Nanterre 92’s return to the 7DAYS EuroCup for the first time since 2016 was exciting with seven of the 10 games decided by 7 points or fewer. But the season wasn’t ideal for those with a weak heart as three contests came down to a final possession - of which two were losses. Nanterre won its opening game in Group C at home against Joventut Badalona but then dropped the next two contests - at Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul and against UNICS Kazan. Nanterre led against UNICS by 4 points with 68 seconds left, but the Russian side finished the game on a 0-6 run and beat Nanterre 92-94. Nanterre bounced back to beat Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana on the road to even its record at 2-2. However, the French side lost its next three games: home defeats against Germani Brescia Leonessa and Darussufaka sandwiched around a heart-breaker at Joventut. Nanterre gave up a three-point play with 4.6 seconds remaining to fall behind by 2 and then Nanterre’s Devin Oliver had his shot blocked at the buzzer as Joventut prevailed 79-77. Nanterre pulled off an upset in Round 8, winning 72-79 at UNICS and then managed to come back from a 24-point deficit to beat Olimpija 90-87 and stay alive for a chance at the Top 16 if they could win at Brescia in Round 10. But Nanterre was out-scored 25-11 in the third quarter and lost 85-78 to bow out of the competition with a 4-6 record. Domestically, Nanterre was bounced in the quarterfinals of the French Leaders Cup against AS Monaco. In the French League, Nanterre struggled out of the gate with just a 2-7 record before things clicked. The team won five of its next six games and went 6-1 from mid-January to early March when the rest of the season was called off due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All told, Nanterre finished with a 14-11 record, good for seventh place. The French club will look to build on its positives from last season and take the next step.

EuroLeague

EuroCup

One of the fastest-rising French teams, Nanterre 92, comes off another good season in which the team was competitive on all fronts. The club's history stretches back nearly nine decades; Jeunesse Sportive des Fontenelles de Nanterre was founded in 1927, but it competed for decades in the lower divisions and regional competitions. In 1987, volunteers – led by new president Jean Donnadieu and Coach Pascal Donnadieu – took over the club from the outskirts of Paris and Nanterre needed only 15 years to move up 10 levels of French basketball. In 2004, it gained promotion into the second tier for the first time. The club made several runs at moving up to the top flight over the next seven years and played the 2007 French Cup finals. Finally, at the end of the 2010-11 season, Nanterre claimed the Pro B crown by downing Dijon 73-60 in the title game to advance to the Pro A. Its first-ever season in the top French League saw the club preserve its status. A year later Nanterre reached the French Cup finals and squeezed into the playoffs before going on a magical run of seven wins in eight games en route to winning the 2013 French title. In its EuroLeague debut in the 2013-14 season, Nanterre missed the Top 16 by one win and then moved on to the EuroCup, where it reached the eighthfinals. At home, the team added to its trophy collection with its first French Cup by beating SLUC Nancy and also played in the Leaders Cup final. The club did even better in the 2014-15 campaign, in which Nanterre managed to lift two trophies. It won the French Supercup over Limoges CSP and then marched to the FIBA EuroChallenge finals, where it beat Trabzonspor 63-64 on the road on an incredible buzzer-beater by T.J. Campbell. The club made its EuroCup debut in the 2015-16 season and despite beating powerhouses Dominion Bilbao Basket, Union Olimpija Ljubljana and Telekom Baskets Bonn, it did not advance past the regular season. Nanterre went on to win its second French Cup in 2017 by downing Le Mans 79-96 in the title game and also lifted the FIBA Europe Cup trophy after defeating Elan Chalon in the two-game total-points finals. No more titles have come in the last few seasons, in which Nanterre kept fighting hard in all competitions. In 2018-19, Nanterre reached the quarterfinals in both the French Cup and Leaders Cup and advanced to the French League semifinals. In 2019-20, Nanterre came up one win short of reaching the Top 16 in the EuroCup. Nanterre will be ready to take another step forward in the EuroCup in its third go-around as it tries to make a name for itself on the continental map.

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