Helsinki Seagulls

Helsinki Seagulls is a professional basketball team, based in Helsinki, Finland. The club is playing in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of basketball in Finland, since 2014.

Helsinki Seagulls
Nickname	Gulls
Leagues	Korisliiga
Founded	2013 (2013)
History	Helsinki Seagulls (2013–present)
Arena	Töölö Sports Hall
Capacity	2,000
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Team colors	Navy, Gold, Black
Head coach	Jussi Laakso
Team captain	Tuukka Kotti
Ownership	Janne Kulvik Sinikka Kulvik Sami Hedberg
Website	www.helsinkiseagulls.com
Home Away

History

The team was established in 2013 and it acquired its place on the second level of Finnish basketball in Division I A after the dissolution of the Torpan Pojat men's team. The license of Torpan Pojat was then transferred to the Gulls, along with the remaining players.[1][2]

The Seagulls opened their 2013-2014 season in the Division I A with winning 10 matches in a row. The team won a total of 25 of their 28 regular season games placing first in their division with Josh Gonner leading their offense with an impressive 20.5 points per game. Seagulls earned the promotion to Korisliiga after dismissing first Tampereen Pyrintö II and then BC Nokia in the division playoffs.[3]

The first ever team picture of Helsinki Seagulls in September 2013.

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Finnish Cup	European competitions
2013–14	2	First Division A	1st
2014–15	1	Korisliiga	8th
2015–16	1	Korisliiga	4th
2016–17	1	Korisliiga	3rd
2017–18	1	Korisliiga	3rd
2018–19	1	Korisliiga	7th

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Helsinki Seagulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age PG 4 Waxlax, Erik 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 20 – (1999-12-01)1 December 1999 F 7 Huff, Shawn 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 36 – (1984-05-05)5 May 1984 PF 8 Heinonen, Timo 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 38 – (1981-11-26)26 November 1981 G/F 10 Laakso, Sakari 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 23 – (1997-04-30)30 April 1997 C 11 Kotti, Tuukka (C) 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 39 – (1981-03-18)18 March 1981 SF 21 Tahvanainen, Sami 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 21 – (1998-11-02)2 November 1998 F Besselink, Max 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 18 – (2002-01-01)1 January 2002 G Diawara, Mambi 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 26 – (1994-07-20)20 July 1994 G Mäkelä, Samuli 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 21 – (1999-06-19)19 June 1999 F Martin, Wayne 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 108 kg (238 lb) 27 – (1993-06-11)11 June 1993	Head coach Jussi Laakso Assistant coach(es) Vesa Vertio Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 8 August 2020

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Tuukka Kotti
PF	Shawn Huff	Timo Heinonen
SF	Martin Wayne	Max Besselink
SG	Antti Kanervo	Sakari Laakso	Sami Tahvanainen
PG	Erik Waxlax	Samuli Mäkelä

colours: Finnish players; foreign players

Squad changes for the 2020-2021 season

In

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from		Type	Ends	Transfer fee	Date	Source
	F		Max Besselink	18	NMKY Helsinki				Free	3 June 2020	[4]
	G		Samuli Mäkelä	20	Karkkilan Urheilijat				Free	3 June 2020	[4]
	F		Wayne Martin	26	Jämtland Basket		1 year	June 2021	Free	5 June 2020	[5]
	G		Mambi Diawara	26	Edmonton Stingers				Free	4 August 2020	[6]

Out

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving to		Type	Transfer fee	Date	Source
47	G/F		Ricky Waxlax	20	Lahti Basketball		end of contract	Free	1 June 2020	[7][8]
2	PG		Trae Bell-Haynes	24	Crailsheim Merlins		end of contract	Free	30 June 2020	[9]
3	PG		Richie Williams	32	Free agent		end of contract	Free	1 July 2020
30	G/F		Elijah Stewart	24	Śląsk Wrocław		end of contract	Free	1 July 2020	[10]
32	F/C		Kazembe Abif	27	Free agent		end of contract	Free	1 July 2020

