View source for Worcester Wolves

{{BBL team
| color1          = gold
| color2          = #333399
| name            = Worcester Wolves
| logo            = WorcesterWolvesLogo.png
| imagesize       = 200px
| sponsor         = [[nPower]]
| league          = [[British Basketball League]]
| established     = [[2000]]
| history         = '''Worcester Wolves''' <br> 2000-present
| arena           = '''[[University of Worcester]]''' <br> (Capacity: 550)
| location        = [[Worcester]], [[Worcestershire]]
| coach           = {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Skouson Harker]]
| ownership       = Roger Clarke, Mick Donovan
| colours         = Navy Blue, Yellow and White
| website         = [http://www.worcesterwolves.com/ WorcesterWolves.com]
| h_body          = 333399
| h_pattern_b     = _thinwhitesides
| h_shorts        = 333399
| h_pattern_s     = _whitesides
| a_body          = FFFFFF
| a_pattern_b     = _thinyellowsides
| a_shorts        = FFFF00
| a_pattern_s     = _blanksides
}}

The '''Worcester Wolves''' is a [[basketball]] team from the city of [[Worcester]], which plays in the [[British Basketball League]]. The Wolves play at in the 550-seat capacity Sports Hall of the [[University of Worcester]], from whom they receive considerable financial backing and with whom they operate a basketball scholarship programme.

==Franchise history==
===New arena, new franchise===

The historic city of [[Worcester]] has, until recent years, not had much of a [[basketball]] history. Worcester City Chiefs were an active lower league club during the mid-[[1990s]] before moving to [[Solihull]] in [[1996]], leaving the city without a major basketball club.  This changed in May, 2000 when [[Roger Clarke]] and [[Mick Donovan]] announced the formation of the Wolves franchise to play at the [[University of Worcester]]'s brand new £2.5 million 'state of the art' Sports Hall.

===Starting low, aiming high===

In their first season of action (2000-01) in [[National Basketball League (United Kingdom)|National Basketball League Division 3]] the wolves finished second in the 12 team league with a 18-3 record. Local rivals [[Bristol Bombers]] pipped them for the title, however luck would soon swing their way the following season.

Initially placed in the regionalised NBL Division 2 in the "clean sheet reorganisation" of [[2001]], the Wolves played only the first game of the season in that division before being elevated (ahead of Bristol) into NBL Division 1 when [[Doncaster]] withdrew at the start of the season.

[[University of Worcester|University College Worcester]] Basketball Scholarships became available in [[September]] [[2002]] for talented players to study and play at the same time, and the club attracted a wealth of new talent including [[Ty Shaw]] ([[Idaho]]), Keith Jarrett and [[Rikki Prince]] (Both from [[Birmingham Bullets]]) that became the foundations of a strong first team.

===Rapid rise===

The excellent facilities and organisation which earned them the promotion continue to stand them in good stead, and over the years they became firmly established in what has now been renamed [[English Basketball League|EBL Division 2]], and won promotion to EBL Division 1 following an excellent campaign in 2003-04. Despite finishing in second place, behind the [[London Capitals]], they managed to straighten the record by beating them in the Playoff final at the [[National Indoor Arena]], winning 95-87. The victory capped off an excellent season that saw the Wolves also lift the Patron's Cup, following a 111-100 win against [[Hackney White Heat]] in the final, which was also played on their home court at the [[University of Worcester]].

Worcester had a reasonably successful debut season (2004-05) in EBL Division 1, finishing above fellow promotion winners London Capitals in 5th place with 13-9 record, which earned them a place in the post season playoffs. They built on their successes for the second season and finished 2005-06 in 4th place with a 17-9 record in the expanded Division 1. That season also saw the Wolves claim their biggest success to date, winning the National Trophy at the [[SkyDome Arena]] in [[Coventry]], beating holders [[City of Sheffield Arrows|Sheffield Arrows]] 97-82 in the final.

===Mixing with the elite===

At the end of the [[British Basketball League 2005-06|2005-06]] season, the [[British Basketball League]], the country's elite league was, not for the first time, suffering a membership crisis with three franchises, [[Birmingham Bullets]], [[Brighton Bears]] and [[London Towers]] withdrawing from the league set-up. Although the Wolves management have claimed it was always their intention to move into the BBL, the possibility of it happening so quickly seemed near impossible. However with the lack of a [[West Midlands]] based franchise in the league, the BBL approached the Wolves and elected them into the elite league <ref>{{cite web| author = Tom Guest | title = Wolves win place in British League  | url = http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/wnsportwolves/wnsportwolvesnews/display.var.867552.0.28606_wolves_win_place_in_british_league.php | year = 2006 | accessdate = 2006-12-02 | publisher = Worcester News | date = 2006 }} </ref>, along with [[London United]].

===2006-07 season===

With an influx of new players, including former [[Plymouth Raiders|Plymouth Raider]] [[Solomon Sheard]], [[Caja Rioja]]'s [[Sergio Rodriguez]] and [[James Noel]] of the [[Masters College]] all signing up for the new-look team, expectations of upsetting the big boys was high, but the fairy tale beginning never materialized. The Wolves opened the season with a 77-82 loss at home to the [[Plymouth Raiders]] on [[September 30]], [[2006]], and followed that with 21-point loss away to [[Milton Keynes Lions]] (74-96). It was a case of third time lucky as, on [[October 7]], [[2006]], in front of a packed crowd at the "Wolves' Lair", Worcester edged past the [[Chester Jets]] with an 82-79 victory and [[Andy Harper]] posting 28 points for the home side.

