BSL Teams

About

Basketball Super League

The BSL is a premier league bringing together the best-performing players, coaches and teams from North America and beyond. “With 6 Teams In its inaugural year it will be the “premier” league in North America that players aspire to play in and stay longer making it a true destination league. The season will begin earlier and last longer, the venues are larger, with a minimum capacity of 2,500 and the players wages will be higher with no salary cap.” —CEO Evelyn Magley The new league has already drawn the attention of major national sponsors, and an international online broadcast partner with reach into countries across North America and Europe. Negotiations with these partners have begun, with further details to be announced soon. The Basketball Super League prides itself on its strong connection to community and commitment to helping its players become fully-rounded individuals. BSL will continue to stay true to its mission of building communities and positively impacting lives through the simple game of basketball. “You will see that the aim of the game is to develop the man and not to make money or even to draw a crowd and while the latter objects are good yet I feel that the other ought to be a chief purpose for which the game should be played.” (1898 – James Naismith/Inventor of the Game) “The Basketball League will be a premier league that players aspire to get into and stay in longer – a true destination league,” explained league CEO Evelyn Magley, adding: “the season will begin earlier and last longer, the venues will be larger, with a minimum capacity of 2,500 and the players’ wages will be higher, with no salary cap.”

BSL Teams

TEAM HISTORY

Kitchener Titans

WE ARE EXCITING PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL!
The KW Titans are a community-owned professional basketball franchise that respects, reflects and inspires the citizens of Waterloo Region with exciting, family-friendly entertainment.

The team was founded in 2016 by Ball Construction, local entrepreneurs Leon Martin, Jeff Berg and Brian Foster. These original owners established a character-led team culture that’s respected throughout the league and remains an integral part of the KW Titans community.

TEAM MARKET OWNERS

Our team is 50 percent owned by season ticket holders and operates under a not-for-profit structure that diverts profits into local minor sports. The remaining 50 percent of the team is retained by David & Kate Schooley, who pledge to make the franchise one-hundred percent community owned in the next 10 years or less.

TEAM HISTORY

London Lightning

The London Lightning is a proud member of the Basketball Super League in its inaugural 2024 season . The team is owned by Vito Frijia, a prosperous business owner in Southwestern Ontario and past President of the NBL of Canada. The Lightning plays its home games at Budweiser Gardens.

The Lightning name was announced on August 12, 2011. On August 17, Micheal Ray Richardson former NBA all-star was announced as the Lightning’s head coach. Under Richardson’s leadership the Lightning would go on to win the 2012 NBL championship, defeating the Halifax Rainmen 116-92 in game five of the championship series.

The Lightning won the league championship for the second season in a row by defeating the Summerside Storm 87-80 in 2013. The series was won 3-1.

In season three, Richardson led the Lightning to the conference finals, where they fell short to the Windsor Express in game seven. The Windsor Express would go on to win the championship.

In the summer of 2014, the Lightning announced that Micheal Ray Richardson would be leaving the organization. The Lightning went on to announce the new head coach, Carlos Knox, in July 2014.

In 2014/15, although the team saw tremendous success in the stands and in the community, the Lightning were eliminated by the Brampton A’s in the first round of the playoffs.

In August 2015, former London Lightning player and previous Mississauga Power coach Kyle Julius was named as the franchise’s third head coach. Throughout the 2015/16 season, the Lightning drew the league’s highest attendance numbers and started the season with a 12-2 record. The Lightning finished the season as the Central Division Champions at 26-14. During the payoffs, the London Lightning made it to the Finals, but ultimately lost in a hard fought Game 7 to the Halifax Hurricanes.

After a few years without a championship the Lightning bounced back in it’s sixth season in the NBL. After a rocky start to the season at 3-3 the team went on to shatter league and team records and won the 2016-17 Championship over the Halifax Hurricanes at home in game 6 of the finals. They became the winning-est team in NBL-C history with a record of 46-7. The Lightning were awarded regular season MVP, Playoff MVP, multiple All-Star awards and Kyle Julius was awarded Coach of the Year. Coach Julius has since left the Lightning organization to pursue other opportunities

In Summer of 2017 the Lightning announced Keith Vassell as the fourth head coach of the club. Vassell has a long standing history in Canada basketball. He played five years at Brandon University in Winnipeg where he was named player of the year after the Bobcats won the CIS Championship and was a member of CIS all-star teams each year. He was a member of Canada’s Men’s National team for 11 years while also playing over seas for 11 years in places such as Iceland, Portugal, Switzerland and more. Vassell’s most recent coaching jobs saw him at Niagara College of the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) and as the interim head coach for the Niagara River Lions (NBL) in the second half of the 2016-17 season.

