Crailsheim Merlins

The club was founded on 31 January 1986 by a group of students. Until 1994, the team was only active at the lower local leagues and had problems in finding a hall to play at. A year later, the club found a new home in the barracks of departed American armed forces. In 2001, the Merlins managed to promote to the German second division, now the ProA, for the first time. A new home arena was found again, in the form of a renovated market hall.

In the 2013–14 season Merlins promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga, by reaching the ProA Finals. The club managed to avoid relegation in its first season in the league, because Artland Dragons was relegated the club received a wild card. However, in the following 2015–16 season the team was relegated once again after finishing last. In the 2020–21 season, coach Tuomas Iisalo guided the Merlins to their first Bundesliga playoff appearance in club history. Iisalo left Crailsheim at the conclusion of the 2020–21 campaign, Sebastian Gleim was named the new head coach.^[]

In the 2021–22 season, Crailsheim made its European debut as it was placed in the regular season of the FIBA Europe Cup. On 13 October 2021, the Merlins recorded an away win over Bakken Bears in their debut. The same season, the Merlins also reached the final of the 2021–22 BBL-Pokal, its first final appearance in the national cup. The Merlins eventually lost to 86–78 to ALBA Berlin.

Saksamaa ProA	01/28 18:00	20	^[8] Gladiators Trier v Crailsheim Merlins ^[2]	W	85-88
Saksamaa ProA	01/24 18:30	19	^[7] Oettinger Rockets v Crailsheim Merlins ^[2]	W	83-85
Saksamaa ProA	01/08 15:30	17	^[1] Mitteldeutscher v Crailsheim Merlins ^[2]	W	99-107
Saksamaa ProA	01/05 18:30	18	Crailsheim Merlins v Nurnberg Falcons	W	99-68
Saksamaa ProA	12/23 18:30	16	^[3] Crailsheim Merlins v Kirchheim Knights ^[2]	W	90-69
Saksamaa ProA	12/18 16:00	15	Crailsheim Merlins v Oettinger Rockets	W	84-71
Saksamaa ProA	12/10 18:30	14	^[8] Paderborn Baskets v Crailsheim Merlins ^[3]	W	83-89
Saksamaa ProA	12/03 18:30	13	Crailsheim Merlins v Mitteldeutscher	L	72-89
Saksamaa ProA	11/26 18:30	12	Crailsheim Merlins v Hanau White Wings	L	65-71
Saksamaa ProA	11/20 16:30	11	^[12] Ehingen Urspring v Crailsheim Merlins ^[3]	W	90-92
Saksamaa ProA	11/12 18:30	10	Crailsheim Merlins v Trier	W	76-58
Saksamaa ProA	11/06 16:00	9	^[7] Hamburg Towers v Crailsheim Merlins ^[4]	W	84-90
Saksamaa ProA	11/04 18:30	8	Crailsheim Merlins v BV Chemnitz 99	W	85-75
Saksamaa ProA	10/28 17:30	7	Koln Rhein Stars v Crailsheim Merlins	W	78-82
Saksamaa ProA	10/22 17:30	6	Crailsheim Merlins v Dresden	W	97-71
Saksamaa ProA	10/15 17:30	5	Kirchheim Knights v Crailsheim Merlins	L	86-84
Saksamaa ProA	10/08 17:30	4	Crailsheim Merlins v ETB Wohnbau Baskets	W	85-70
Saksamaa ProA	10/04 18:00	3	Baunach v Crailsheim Merlins	W	62-84
Saksamaa ProA	10/01 17:30	2	Crailsheim Merlins v Heidelberg Academics	L	67-72
Saksamaa ProA	09/24 17:30	1	Nurnberg Falcons v Crailsheim Merlins	W	47-79
Saksamaa Bundesliga	05/01 15:00	34	Phoenix Hagen v Crailsheim Merlins	L	94-83
Saksamaa Bundesliga	04/29 18:00	33	Crailsheim Merlins v Tübingen	L	74-91
Saksamaa Bundesliga	04/24 13:00	32	Eisbaren Bremerhaven v Crailsheim Merlins	L	72-64
Saksamaa Bundesliga	04/22 18:30	31	Crailsheim Merlins v Bayern München	L	78-89
Saksamaa Bundesliga	04/16 16:30	30	Alba Berlin v Crailsheim Merlins	L	90-68
Saksamaa Bundesliga	04/09 18:30	29	Crailsheim Merlins v Ludwigsburg	L	74-75
Saksamaa Bundesliga	04/02 16:30	28	Crailsheim Merlins v S. Oliver Wurzburg	L	70-81
Saksamaa Bundesliga	03/28 17:00	23	Ratiopharm Ulm v Crailsheim Merlins	L	83-79
Saksamaa Bundesliga	03/18 19:00	27	Giessen v Crailsheim Merlins	L	83-79
Saksamaa Bundesliga	03/16 19:00	26	Crailsheim Merlins v Braunschweig	L	79-88

Crailsheim Merlins

Wikipedia - Crailsheim Merlins

History