Union Sportive Monastirienne (Arabic: الاتحاد الرياضي المنستيري), commonly known as US Monastir, is a Tunisian professional basketball club based in Monastir.[1] Established in 1959, the team plays in the Pro A the first division league in Tunisia and has won seven national championships. Monastir also plays in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) since the inaugural season in 2021. Home games are played in the Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall.
US Monastir | ||||
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Nickname | Blue Empire USMO | |||
Leagues | Pro A BAL | |||
Founded | 1923 | |||
History | US Monastir 1923–present | |||
Arena | Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall | |||
Capacity | 5,000 | |||
Location | Monastir, Tunisia | |||
Team colors | Blue and white | |||
President | Ahmed Belli | |||
Head coach | Mohamed Kardani | |||
Team captain | Radhouane Slimane | |||
Championships | 1 BAL 9 Tunisian League 5 Tunisian Cup 1 Tunisian Federation Cup 1 Maghreb Championship | |||
Website | usmonastir.org.tn | |||
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US Monastir has won nine Tunisian Leagues and four Tunisian Cups. Monastir won the BAL championship in 2022, becoming the first Tunisian team to win the competition.
History
editThe club was established in 1959 and won its first Tunisian League title in 1998 after defeating Ezzahra Sports in the league finals. As the national champions, Monastir played in the Arab Club Basketball Championship where it lost all three group stage games.[2]
In the 1999–2000 season, Monastir won its first-ever double after winning both the league and cup title. Monastir beat Club Africain in the league final and Ezzahra in the cup final (66–61). In 2005, Monastir won its third Tunisian championship, defeating Stade Nabeulien 66–51.
The first international title for Monastir arrived in 2012, when they won the Maghreb Basketball Championship after defeating ES Radès in the final.[3]
In 2014, Monastir made its debut in the FIBA Africa Club Championship, Africa's top continental league, for the first time.[1] In 2017, the club ended at third place in the continental league.[4]
In 2019 , Monastir won its fourth Tunisian championship defeating ES Rades. again in 2020 US Monastir won its fifth Tunisian championship and the second in row defeating the same ES Rades. In 2021, Monastir defeated Ezzahra Sports in the Tunisian finals and won its sixth championship, and the third in a row.[5]
In 2021, Monastir was one of the twelve teams to play in the new Basketball Africa League (BAL) as they qualified as Tunisian national champions. In the inaugural season of the league, Monastir reached the Finals where it lost to Zamalek despite being favourites in the competition. Three players of Monastir (Omar Abada, Makrem Ben Romdhane and Wael Arakji) were named to the All-BAL First Team.[6]
In the following season, the 2021–22 season, Monastir won the national double after capturing the CNA and Tunisian Cup titles.[7] On 28 May 2022, Monastir won its first-ever BAL and African championship after defeating Petro de Luanda in the 2022 BAL Finals,[8] becoming the first Tunisian team to win the BAL. Point guard Michael Dixon was named the league's MVP; Ater Majok and Radhouane Slimane were named to the All-BAL First Team.[9] Representing the African continent, Monastir played in the 2023 edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, where it finished in fourth place after losing to the Spanish team CB Canarias and the American team Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[10]
In the 2023 BAL season, Monastir brought back coach Perišić three days before the tournament.[11] However, Monastir was unable to qualify for the playoffs as the team ended with a 3–2 record and was ranked fifth based on a tiebreaker.[12]
Monastir began the 2023–24 season with Adel Tlatli as head coach, but hired Mohamed Kardani in April 2024.[13]
Arenas
editSince its opening in 2006, Monastir plays its home games in the Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall, which has a capacity of 4,075–5,000 people.[14]
Players
editCurrent roster
editNote: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
2023–24 US Monastir roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 4 May 2024 |
Past rosters
editNotable players
editNote: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
Criteria |
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To appear in this section a player must have either:
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Omar Abada (2 seasons: '19–'21)
Makrem Ben Romdhane (1 season: '20–'21)
Radhouane Slimane (3 seasons: '14, '20-)
Michael Roll (1 season: '23)
Wael Arakji (1 season: '21)
Tom Wamukota (1 season: '19-'20)
Walter Hodge (1 season: '20)
Ater Majok (2 seasons: '20-'22)
Solo Diabate (1 season: '21-'22)
Individual awards
edit- Firas Lahyani – 2017