However the Wolves struggled and soon fell behind the pack, spending most of the season at the foot f the table. The highlight of the season for the [[Midlands]] club came on [[January 20]], [[2007]], when second-place [[Sheffield Sharks]] were the visitors to the Wolves' Lair. The home side caused, without doubt, the biggest shock of the season by defeating the title-challengers 70-65, a result that would ultimately hand the Championship to [[Guildford Heat|Guildford]]. Despite this moral boosting win, Worcester continued to flounder and ended the season in tenth and last place with just four league wins to their name, eventually forcing head coach [[Josh Cooprider]] to resign.

===2007-08 season===

On [[July 15]], 2007, Wolves announced that former [[Birmingham Bullets]] player/coach [[Skouson Harker]] would lead the team into the [[British Basketball League 2007-08|2007-08 season]]. The Canadian would occupy a player/coach role for the first team as well as the University team and head the Academy.

==Home arenas==

:[[University of Worcester]] (2000-present)

==Season-by-season records==

{|class="wikitable"
|-bgcolor="#efefef"
! Season
! Div.
! Pos.
! Pld.
! W
! L
! Pts.
! Play Offs
! Trophy
! Cup
|-
|colspan="10" align=center bgcolor="navy" | <font color="gold">'''Worcester Wolves''' 
|-
||2000-2001||'''[[National Basketball League (United Kingdom)|NBL 3]]''' ||bgcolor=silver|2nd||22||18||3||36||Semi-final||-||-
|-
||2001-2002||'''[[National Basketball League (United Kingdom)|NBL 1]]''' |||9th||22||7||15||14||DNQ||-||-
|-
||2002-2003||'''[[National Basketball League (United Kingdom)|NBL 1]]''' |||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
|-
||2003-2004||'''[[English Basketball League|EBL 2]]''' ||bgcolor=silver|2nd||-||-||-||-||bgcolor=gold|Winners||-||bgcolor=gold|Winners
|-
||2004-2005||'''[[English Basketball League|EBL 1]]'''|||5th||22||13||9||26||-||-||-
|-
||2005-2006||'''[[English Basketball League|EBL 1]]'''|||4th||26||17||9||34||1st Round||bgcolor=gold|Winners||Quarter-final
|-
||2006-2007||'''[[British Basketball League|BBL]]'''|||10th||36||4||32||8||DNQ||1st Round||1st Round
|}

'''Notes:'''
*In 2001 the NBL was restructured so Division One became the third tier replacing Division Two.
*In 2003 the NBL was replaced by the EBL which revereted Division Two back to the third tier.
*DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify.

==Trophies==

===League===
* '''NBL Division Three Runners Up:''' 2000/01 '''1'''
* '''EBL Division Two Runners Up:''' 2003/04 '''1'''

===Playoffs===
* '''NBL Division Two Play Off Winners:''' 2003/04 '''1'''

===Trophy===
* '''National Trophy Winners:''' 2005/06 '''1'''

===Cup===
* '''Patron's Cup Winners:''' 2003/04 '''1'''

==Players==

===Current roster===
''The numbers are established according to the official websites of the team ([http://www.worcesterwolves.com www.worcesterwolves.com]) and Britain's top professional league, the [[British Basketball League|BBL]] ([http://www.bbl.org.uk www.bbl.org.uk]).''

''As of [[September 29]] [[2007]]''

{|style="border:0px solid #0000ff;" cellspacing=3

|-
|4
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Michael Gayle]]
|Point Guard

|-
|5
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Steve Archer (basketball)|Steve Archer]]
|Point Guard

|-
|6
|{{flagicon|USA}} {{flagicon|Germany}}
|[[Chuck Evans]]
|Point Guard

|-
|7
|{{flagicon|Canada}}
|[[Skouson Harker]]
|Forward

|-
|9
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Colin Dockrell]]
|Forward

|-
|10
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Shaun Durant]]
|Forward/Centre

|-
|11
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Oliver Turner]]
|Forward

|-
|12
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Simon Stewart]]
|Forward

|-
|13
|{{flagicon|UK}}
|[[Ben Potts]]
|Forward

|-
|14
|{{flagicon|USA}}
|[[Anthony Paez]]
|Small Forward

|-
|21
|{{flagicon|USA}}
|[[Dave Mallon]]
|Centre

|-
|22
|{{flagicon|Germany}}
|[[Markus Hallgrimson]]
|Shooting Guard

|-
|colspan=4|

|}

==See also==
*[[Basketball in England]]
*[[British Basketball League]]
*[[University of Worcester]]

==Notes==
<div class="references-small">
{{reflist|2}}
</div>

== External links ==
*[http://www.worcesterwolves.com/ Official Worcester Wolves website]
*[http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/wnsportwolves/ Team news from WorcesterNews.co.uk]

{{British Basketball League}}

[[Category:British basketball teams]]
[[Category:University of Worcester]]

[[fr:Worcester Wolves]]