Crailsheim Merlins

Crailsheim Merlins, currently referred to as Hakro Merlins Crailsheim for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Crailsheim, Germany. Established in 1986, the club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest professional league in Germany. The club is a part of the multi-sports club TSV Crailsheim. Home games are played in the Arena Hohenlohe, which has a capacity of 3,000 people.

Hakro Merlins Crailsheim
Leagues	Basketball Bundesliga
Founded	31 January 1986; 39 years ago (1986-01-31)
History	Crailsheim Merlins (1986–present)
Arena	Arena Hohenlohe
Capacity	3,000
Team colors	Blue, Navy, Silver
Main sponsor	Hakro
President	Martin Romig
Team manager	Ingo Enskat
Head coach	Jussi Laakso
Championships	1 ProB
Website	crailsheim-merlins.de
Home Away Third

History

The club was founded on 31 January 1986 by a group of students. Until 1994, the team was only active at the lower local leagues and had problems in finding a hall to play at. A year later, the club found a new home in the barracks of departed American armed forces. In 2001, the Merlins managed to get promoted to the German second division, now the ProA, for the first time. A new home arena was found again, in the form of a renovated market hall.

In the 2013–14 season Merlins promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga, by reaching the ProA Finals.^[1] The club managed to avoid relegation in its first season in the league, because Artland Dragons was relegated the club received a wild card. However, in the following 2015–16 season the team was relegated once again after finishing last. In the 2020–21 season, coach Tuomas Iisalo guided the Merlins to their first Bundesliga playoff appearance in club history.^[2] Iisalo left Crailsheim at the conclusion of the 2020–21 campaign, Sebastian Gleim was named the new head coach.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2021–22 season, Crailsheim made its European debut as it was placed in the regular season of the FIBA Europe Cup. On 13 October 2021, the Merlins recorded an away win over Bakken Bears in their debut.^[3] The same season, the Merlins also reached the final of the 2021–22 BBL-Pokal, its first final appearance in the national cup. The Merlins eventually lost to 86–78 to ALBA Berlin.^[4]

Sponsorship names

Jeremy Morgan on the left, on defense for the Merlins.

Due to sponsorship reasons the team has been known as:

• Proveo Merlins: 2007–2009
• Hakro Merlins Crailsheim: 2018–present

Honours

BBL-Pokal

• Runners-up: 2021–22

ProB

• Winners: 2008–09

Players

Current roster

Crailsheim Merlins roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age SF 1 Cook, Keandre 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 28 – (1997-05-01)1 May 1997 SG 3 Stuckey, Maurice 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 34 – (1990-05-30)30 May 1990 SG 4 Baggette, Elias 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 70 kg (154 lb) 23 – (2002-04-28)28 April 2002 SF 6 Wulff, Luis 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 21 – (2004-03-14)14 March 2004 C 8 Oduro, Prince 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 26 – (1998-10-27)27 October 1998 SF 9 Bleck, Fabian 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 32 – (1993-03-19)19 March 1993 PG 11 Kindzeka, René 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 76 kg (168 lb) 29 – (1995-06-05)5 June 1995 SF 12 Murry-Boyles, James 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 27 – (1997-09-01)1 September 1997 PG 19 Westermann, Leo 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 32 – (1992-07-24)24 July 1992 C 21 Žejdl, Matěj 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 107 kg (236 lb) 22 – (2003-03-30)30 March 2003 C 30 Smith, Galin 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 107 kg (236 lb) 26 – (1998-12-29)29 December 1998 PF 10 Darden, Tremmell 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 43 – (1981-11-17)17 November 1981 PG Blunt, Tyreese 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 22 – (2002-06-03)3 June 2002 PG 00 Shahid, Vincent 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 26 – (1998-05-13)13 May 1998	Head coach Jussi Laakso Assistant coach(es) Daniel Herbert Athletic trainer(s) Marcus Linder Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: June 18, 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Konrad Wysocki
• Maurice Stuckey
• Yorman Polas Bartolo
• Tuukka Kotti
• / Edon Maxhuni
• / T. J. Shorts
• Haywood Highsmith
• Stevie Johnson
• Willie Young

Head coaches

Period	Name
1986–1989	Dieter Wolfarth
1989–1990	no head coach
1990–1993	Markus Schmidt
1993–1994	Zoran Borovnica
1994–1997	Zlatko Nikolić
1997–1999	Matthias Braun
1999–2002	Zoran Banozic
2002–2004	Velibor Balabanović
2004	Marian Thede
2004–2008	Arne Alig
2008–2012	Ingo Enskat
2012 – November 2014	Willie Young
November 2014 – March 2016	Ingo Enskat
March 2016 – May 2021	Tuomas Iisalo
May 2021 – May 2022	Sebastian Gleim
May 2022 – November 2023	Nikola Marković
November 2023 –present	Jussi Laakso

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	German Cup	European competitions
2009–10	2	ProA	6
2010–11	2	ProA	6
2011–12	2	ProA	4
2012–13	2	ProA	11
2013–14	2	ProA	2
2014–15	1	BBL	18
2015–16	1	BBL	18
2016–17	2	ProA	2
2017–18	2	ProA	2
2018–19	1	BBL	16
2019–20	1	BBL	10	Round of 16
2020–21	1	BBL	5	Group stage
2021–22	1	BBL	9	Runner-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	QF
2022–23	1	BBL	13	Quarterfinals	4 FIBA Europe Cup	2R
2023–24	1	BBL	17	First round
2024–25	1	ProA		Round of 16