Sluc Nancy Basket supporters have been waiting for this moment for five years: Nancy will once again play against the very best in French basketball. The Sluc is playing this Saturday, September 23 the first day of Betclic Elite by hosting the legendary CSP Limoges at the Gentilly sports hall.
The end of five years of purgatory
Nothing has been easy in five years for Sluc Nancy Basket, which has become the favorite each year for the promotion to the first division. A passage to purgatory which begins with a tragedy, the death of President Marc Marbé just before the start of the 2017/2018 season. Grégor Beugnot is in charge on the bench, but the team can’t do it. The season ends with an elimination in the first round of the playoffs. Relations between Beugnot and the new president Philippe Durst are icy and Christian Monschau arrives on the bench in the off-season. Another failure in the quarter-finals despite one of the biggest budgets.
Change of president and new difficult communication between new boss Aurélien Fortier and coach Christian Monschau. The collaboration ends in January 2020, François Perronet takes the Sluc to 3rd place before the end of the season because of the Covid. It is not yet for this time, nor the following season, where the Sluc fails two victories from the climb. It is finally Sylvain Lautié, 20 years after his success in the Korac Cup, who brings the club back to the top flight..
A well-prepared rise behind the scenes
A new team is at the helm of the Nancy boat. Aurélien Fortier is the president with at his side the general manager Youri Verieras, passed by Le Havre and Limoges. A hitch that was not there during previous experiences in the elite for Sluc Nancy Basket. A duo to which we must obviously associate the emblematic coach, winner of the Korac Cup in 2002, Sylvain Lautié, symbol in a way of a return to basics for the Nancy club. The Sluc, which obtained its rise even before the playoffs, was able to prepare its accession on the budgetary level: the budget has increased from 3.2 million euros to 4.2 million. An additional million came for 30% from the communities and for the rest from private partners.
The elite has changed
In five years, the landscape of French basketball has changed a lot. Asvel and Monaco have become the two big cars of French basketball. Two clubs that compete in the Euroleague and have big budgets around 15 million euros with many internationals. Behind these two locomotives, anything can happen despite limited resources. Paris and Fos, promoted last season, managed to hold their own with budgets below five million euros.
Continuity and reinforcements in the workforce
From the French Pro B champion team, Sluc Nancy has retained four players: Anthony Labanca, Meredis Houmounou, Stéphane Gombauld and Caleb Walker. The people of Nancy were able to quickly build a team to ensure maintenance. Interiors Luke Fischer, Clement Frisch and Donte Grantham arrived in the racket. As for the leaders, Kyle Vinales landed in Lorraine, as did Roberto Gallinat. As for the wingers, we will be watching the performances of the former hope of Paris, Nolan Kingue and the ex-Orléanais Yves Mballa.
Sluc Nancy Basket – CSP Limoges at 8 p.m. on September 24
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