# BAL (basketball club)

Basketball Academie Limburg, commonly known as BAL and for sponsorship reasons as PrismaWorx BAL, is a Dutch basketball club based in Weert in the province of Limburg. The club was founded in 2013 as an academy to develop youth players from the province of Limburg. The club entered the Dutch Basketball League for the 2017–18 season after the dissolution of the professional team BSW. Currently, the team plays in the BNXT League.
In 2021, BAL won its first-ever trophy when it won the DBL Cup in surprising fashion as the team was ranked eight in the DBL that season.

## History
### Foundation

The club was established on 9 April 2013 to function as a club for regional talent from the province of Limburg. In its first years, the team played with several youth teams in domestic competitions.
In the 2017 offseason the professional club BSW from Weert and BAL intended a merger, which would integrate BSW into BAL. Following BSW going defunct during this offseason, BAL decided to take its place in the DBL. As BAL played in the same home arena and the team consisted of several of the same players, the team can be considered a phoenix club. Radenko Varagić coached the team.

### First DBL seasons

In its debut season, BAL finished in the ninth and last place in the DBL, winning 4 out of its 32 games. The team consisted of a selection of young promising players, such as guard Sam van Dijk who was named the DBL Most Improved Player in the club's debut season. On 1 August 2018, BAL signed its first ever foreign player when American center Tony Washington signed for one year. In its second season, BAL once again finished last in the DBL with this time five wins in 2018–19.
In the 2020–21 season, BAL reached the playoffs for the first time after finishing in the eight seed. This season the team also won the 2021 DBL Cup, the club's first-ever trophy. In the semi-finals, BAL upset first-seeded ZZ Leiden and in the final the team was too strong for Yoast United. Trevor Jasinsky led the team in scoring in the final with 27 points.
Since the 2021–22 season, BAL plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.
In June 2024, BAL signed its first name sponsorship contract and agreed to be named PrismaWorx BAL for three years, starting from the 2024–25 season.

## Honours

DBL Cup
* Champions (1): 2021
Dutch Supercup
* Runners-up (1): 2021

## Season by season

Key :
| | Champions |
| | Playoff berth |
| (X) | National ranking standings |
| MIP | Most Improved Player |
| RS | Rising Star of the Year |
| CoY | Coach of the Year |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | National playoffs | Dutch Cup | BNXT playoffs | Head coach | Individual awards |
| Season | Tier | League | Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win% | National playoffs | Dutch Cup | BNXT playoffs | Head coach | Individual awards |
| BAL |||||||||||||
| 2017–18 | 1 | DBL | 8th | 32 | 4 | 28 | .125 | – | Withdrew | – | Radenko Varagić | Sam van Dijk (MIP) |
| 2018–19 | 1 | DBL | 9th | 34 | 5 | 29 | .147 | – | Eightfinals | – | Radenko Varagić | – |
| 2019–20 | 1 | DBL | 6th | 24 | 9 | 15 | .375 | – | Eightfinals | – | Radenko Varagić | – |
| 2020–21 | 1 | DBL | 8th | 21 | 12 | 9 | .571 | Lost quarterfinals to ZZ Leiden (148–183) | Champions | – | Radenko Varagić | |
| 2021–22 | 1 | BNXT League | 15th (7th) | 30 | 11 | 19 | .367 | – | Fourth Round | Won first round (Yoast, 163–152) Lost second round (Feyenoord, 138–158) | Radenko Varagić | Sander Hollanders (RS) |
| 2022–23 | 1 | BNXT League | 18th | 28 | 7 | 21 | .250 | – | Fourth Round | Lost, first round (Liège Basket, 161–188) | Radenko Varagić | Oshean Brathwaite (RS) |
| 2023–24 | 1 | BNXT League | 10th | 28 | 9 | 17 | .346 | Lost quarterfinals to Donar (1–2) | Quarterfinalist | Not held | Radenko Varagić | Radenko Varagic (CoY) |

## Players
### Current roster

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

### Individual awards
#### BNXT League Rising Star of the Year

* Sander Hollanders – 2022

#### DBL Most Improved Player

* Sam van Dijk – 2018

#### DBL All-Rookie Team

* Jacco Fritz – 2018
* Nino Gorissen – 2018
* Ivan Simic – 2019

### Top scorers by seasons

The following players led BAL in scoring in each DBL or BNXT League season:
| Season | Name | PPG |
| 2017–18 | Sam van Dijk | 12.2 |
| 2018–19 | Tony Washington | 12.2 |
| 2019–20 | Trey Burch-Manning | 14.5 |
| 2020–21 | Trevor Jasinsky | 15.8 |
| 2021–22 | D. J. Mitchell | 16.0 |
| 2022–23 | Noel Botuli | 11.9 |
| 2023–24 | Noel Botuli | 12.7 |

## Club records

Bold denotes still active with team. As of 14 April 2021:
| Category | Player | Record |
| Games played | Wietze Nossek | 120 |
| Points scored | Wietze Nossek | 754 |
| Rebounds | Roel Aarts | 443 |
| Assists | Roel van Overbeek | 329 |
| Steals | Roel van Overbeek | 94 |
| Blocks | Roel Aarts | 41 |
| Three-point field goals | Sander Hollanders | 141 |