Roger Huggins
Roger John Huggins ( born September 5, 1967 in London ) is a British former professional basketball player. Huggins played after studying in the United States, particularly in the Belgian league. With 40 years he reached the end of his career in 2008 with Dexia Mons still the final of the FIBA EuroCup. Huggins was also a long time national player of the English and British national.
Career
Huggins first played to 1988 in the British Basketball League for the Pirates from Bracknell, before he went to Hawaii Pacific University at age 21 to study in the United States. With their high school team, Sea Warriors, the then played in the NAIA, he won the championship of the 1993 NAIA. Then he had an invitation to trial with NBA club Seattle SuperSonics, but did not receive him under contract.
After end of the study, therefore, Huggins returned to Europe in 1993 and received 26 years a professional contract with the club from the Belgian city of Ghent, for whom he played for one season. He then returned to his homeland and played for the Sharks from Sheffield. In his first season for the Sharks, he reached with the team in first place after the regular season and also won the League Cup the British Basketball League. Huggins was named MVP of the league and received as well as in the two following two seasons, an invitation to the All-Star Game of the best players in the league. The Bosman ruling also opened up new possibilities Huggins, now that he is no " space aliens " occupied more in other European club teams.
1997 Huggins therefore returned to the Belgian league and played for Racing Basket from Antwerp, who had as Racing Mechelen a successful past. Again, he was one of the best players in the league who received an invitation to the All-Star Game this league. In the European club competitions Saporta Cup in 1999 and the Korać - Cup 2000 was reached in each case after the group matches the knockout rounds, but in which one was eliminated early in the rounds of the best 32 or 16 teams. In 2000 they won the Belgian championship, then almost changed the entire team for the 2000 /01 season for Premier League rivals Athlon Ypres, where he also played with the German national team Jürgen Malbeck. This time the collection succeeded to the semifinals of the Korać Cup 2001, where to narrowly lost KK Hemofarm Vrsac in Serbia from the addition of two games with two points. Directly afterwards was Huggins, who led his team in this competition in rebounds, blocks and steals and was then struck by a double-digit yield point, in April 2001, yet committed during the current season by the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem. After a good debut with a win against the dominant series champion Maccabi Tel Aviv they reached the play-off final series for the championship, which was then lost to the defending champions, however.
As of the 2001 / 02 season, played for Huggins Spirou Charleroi from BC in the French- speaking Wallonia under coach Giovanni Bozzi, after he had previously only active for clubs from Flanders in Belgium. The four-time champion from 1996 to 1999 had previously submitted the last two tracks on each sponsored by ICT provider Telindus clubs from Antwerp and Ostend. 2002 initially took a further cup success and 2003 you could bring back the championship title of Ostend and win the Belgian double. After the championship of the now 36 -year-old Huggins left the club and moved on to league rivals from Liège, which was sponsored by the ICT suppliers Euphony Benelux and has now coached by Bozzi. Here he played again together with the Belgian- American point guard Michael Huger, with whom he had already played together in Antwerp and Ypres. Together you could defending champion Spirou 2004 BC in the semi-finals of the cup competition conquer and then win with the final win the first national title for this club. In the final series of the championship, however, was able to prevail the team from Hainaut and defend their title.
For the season 2004 /05 Huggins changed again in the Israeli Ligat ha Al Bnei HaSharon to in Herzliya. With this club he reached the Israeli Cup final, which went against Maccabi Tel Aviv lost, and the third place in the Israeli championship. Chris Finch, his teammate at the Sheffield Sharks, had come as a trainer in the Belgian league, and took the club from Bree the Belgian Championship 2005. According to award the 2012 Olympics, a British national basketball team was re-formed, who as host automatic start right should and unsuccessful teams from England, Scotland and Wales replaced, and Finch her coach, who also won Huggins back in the new selection. In addition, Finch Huggins brought in 2005 in the Belgian league, where he formed together with the Belgian national team Herbert Baert, Huggins ' players in Antwerp and Ypres, an experienced frontcourt, while in the backcourt, the British team-mate Nate Reinking and Julius Jenkins, later multiple MVP the German Basketball Bundesliga, acted. In the ULEB Cup in 2005 /06 would retire after the group matches in the second round against Huggins former Hapoel Jerusalem and in the Belgian Championship defending champion lost the semi-final series against Dexia Mons- Hainaut. According to financial problems, the key players left at the end of the season the club and Huggins moved again to the club to Liege, where the now 39 -year-old has been mainly used in the FIBA EuroCup, in which one was eliminated in the second round before the knockout games. For the end of the season Huggins moved to the Belgian champions Spirou Charleroi back to BC, with which he defended the championship in 2007. In the following season he acted at regional rival of Charleroi Mons again under coach Chris Finch, who had brought alongside Nate Reinking Andrew Sullivan and Michael Lenzly another British national player in the Hainaut. With Dexia Mons -Hainaut in the FIBA EuroCup he reached in which Huggins was almost exclusively used in the final, in one the Latvian club Barons / LMT Riga just going down to one point. Then finished Huggins with almost 41 years of his active career.