The history of basketball in Monaco began in 1928 with the creation of AS Monaco‘s first basketball section. Monegasque basketball players won their first titles from 1950 onwards, including a ranking as vice-champions of France at National 1 level (the current Jeep Elite).
This first successful period was followed by more inconsistent years and decades, marked by various ups and downs among the elite. The return of the Roca Team (the team from the Rock) to the forefront and the beginning of their current exploits only date from the 2015-16 season.
Since this season, which began in 2014 with the arrival of a new owner, the Roca Team has been notching up records. They were the first team in the history of French basketball to move up from the fourth division (NM2) to the first division (Pro A) in four years (i.e. one step up per season), winning the title of French Pro B champions in 2015.
Above all, the team finished the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons in first place in the Pro A regular season, thanks in part to the work of coach Zvezdan Mitrovic. In these same years, the team accomplished the unprecedented feat of winning the Pro A LNB Leaders Cup three times in a row at the Disneyland Paris Arena (in 2016, 2017 and 2018).
In 2017, 29 years after leaving the European scene, AS Monaco finished third in the FIBA Champions League Final Four. In the following season, the Roca Team reached the final of the FIBA Champions League before losing to AEK Athens.
In this same 2018/19 season, ASM Basket played the 2nd final of the French Championships in its history and also lost to ASVEL, with Serbian coach Sasa Obradovic, whose ambition is now for the team to feature in the Eurocup Final Four.
The Roca Team plays its home matches in the renovated Gaston-Médecin Hall at the Louis II Stadium.
After the 2019/20 season, which was disrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic, AS Monaco rose to the top of European basketball in the following season.
In April 2021, the Roca Team, once again coached by Zvezdan Mitrovic, won the EuroCup, beating the Russian club Kazan in the final – a European title that crowned their meteoric rise.
“It’s amazing. This is the result of a long journey and a desire, spanning decades, to prove that sport is an important driver of development in the Principality. Not only in terms of communication, but also inclusion, to bring the whole of society together.”
H.S.H Prince Albert II.