- Omar Abada – 2020, 2021
- Radhouane Slimane – 2022
- Oussama Marnaoui – 2023
- Omar Abada – 2021
- Wael Arakji – 2021
- Makrem Ben Romdhane – 2021
- Radhouane Slimane – 2022
- Ater Majok – 2022
BAL Defensive Player of the Year
- Ater Majok – 2022
- Ater Majok – 2022
- Makrem Ben Romdhane – 2021
Honours
editNational competitions
editLeagues
edit- Champions (9): 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
- Runner-up (1): 2017–18
Cups
edit- Champions (5): 2000, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
- Runner-up (9): 1992, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
- Runner-up (1): 2005
- Champion (1): 2012
International competitions
edit- Third place (1): 2017
- Third place (1): 2019
- Champion (1): 2012
Season by season
editOverall (2018–present)
editSeason | Tier | League | Regular season | Playoffs | Tunisian Cup | International competitions | Head coach | ||||||
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Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win% | League | Result | |||||||
US Monastir | |||||||||||||
2018–19 | 1 | CNA | 2nd | 14 | 10 | 4 | .714 | Champions | Finalist | DNQ | Said El Bouzidi | ||
2019–20 | 1 | CNA | 1st | 19 | 18 | 1 | .947 | Champions | Winner | N/A | Miodrag Perišić | ||
2020–21 | 1 | CNA | 1st | 14 | 12 | 2 | .857 | Champions | Winner | BAL | Runner-up | Safouane Ferjani Mounir Ben Slimane | |
2021–22 | 1 | CNA | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | Champions | Winner | BAL | Champions | Toni Vujanic Miodrag Perišić | |
2022–23 | 1 | CNA | 1st | 19 | 18 | 1 | .947 | Champions | Winner | BAL | Regular Season | Marouan Kechrid Linos Gavriel |
BAL (2021–present)
editBAL champions | Conference champions | Playoff berth |
Season | League | Regular season | Post-season | Head Coach | Captain | |||||
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Conference | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win % | ||||||
US Monastir | ||||||||||
2021 | BAL | Group A | 1st | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | Won quarterfinals (Douanes) 86–62 Won semifinals (Patriots) 87–46 Lost finals (Zamalek) 63–76 |
Mounir Ben Slimane | Radhouane Slimane | |
2022 | BAL | Sahara | 2nd | 4 | 1 | .800 | Won quarterfinals (Cape Town) 106–67 Won semifinals (Zamalek) 88–81 Won finals (Petro) 83–72 |
Miodrag Perišić | ||
2023 | BAL | Sahara | 4th | 3 | 2 | .600 | DNQ | |||
2024 | BAL | Sahara | TBD | TBD | Mohamed Kirdani | Mokhtar Ghyaza | ||||
Season record | 10 | 3 | .769 | 1 BAL championship | ||||||
Playoffs record | 5 | 1 | .833 |
Head coaches
editThe following people have been head coach of US Monastir (since 2009):
Adel Tlatli (1991–1993)
Adel Tlatli (1994–1995)
Costel Cernat (2009)
Walid Gharbi
Safouane Ferjani
Monoom Aoun (2015–2016)
George Ketselidis (2016–2017)
Željko Zečević (2017–2018)
Ridha Labidi (2018)
Said El Bouzidi (2018–2019)
Miodrag Perišić (2019–2020)
Walid Zrida (2020)
Safouane Ferjani (2020–2021)
Mounir Ben Slimane (2021)
Toni Vujanic (2021–2022)
Miodrag Perišić (2022)
Marouan Kechrid (2022)
Linos Gavriel (2022–?)
Miodrag Perišić (2023)
Miloš Gligorijević (2023)
Adel Tlatli (2023–2024)
Mohamed Kardani (2024–present)
References
edit- ^ a b "U.S. Monastir Team Profile". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ "Arab Club Championships 1999 Basketball". asia-basket.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019..
- ^ "L'US Monastirienne remporte le championnat maghrébin". news.gnet.tn (in French). 5 December 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2020..
- ^ a b Africa Champions Cup
- ^ "Basket: Et de six pour l'US Monastir". RadioMosaiqueFM (in French). Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "All-Basketball Africa League Awards 2021". afrobasket.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ "Basket: L'US Monastir remporte le 7e sacre de son histoire". RadioMosaiqueFM (in French). Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "US Monastir are the 2022 Basketball Africa League Champions". The BAL. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ Philémon (30 May 2022). "BAL: All the awards of this 2022 edition". Sport News Africa. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Rio Grande Valley Vipers finish third as Culver goes for 34". FIBA.basketball. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "Miodrag Perisic returns to US Monastir, sets playoff target". OJB SPORT. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ "Boissy, Crawford end US Monastir's title defense". The BAL. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ "USMO : un Egyptien sur le banc". Sport News Africa (in French). Retrieved 18 April 2024.
- ^ "Handzone - LMSL Déménagement pour le Trophée des Champions mercredi 12 mars 2014 : Stats et infos". handzone.net (in French). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ "U.S. Monastir History". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.