Who are this season's FIBA Europe Cup debutants?

MUNICH (Germany) - The 2021-22 edition of the FIBA Europe Cup will see no fewer than nine teams making their Regular Season debuts in the competition.

We take a look at this season's newcomers as they look to make an immediate impression on the FIBA Europe Cup.

Casademont Zaragoza  (ESP)

Domestic league: Liga ACB
Last season: 13th place (14-22)

Zaragoza enter this competition with strong European pedigree having finished third and fourth, respectively, in the previous two seasons of the Basketball Champions League. They become the first Spanish side to compete in FIBA Europe Cup.

However, they struggled in Liga ACB action last season and failed to make the Play-Offs off the back of successive sixth-placed finishes. 

Poland's Adam Waczynski made a summer switch from Unicaja after five years with the club, while Icelandic center Tryggvi Hlinasson returns for another season with Zaragoza, targeting more success in Europe.

HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim  (GER)

Domestic league: Basketball Bundesliga
Last season: 5th place (24-10), Play-Offs Quarter-Finals

HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim make their competition bow having qualified for the domestic Play-Offs for the first time in the club's history last season - losing 3-1 in a series defeat to Bayern Munich.

German clubs have had success in the FIBA Europe Cup with Fraport Skyliners winning the title in the inaugural 2015-16 season before s.Olivier Wurzburg finished as runners-up in the 2018-19 edition.

Maurice Stuckey had played for Wurzburg in previous seasons of the competition, while American point guard TJ Shorts had a spell with Latvian side Ventspils in his rookie year as a professional.

Hapoel Eilat  (ISR)

Domestic league: Premier League
Last season: 4th place (18-11), Play-Offs Semi-Finals

Hapoel Eilat compete in Europe for the first time in the 21st century having ended a 23-year wait when they competed in the Basketball Champions League Qualifiers. Their participation was short-lived with a three-point defeat to Parma, but they now embark on the Regular Season with the chance to host European basketball once more.

Last season, they reached the final four stage of the Israeli Basketball Premier League Play-Offs where they would fall to eventual champions Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Known as 'The Sharks', the club have recently added a Greek international with European titles on his resume in Vangelis Mantzaris, while American Bryon Allen fired in a 28-point haul in the BCL Qualifiers.

Hapoel Gilboa Galil  (ISR)

Domestic league: Premier League
Last season: 3rd place (19-10), Play-Offs runners-up

Another debutant from Israel, Hapoel Gilboa Galil competed for the domestic championship last season as they eventually fell to a 2-1 series defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv after a third-placed league finish.

They gained direct entrance into the Regular Season for the first time with two clubs from Israel failing to make it out of the FIBA Europe Cup Qualifiers.

Point guard London Perrantes has history in the competition having played for Bahcesehir in the 2019-20 season before stints in the NBA G-League, while GB international Sacha Killeya-Jones adds size to the front-court.

Ionikos BC  (GRE)

Domestic league: Greek Basket League
Last season: 8th place (8-14), Play-Offs Quarter-Finals

Ionikos were playing third division basketball as recently as the 2017-18 season before successive promotions to reach the top-flight in Greece for the first time since the late 1980s.

Last season, they just scraped into the Play-Offs before a series defeat to Panathinaikos. The club secured direct qualification to the Regular Season for their European debut and have been accompanied by fellow Greek sides Iraklis and Peristeri, who both joined via Qualifiers.

Two-time Greek league champion Ioannis Athinaiou is part of the roster this season as they look to make it beyond the group phase; coming up against two teams from Belgium and one from Portugal.

London Lions  (GBR)

Domestic league: BBL
Last season: 2nd place (23-7), Play-Offs runners-up

The Lions were set to make their debut in the competition last season before they were forced to withdraw from the Regular Season due to COVID-19 regulations. They will become the second British team to compete in the Regular Season after Leicester Riders appeared in the 2018-19 season, though they failed to win any of their six group phase encounters.

The club's history dates back almost 50 years and they made the move to London following the 2012 Olympics. The Lions won the BBL league title for the first time as part of a double-winning season in 2018-19 and have competed in six domestic finals in the past four seasons.

Their current roster includes former NBA guard Marquis Teague, who joined for the Basketball Champions League Qualifiers as London lost out in the First Round to Nutribullet Treviso.

Opava  (CZE)

Country: NBL
Last season: 2nd place (17-5), Play-Offs runners-up

Opava become just the second Czech side to compete in the FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season and will hope to fare better than Pardubice, who went 0-6 in the group stages of the 2018-19 edition.

Last season, they finished as runners-up in the league before a 2-0 Finals defeat to ERA Basketball Nymburk, who compete in the Basketball Champions League. Opava failed to qualify for the BCL after falling to a 22-point loss to BC Prometey in Sofia.

The club has a predominantly all-Czech roster with two overseas spots including Swedish center Mattias Markusson who had a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double in the BCL Qualifiers.

Peristeri Vitabiotics  (GRE)

Domestic league: Greek Basket League
Last season: 6th place (11-11), Play-Offs Quarter-Finals

The second of the two newcomers from Greece, Peristeri have also enjoyed a resurgence of late having been playing in the third tier domestically and needing two promotions to get back to the top-flight.

Peristeri reached the Round of 16 stage in the 2019-20 season of the Basketball Champions League, but failed to qualify this year as they fell to a 10-point loss to U-BT Cluj Napoca in the Semi-Finals on home soil.

Angolan international Yannick Moreira has returned to the club for the new season having previously played in the 2019-20 campaign before moving to AEK Athens and impressing in the BCL.

Trefl Sopot  (POL)

Domestic league: PLK
Last season: 5th place (19-11), Play-Offs Semi-Finals

The only one of the nine newcomers to secure their spot via the Qualifiers, Trefl Sopot advanced as one of the two 'lucky losers'. They claimed an impressive 88-82 triumph over Dnipro in the Semi-Finals before a narrow 74-72 loss against Iraklis ensured they still progressed with their overall points difference at +4.

Sopot were created in 2009 to fill the hole in the city left by the relocation of Asseko Prokom Sopot - now Arka Gdynia - to Gdynia, but were able to take on the history of the club that was founded in 1995. They since claimed back-to-back Cup titles and last season finished two wins off of second in fifth place.

Dutch international Yannick Franke starred in the Qualifiers with averages of 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game across their two games.

FIBA