West Adelaide Bearcats
Established	1946
Former Home Venue	Apollo Stadium Apollo Stadium Apollo Stadium was an indoor arena located at 41 Kingston Avenue, Richmond in the Adelaide Metropolitan Area, South Australia... , Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
Current Home Venue	Pt. Adelaide Rec Centre, Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
Team Colours	Black, Red and White
NBL Champions	1982
NBL History	1979–1984
ABA History	(1984–present)

The West Adelaide Bearcats are a semi-professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 team competing in the Australian Basketball Association

Australian Basketball Association

The Australian Basketball Association, often abbreviated to the ABA, is the second-tiered semi-professional men's and women's basketball minor leagues in Australia which sit under the professional National Basketball League and Women's National Basketball League .The ABA is representative of the...

.

NBL

The West Adelaide Bearcats was a foundation club in the NBL

National Basketball League (Australasia)

The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....

 which merged with the Adelaide 36ers

Adelaide 36ers

The Adelaide 36ers are Adelaide's men's professional basketball team, established as the Adelaide City Eagles when they joined the National Basketball League in 1982. The Adelaide 36ers tally of four championships is equal with the Melbourne Tigers and second behind the Perth Wildcats as the most...

 in 1985. Founded in 1946, it won the NBL championship 80–74 against the Geelong Cats

Geelong Supercats

The Geelong Supercats are an Australian basketball team, based in the Victorian City of Geelong, that currently plays in the Australian Basketball Association and previously played in the National Basketball League.-NBL History:...

 in 1982. During the 1982 regular season West Adelaide finished first with a 21–5 win/loss record.

One of the Bearcats best players, US-born Al Green

Al Green (basketball)

Al Green is a retired naturalised Australian professional basketball player originally from the United States who played his career in the Australian National Basketball League from 1981 until his retirement in at the end of 1993.-School/College career:Born and bred in the South Bronx, Al Green...

 won the NBL MVP

NBL (Australia) Most Valuable Player

At the conclusion of each NBL game, both coaches award votes to the best players from that game. Each coach has 10 votes to allocate, with no more than 5 to be awarded to one player by each coach....

 award that season. Although he won the MVP award he was controversially not named to the All NBL Team

NBL (Australia) All NBL teams

-NBL First Teams:* 1980 Cal Stamp, Danny Morseu, Brian Banks, Herb McEachin, Ian Davies and Ken Richardson* 1981 Rocky Smith, Danny Morseu, Al Green, David Nelson and Owen Wells* 1982 George Morrow, James Crawford, Leroy Loggins, Phil Smyth and Larry Sengstock...

. Leroy Loggins

Leroy Loggins

Leroy Loggins is a former professional basketball player who played in the Australian National Basketball League from 1981 to the 2000-01 season...

, another West Adelaide player and future Brisbane Bullets

Brisbane Bullets

The Brisbane Bullets were, until 2008, a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League. The Bullets were one of only two teams that survived since the NBL's inception in 1979; the only surviving team is now the Wollongong Hawks. The team played in Midnight Navy...

 star was named in that side.
West Adelaide also made Grand Final appearances in 1980 and 1983. The club merged with the Adelaide 36ers

Adelaide 36ers

The Adelaide 36ers are Adelaide's men's professional basketball team, established as the Adelaide City Eagles when they joined the National Basketball League in 1982. The Adelaide 36ers tally of four championships is equal with the Melbourne Tigers and second behind the Perth Wildcats as the most...

 at the end of the 1984 season, which was the last the Bearcats played in their own right.

ABA

West Adelaide currently competes in the ABA

Australian Basketball Association

The Australian Basketball Association, often abbreviated to the ABA, is the second-tiered semi-professional men's and women's basketball minor leagues in Australia which sit under the professional National Basketball League and Women's National Basketball League .The ABA is representative of the...

, and is the most successful State League team in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, the club having claimed 14 Central Australian Basketball League

Central Australian Basketball League

The Central Australian Basketball League is the South Australian conference of the Australian Basketball Association . The Central ABL is used as a development league for the Adelaide teams competing in the NBL and the Women's National Basketball League.The winner of the CABL plays off against the...

 men's championships and five women's titles. The club Senior Mens team is currently coached by Paul Bell, assistant coach Brendon Mann and captained by Adam Pearce. The Senior Women's is coached by Vicki Valk and assisted by Reg Granthem.

The Division 2 mens team has rotating leadership throughout the junior players. The Division 3 mens team is currently captained by Peter Keaney. The Division 4 mens team is currently captained by Scott Leaver.

The Bearcats of Today

Peter Ali and David Spear who are both previous players for West and the Adelaide 36ers and also previous coaches of Wests Senior Mens team and are now coaches of the U/18 Div 1 boys. David Spear was the last coach to win a mens title.

The Under 23s (Youth League) is currently coached by Jason Champion but has been romours that another ex-36er Peter Sexton will coach the 2011/2012 season.

Another big name coach David Ingham has been appointed the Under 16s Div 1 coaching spot. Ingham is an old player and has coached the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL.

Roster

Honour roll

NBL Championships:	1 (1982)
NBL Finals Appearances:	5 (1979–1983)
NBL Grand Final Appearances:	3 (1980, 1982, 1983)
NBL Most Valuable Players:	Ken Richardson (1979), Al Green (1982)
NBL Grand Final MVPs:	Leroy Loggins Leroy Loggins Leroy Loggins is a former professional basketball player who played in the Australian National Basketball League from 1981 to the 2000-01 season... (1982)
All-NBL First Team:	Ken Richardson (1980), Al Green (1981), Leroy Loggins (1982, 1983)
NBL Best Defensive Player:	Ray Wood (1980, 1981)