Bochum

Bochum lost the 2020/21 ProB final in two games. Itzehoe Eagles won 74–71 and then 97–84. Both finalists went up to the second tier anyway, and that made the defeat the club's way into the 2. Basketball Bundesliga ProA for the first time, in 2021/22. Niklas Geske , the captain, was the team's top scorer in that promotion season.

Head coach Félix Bañobre , appointed in 2019, built the side that reached the final. He stayed until March 2026, so his tenure covered the climb from the third tier and the first seasons in ProA.

The club was created on 1 December 2011 by merging VfL Bochum BG and BG Südpark Bochum. The aim was to pool resources for youth work and give both a steadier footing. The new entity took over its predecessors' licences on 1 July 2012 and played its first season in 2012/13. VfL Bochum BG, formed in 1957, brought the older record. Its women's team was promoted to the 1. Bundesliga in 1993, and its men reached the 2. Bundesliga in 1996, the same year they won the Westdeutscher Pokal. Südpark had spent its time in the Regionalliga and ProB.

Officially the club is VfL AstroStars Bochum. Sponsorship has given it a second name, SparkassenStars, and it is a department of the wider VfL Bochum 1848 sports club, separate from the football team. In 2025 the home arena, the former Rundsporthalle, became the Bones Hands Arena. It holds about 1,000 for seating and up to 1,536 at full capacity. Supporters gather under the name Ballerz Bochum, which replaced deFANs Bochum e.V. in 2023. The nearest derby opponents are Uni Baskets Münster, in the Westfalen-Derby, and Phoenix Hagen.

The only silverware in its lineage is that 1996 cup, and that belongs to the predecessor.