In the team’s seventh season, the Lightning claimed their fourth NBL League championship title in the final playoff round against the Halifax Hurricanes. The Lightning is the only team in NBL history to win the championship four times, both in back to back wins. The final round was a tough battle against the Halifax Hurricanes, with the Lightning winning 4 games to 3. The season wrapped with Lightning player Garrett Williamson being named Playoff MVP and with multiple player All-Stars awards and Coach Vassell being recognized as coach of the month for January 2018.

The Lightning franchise along with the Basketball Super League are putting basketball on the Canadian map and are gaining recognition from around the world as a premier team in a premier league that demonstrates high level basketball as a viable option for professional athletes looking to further their careers.

TEAM HISTORY

Newfoundland Rogues

The Newfoundland Rogues are a Canadian professional basketball team based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team competes in the Basketball Super League.

The franchise was established in 2021 as an ABA expansion team, headed by Tony Kenny, President of 2001 Investments Limited; and coached by Jerry Williams. The team signed a five-year lease to play their home games at the Mary Brown’s Centre in downtown St. John’s. Their first game, as part of the ABA’s 2021–22 season, took place on November 27 against the New York State’s Elmira Eagles, a fellow member of the league’s Northeast Division. The Rogues started the season on an unbeaten streak of six matches,. On January 7, 2022 Tony Kenny announced that the next three series were postponed due to enhanced COVID-19 travel restrictions related to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

On September 15, 2022, Tony Kenny announced that the team would leave the ABA and join The Basketball League for the 2023 season. The team joined The Basketball League (TBL) for the 2023 Season making it all the way to TBL 2023 Playoffs in its first season participating.

The Newfoundland Rogues are a community asset, while growing an incredible fan base through community involvement the team announced it would be joining the BSL for the 2024 Season.

TEAM HISTORY

Sudbury 5

The Sudbury Five are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Sudbury, Ontario that play in the Basketball Super League (BSL). The team is owned by Sudbury Wolves Sports and play at the Sudbury Community Arena.

The team was originally approved by the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) to begin play for the 2017–18 season, but was pushed back to the 2018–19 season. The organization announced their team name, Sudbury Five, and colours in May 2018. Logan Stutz was named the team’s first general manager and head coach on 9 August. The team took part in the 2018 entry draft with the other nine NBL Canada teams and later received the Niagara River Lions‘ protected player list after that team left the league.

The team’s second season was curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the following 2020–21 season was cancelled by the league.

TEAM NAME & LOGO

The team’s name and logo refer to the last digit in the 705 area code that serves Northern Ontario, the five-cent nickel coin, and the five players playing for each team in a basketball game.

TEAM HISTORY

Windsor Express

The Windsor Express has a new look as it streams its way into the new Basketball Super League, the largest professional basketball league in North America.

On June 28, 2012, the NBL announced that Windsor had been awarded an expansion team for the 2012–13 season. As the eighth franchise, the league created divisions and placed the Express in the Central Division. On August 1, 2012 the team nickname was officially confirmed. The Express name is partially a tribute to the Underground Railroad and to the rail yards on the banks of the Detroit River.

The team compiled a 22–18 record in its inaugural year, placing second in the Central Division and being seeded 3rd in the playoffs. It lost its only post-season series, a semifinal against the Summerside Storm, three-games-to-two.

On April 17, 2014, the Express won their first championship against the Island Storm (formerly Summerside Storm), 121–106.

The Express were named the 2015 NBL of Canada Champions on April 30, 2015 when the Halifax Rainmen forfeited game 7 after events that transpired earlier in the day. Halifax opted to forfeit the game and leave Windsor, where the game was set to take place, due to an on-court altercation between the two teams earlier in the day.

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