Rouen Métropole Basket

Ian Mahinmi went through Rouen before the NBA ever knew his name, and the club still keeps him close as a godfather figure and majority shareholder. Guerschon Yabusele passed through the same building a decade later, one season in 2015-16, before Boston drafted him.

The basketball itself is younger than the club that houses it. What is now Rouen Métropole Basket grew out of an omnisports association founded in 1892, and the basketball section was not added until 1945, staying under the old Stade Philippin banner for decades before splitting into its own body in 2000. The current professional company was set up in 2011, and the RMB name only arrived in 2015.

Daequan Cook carried the scoring load through the 2014-15 Pro A campaign, and Laurent Sciarra has run the club as head coach and general director since 2012. The Kindarena holds up to 6,000 for basketball, blue and white on the walls.

Silverware has come in the lower divisions rather than at the top: Nationale 2 in 1998 and 2000, Nationale 1 in 2003 and again in 2023. The nearest brush with something bigger was 2019, when Rouen finished runners-up in both the Leaders Cup and the Pro B play-offs. The Pro B title itself has never been won.