Hackney White Heat

Hackney White Heat
League	EBL Division 3 (South)
Established	1996
History	London Towers B 1996-1998 London Towers A 1998-1999 Islington White Heat 1999-2000 InterBasket London 2000-2002 Hackney White Heat 2002-present
Arena	The SPACe Centre, Hackney Community College
Location	Hackney, London
Team colours	White / Black
Head coach	James Hoyle
Uniforms
Home Away

Hackney White Heat is an English basketball team from the district of Hackney in London, currently competing in the English Basketball League, Division 3 (South). The club were members of the top tier of the former National Basketball League before the competition was reformatted into the current English Basketball League.

Club History

The team originally began as the "B" team of the London Towers, largely consisting of the Towers' under-23 players. The club joined NBL Division 2 in 1996, and quickly earned promotion to Division 1 in 1998 by claiming 3rd place in the league and the runner-up position in the playoffs. After a single season in Division 1, they were forced to break away from their link to the Towers, following a ruling banning 'reserve' teams from the division. The newly independent team competed for a year as the Islington White Heat, and were almost removed again when the NBL rebranded their upper rank as the NBL Conference. Following an appeal, the team were allowed to continue in the new league, and took the name Inter-Basket London to try and appeal to a wider community.

The club's time in the short-lived NBL Conference saw little return for their efforts, never finishing above the bottom three. By the time the English Basketball League was formed in 2003, the club had rebranded themselves again, becoming the Hackney White Heat. The new league saw new, tougher rules for their upper tier, leaving Hackney no choice but to drop from the new EBL Division 1 into EBL Division 2 before a single game had tipped off. Further decline was to follow, as they finished next to bottom in Division 2 in 2005, leading to relegation to Division 3, where the club has remained ever since.

Season-by-season records

Season	Division	Played	Won	Lost	Points	League	Playoffs	National Cup	National Trophy	Patron's Cup	National Shield
London Towers 'B'
1996-97	NBL Division 2	26	22	4	44	2nd	Semi-final		1st Round	DNE	DNE
1997-98	NBL Division 2	24	19	5	38	3rd	Runner-up		Quarter-final	DNE	DNE
London Towers 'A'
1998-99	NBL Division 1	26	17	9	34	5th	Quarter-final		3rd Round	DNE	DNE
Islington White Heat
1999-2000	NBL Division 1	24	12	12	24	6th	Quarter-final		Quarter-final	DNE	DNE
InterBasket London
2000-01	NBL Conference	21	7	14	14	6th	Quarter-final		Runner-up	DNE	DNE
2001-02	NBL Conference	18	5	13	10	8th	Quarter-final		1st Round	DNE	DNE
Hackney White Heat
2002-03	NBL Conference	22	3	19	6	11th	DNQ		Quarter-final	DNE	DNE
2003-04	EBL Division 2	20	12	8	24	5th	Semi-final	1st Round	DNE	Runner-up	DNE
2004-05	EBL Division 2	19	5	14	10	10th	DNQ	3rd Round	DNE	1st Round	DNE
2005-06	EBL Division 3 (South East)	16	9	7	18	5th	DNQ	2nd Round	DNE	DNE	1st Round
2006-07	EBL Division 3 (South)	16	9	7	18	4th	Semi-final	1st Round	DNE	DNE	2nd Round
2007-08	EBL Division 3 (South)	22	10	12	20	7th	DNQ	2nd Round	DNE	DNE	3rd Round
2008–09	EBL Division 3 (South)	22	9	13	18	8th	DNQ	1st Round	DNE	DNE	2nd Round
2009–10	EBL Division 3 (South)	17	5	12	10	8th	DNQ	2nd Round	DNE	DNE	2nd Round
2010–11	EBL Division 3 (South)	20	5	15	10	11th	DNQ	2nd Round	DNE	DNE	2nd Round
2011–12	EBL Division 3 (South)	20	11	9	18	6th	DNQ	1st Round	DNE	DNE	2nd Round
2012–13	EBL Division 3 (South)	17	8	9	16	6th	DNQ	1st Round	DNE	DNE	3rd Round
2013–14	EBL Division 3 (South)	20	12	8	24	4th	Semi-final	1st Round	DNE	DNE	2nd Round

Notes:

• From 2000-2003 the NBL Conference operated as the second tier league, ahead of Division One.
• In 2003 the NBL was replaced by the EBL, which reinstated Division One as the second tier.

Notable Former Players

• Pops Mensah-Bonsu
• Perry Lawson