AS Monaco Basket facts for kids

Quick facts for kids AS Monaco
Nickname	La Roca Team Les Rouges et Blancs (The Red and Whites) Roca Boys
Leagues	LNB Élite EuroLeague
Founded	1928; 97 years ago (1928)
Arena	Salle Gaston Médecin
Capacity	5,000
Location	Fontvieille, Monaco
Team colors	Red, White and Gold
President	Alexey Fedorychev
General manager	Oleksiy Yefimov
Head coach	Vassilis Spanoulis
Championships	1 EuroCup 2 French Championships 1 French Cup 3 French League Cup
Uniforms
Home Away

AS Monaco Basket, also known as AS Monaco or just Monaco, is a professional basketball team. It is based in Monaco but plays in French leagues. The team is part of a bigger sports club called A.S. Monaco, which started in 1924.

The basketball part of the club began in 1928. Today, they play in the top French league, LNB Pro A, and in the EuroLeague. This is a major European competition. Monaco plays its home games at Salle Gaston Médecin.

Monaco was the runner-up in the EuroLeague in 2025. They won the EuroCup title in 2021. They also won one French Cup in 2023. Plus, they have won three Leaders Cups.

History of AS Monaco Basket

Early Years and First Successes

The AS Monaco Basket club started in 1928. This was four years after the main A.S. Monaco sports club began. In 1950, they finished second in France's top basketball league. This was one of their best achievements back then.

In 1973, Monaco won the LNB Pro B, which is the French 2nd Division. Their offense was one of the best in Europe at that time. They joined the top league, Nationale 1, for the 1973–74 season.

Playing in Europe

Monaco first played in a European competition in 1974. It was called the FIBA Korać Cup. They played against other strong teams. They joined the same tournament again in 1982. This time, they did much better. They reached the Top 16 group stage.

In the 1980s, Monaco became a very strong team in French basketball. They reached the final of the French Basketball Cup. They lost to Limoges CSP in a close game.

New Players and Challenges

In 1985, a former NBA player named Robert Smith joined the team. This made Monaco even stronger. Smith was even named the MVP of the French League All-Star Game in 1987.

After Smith left, Monaco faced some tough times. They were moved down to the second division. This is called being "relegated." They did not return to the top French league for many years.

Return to the Top

In 2014, AS Monaco Basket won the French third-tier league. This allowed them to move back up to the LNB Pro B. The next year, in 2015, they won the LNB Pro B championship. This meant they were finally promoted back to the top French league, the LNB Pro A!

Also in 2015, a Ukrainian businessman, Sergey Dyadechko, became the club's president. In the 2015–16 season, Monaco won the Leaders Cup. They beat Élan Chalon in the final. Jamal Shuler, a Monaco player, was named the MVP.

European Comeback and Major Wins

Monaco returned to European competitions in the 2016–17 season. They played in the FIBA Basketball Champions League. They finished in third place that season. In 2017, the club's owner, Dyadechko, also became a sponsor through his charity.

They played in the FIBA Champions League again in 2017–18. They reached the final but lost to AEK Athens. Monaco also won the Leaders Cup in both 2017 and 2018. They finished second in the French Pro A League in 2017–18.

For the next three seasons, Monaco played in the EuroCup. They won the EuroCup in the 2020–21 season! This was a huge achievement.

EuroLeague Debut and Recent Success

In the 2021–22 season, Monaco played in the EuroLeague for the first time. This is the highest level of European basketball. They did very well, finishing seventh in the regular season. They made it to the playoffs but lost to Olympiacos.

Monaco played in the EuroLeague again the next season. They made the playoffs for the second year in a row.

On April 22, 2023, Monaco won its first big trophy. They won the French Basketball Cup by beating ASVEL in the final. Élie Okobo was named the MVP of the final game. In the same 2022–23 season, Monaco reached the 2023 EuroLeague Final Four. They became only the third French team ever to reach the Final Four.

In the 2024–25 season, the team, coached by Vassilis Spanoulis, reached the EuroLeague Final Four again. They made it to the final game but lost to Fenerbahçe.

Arena

AS Monaco Basket plays its home games at the Salle Gaston Médecin. This arena can hold 5,000 fans. It is part of the bigger Stade Louis II sports complex.

Monaco was originally going to play its 2021–22 EuroLeague games in a different arena. This was the Azur Arena in Antibes. But the decision was changed. The team played in their usual home arena in Monaco instead.

Logos

• 

  A.S. Monaco Basket Amateur

• 

  A.S. Monaco Basket

Players

Current roster

AS Monaco roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 0 Okobo, Élie 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 27 – (1997-10-23)23 October 1997 F 4 Blossomgame, Jaron 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 31 – (1993-09-16)16 September 1993 SG 8 Loyd, Jordan 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 31 – (1993-07-27)27 July 1993 C 9 Papagiannis, Georgios 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in) 121 kg (267 lb) 27 – (1997-07-03)3 July 1997 F/C 10 Theis, Daniel 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 33 – (1992-04-04)4 April 1992 SF 11 Diallo, Alpha 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 27 – (1997-06-29)29 June 1997 F/C 12 Cornelie, Petr 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 108 kg (238 lb) 29 – (1995-07-26)26 July 1995 C 14 Jaiteh, Mouhammadou 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 30 – (1994-11-27)27 November 1994 F/C 20 Motiejūnas, Donatas 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 118 kg (260 lb) 34 – (1990-09-20)20 September 1990 SF 22 Tarpey, Terry 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 31 – (1994-03-02)2 March 1994 SG 23 Begarin, Juhann 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 22 – (2002-08-07)7 August 2002 F 30 Brown, Vitto 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 107 kg (236 lb) 29 – (1995-07-13)13 July 1995 G 32 Strazel, Matthew 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 22 – (2002-08-05)5 August 2002 PG 33 Calathes, Nick 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 97 kg (214 lb) 36 – (1989-02-07)7 February 1989 PG 55 James, Mike (C) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 34 – (1990-08-18)18 August 1990	Head coach Vassilis Spanoulis Assistant coach(es) Ilias Kantzouris Kostas Charalampidis Manuchar Markoishvili Sergiy Gladyr Mirko Ocokoljić Team manager Oleksiy Yefimov Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 24 May 2025

Depth chart

Trophies and honors

Domestic competitions

• French League

• Winners (2): 2022–23, 2023–24
• Runners-up (4): 1949–50, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22

• French Cup

• Winners (1): 2022–23
• Runners-up (1): 1982–83

• Leaders Cup

• Winners (3): 2016, 2017, 2018
• Runners-up (1): 2025

• French Pro B

• Champions (2): 1972–73, 2014–15

• French NM1

• Champions (1): 2013–14

European competitions

• EuroLeague

• Runners-up (1): 2024–25
• Third place (1): 2022–23

• EuroCup

• Champions (1): 2020–21

• Basketball Champions League

• Runners-up (1): 2017–18
• Third place (1): 2016–17

Other competitions

• Berlin, Germany Invitational Game

• Winners (1): 2019

Notable players

See Also

In Spanish: AS Mónaco Basket para niños