Confirmed

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from		Type	Ends	Transfer fee	Date	Source
8	PF		Timo Heinonen	38	KTP Basket		5 + 1+1 years	June 2021 + 2022	Free	9 June 2015	[11][12][13]
10	G/F		Sakari Laakso	23	youth team		3 + 1 year	June 2021	Free	8 July 2017	[14][15]
11	C		Tuukka Kotti	39	Crailsheim Merlins		3 + 1 year	June 2021	Free	13 July 2017	[16][17]
4	SF		Erik Waxlax	20	MaSu-Basket		2 + 1 years	June 2021	Free	2 August 2018	[18][19]
7	SF		Shawn Huff	36	Skyliners Frankfurt		3 years	June 2022	Free	17 May 2019	[20]
9	SG		Antti Kanervo	31	Stjarnan		1 + 2 years	2022	Free	1 July 2020	[21][22]
21	SF		Sami Tahvanainen	21	NMKY Helsinki		1 + 1 years	June 2021	Free	29 July 2019	[19]

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team.

• Tuukka Kotti
• Carl Lindbom
• Antti Kanervo
• Antto Nikkarinen
• Gerald Lee Jr.
• Jason Conley
• Raymond Cowels III

References

1. "ToPo jäi ilman liigalisenssiä" Iltasanomat, Retrieved 2014-9-24 (in Finnish)
2. "Nostaako tämä seura Helsingin takaisin Korisliigaan?" Iltasanomat, Retrieved 2014-9-24 (in Finnish)
3. "Seagulls otti ratkaisevan voiton Nokialla - helsinkiläiset palaavat Korisliigaan" YLE, Retrieved 2014-9-24 (in Finnish)
4. "Kaksi lupaavaa nuorta mukaan Seagullsin kokoonpanoon!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 3 June 2020.
5. "Laajan kansainvälisen kokemuksen omaava Wayne Martin Seagullsiin!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 5 June 2020.
6. "Kovia näyttöjä antanut Mambi Diawara Seagullsiin!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 4 August 2020.
7. "Helsinki Seagullsin ja Ricky Waxlaxin tiet eroavat" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 1 June 2020.
8. "Ricky Waxlax siirtyy Lahti Basketballin riveihin" (in Finnish). lahtibasketball.fi. 1 June 2020.
9. "ERSTER NEUZUGANG PERFEKT – HAKRO MERLINS VERPFLICHTEN TRAE BELL-HAYNES" (in German). hakro-merlins.com. 30 June 2020.
10. "Elijah Stewart nowym Trójkolorowym!" (in Polish). wks-slask.eu. 15 July 2020.
11. "Timo Heinonen siirtyy Seagullsin vahvuuteen" (in Finnish). basket.fi. 9 June 2015.
12. "KOKENUT KEHÄKETTU TIMO HEINONEN JATKAA SEAGULLSISSA!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 29 May 2019.
13. "Korisliiga-legenda Timo Heinonen jatkosopimukseen Helsinki Seagullsin kanssa!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 2 March 2020.
14. "Helsinki Seagullsille sopimuksia nuorten lupausten kanssa" (in Finnish). basket.fi. 8 July 2017.
15. "Sakari Laakso ja Helsinki Seagulls jatkosopimukseen!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 27 April 2020.
16. "Susijengin teräsmies Tuukka Kotti Helsinki Seagullsin leipiin" (in Finnish). basket.fi. 13 July 2017.
17. "Helsinki Seagullsin kapteeni Tuukka Kotti jatkaa Helsingissä!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 24 April 2020.
18. "Kaksi lupaavaa nuorta pelaajaa mukaan Seagulls-miehistöön!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 2 August 2018.
19. "ERIK WAXLAX JA SAMI TAHVANAINEN TÄYDENTÄVÄT SEAGULLSIN KOTIMAISTA RUNKOA!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 29 July 2019.
20. "SUSIJENGIN KAPTEENI SHAWN HUFF SEAGULLSIIN!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 17 May 2019.
21. "Antti Kanervo palaa Seagullsiin!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 22 July 2019.
22. "Seagullsin kova kotimainen runko vahvistuu: Antti Kanervo jatkaa Helsingissä!" (in Finnish). helsinkiseagulls.com. 24 July 2020.

External links

• Official website (in Finnish)
• 2018-19 Korisliiga team page (in Finnish)