, White
President	Claus Hommelhoff
Team manager	Michael Piloz
Head coach	Anders Sommer
Affiliation(s)	Bears Academy
Championships	20 Danish Leagues 12 Danish Cups 1 ENBL
Website	bakkenbears.com
Home Away

Bakken Bears is a Danish professional basketball club based in Aarhus. The club plays in the Basketligaen, the top tier basketball league in Denmark.

Founded in 1953, the club has won the Basketligaen 20 times and holds the record for the most championships and has won 11 Danish Cups. Along with their domestic play, the club is a regular in European competitions. The Bears are a three-time semifinalist of the FIBA Europe Cup.

Bakken Bears was formed in 1953 under the name of Aarhus Basketball Forening, or simply ABF. From 1962, the club was known as Skovbakken Basketball. Bears has been in the top Danish league almost every year since then and won its first title in 1958. Since then, the club has won a number of domestic titles and is now the most winning sports team in the history of the city of Aarhus.

In the years 2005 to 2009, Bakken Bears was a part of Aarhus Elite A/S, an elite sports organization in Aarhus that includes ia. AGF Football (soccer). In the last months of 2009 a group of local businessmen, sponsors and fans bought the team.

When Bakken Bears hosted Team FOG Næstved in Game 1 of the league semifinals in March 2009, 4,816 spectators watched the game in Aarhus Arena, which set an all-time attendance record for basketball in Denmark.

In the summer of 2018, the Bears' development team EBAA entered the Basketligaen as well.

On 27 March 2018, Bakken Bears qualified for the first time ever for a semifinal of a European competition, by eliminating ESSM Le Portel in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Europe Cup.^[1]

Bakken Bears roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 1 Oriane, Silas 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 20 – (2004-04-18)18 April 2004 G 3 Parsons, Malik 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 25 – (1999-08-17)17 August 1999 SF 5 Evans, Ryan 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 99 kg (218 lb) 34 – (1990-06-19)19 June 1990 F 6 Berg, Sylvester 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 26 – (1998-05-27)27 May 1998 SF 8 Jukić, Darko 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 34 – (1990-08-23)23 August 1990 F 9 Vinther, Marcus 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 22 – (2002-10-15)15 October 2002 C 11 Diouf, Michel 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 35 – (1989-04-19)19 April 1989 G 12 Bowlin, Skyler 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 77 kg (170 lb) 35 – (1989-07-13)13 July 1989 F 15 Høj, Magnus 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 21 – (2003-07-09)9 July 2003 G/F 18 Knudsen, Gustav 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 21 – (2003-04-16)16 April 2003 PF 24 Holst, Andreas 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 19 – (2005-05-28)28 May 2005 G 77 Erichsen, Frederik 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 18 – (2006-08-07)7 August 2006	Head coach Anders Sommer Assistant coach(es) Florian Wedell Thomas Hemmingsen Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: September 25, 2023

• Basketligaen
  • Winners (21) : 1957–58, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
    • Runners-up (8) : 1962–63, 1964–65, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2005–2006, 2009–10, 2014–15
• Danish Cup
  • Winners (13): 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
    • Runners-up (7) : 1980, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2022

• FIBA Europe Cup
  • Semi-finalist (3): 2017–18, 2019–20, 2021–22

• European North Basketball League
  • Champions (1): 2024

• Steffen Wich

• Official Website (in Danish)
• Eurobasket.com Bakken Bears Page

56°11′33″N 10°12′37″E / 56.1924°N 10.2103°E / 56.1924; 10.2103