Colin Irish

Colin Irish
Player information
Full name	Colin Lloyd Brian Irish
birthday	March 3, 1961
place of birth	London (ENG), United Kingdom
size	198 cm
position	Small forward / power forward
college	Bowling Green State
NBA draft	1984 , 99. Pick Washington Bullets
Clubs as active
1979–1984 BGSU Falcons ( NCAA ) 1984–1985 Manchester United 1985–1988 Portsmouth FC 1988–1989 Manchester Eagles 1991–1992 Kingston Kings 1992–1996 Worthing Bears 1996 Cholet Basket 1996–1997 Manchester Giants 1997–2000 Solent Stars 2002 Hackney White Heat 00000 00000
National team
0000 -1993	England
Clubs as coaches
1995–1996 Worthing Bears ( SpTr )

Colin Lloyd Brian Irish (born March 3, 1961 in London , England ) is a retired English basketball player . After studying in the United States , Irish returned to his native country, where he played successfully professionally and won several championships and was named " Most Valuable Player " (MVP). However, with the English national team Irish could not qualify for the finals or the Olympic Games .

Career

Irish studied from 1979 at Bowling Green State University in Ohio , where he played for the college team Falcons in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) of the NCAA . In its first season, Irish had its best statistical value in its college career with a throw rate of over 50% and scored almost 13 points per game as a " freshman ". In his college career he got a total of 1,567 points and is one of the team's “top ten” of the all-time best list of the Falcons. The Falcons reached the final of the championship tournament of the MAC, which was lost to the Rockets of the University of Toledo . In the subsequent “ National Invitation Tournament ” (NIT) they were eliminated in the first round. In the 1980/81 season they had the best record in the MAC regular season, tied with other teams, but did not get very far in the championship tournament. Then Irish could be used in only four games of the following season, which was rated for him as "red-shirted" (suspended). In the 1982/83 season had been left alone, the best record of all the teams in the MAC, but lost again the final of the championship tournament, this time against the Bobcats of Ohio University , and also the first-round match in the NIT. In the fifth NCAA season of Irish due to the suspended third college season, the Falcons could not celebrate any further successes. Irish was selected in the entry draft of the NBA professional league in the fifth round by the Washington Bullets, but not taken over in their seasonal roster. Steve Bucknall , selected five years later, is considered the first British NBA professional.

Irish in 1986 facing the camera, with Alan Cunningham on his right in a suit with a clipboard

Irish returned to his native country after completing his studies in 1984 and became a professional with the basketball team of the Manchester United football club in the English National Basketball League (NBL). United won after the second place in the main round of the 1984/85 season the title in the play-offs against the main round first Kingston Kings, against whom they had lost the final in the "National Cup". Then he was committed to another "football club". The owner of Portsmouth FC , John Deacon, took over the Telford Turbos in January 1985 and transferred it to Portsmouth on the English south coast. After the team had brought only one victory in Division One of the NBL in the 1984/85 season, the competition was now big, including Alan Cunningham of the Worthing Bears. In the 1985/86 season they took third place in the main round and a year later they had the best record of all teams in Division One in first place. The final in the 1987 National Cup, however, was lost to defending champion Kingston Kings like a year later. For the 1987/88 season, the British Basketball League (BBL) was introduced as a closed professional league , in which, in addition to the English teams in Division One, the Scottish team MIM Livingston was also accepted. In the premiere season, Portsmouth again reached first place in the main round, but lost the final game of the play-offs against the only Scottish team in the BBL. Deacon sold his shares in the football club, but found no prospect for the basketball team, which eventually ceased to play. The owners of the United basketball team were able to sell them, which then continued to participate in the BBL's game operations as Eagles, while four teams were already withdrawn from the closed league. Irish continued his career with the Eagles in Manchester, but they were eliminated from the title race in the first play-off round of the BBL in 1989.

For the 1991/92 season Irish played for the Kingston Kings, who had dominated the BBL in the previous three years and made it into the top eight teams in Europe in the 1990/91 European Cup . While they were still dominant in the BBL and Irish won all titles together with, among others, Alan Cunningham, they could no longer build on this success in international club competitions. For the 1992/93 season, the Kings left the London city limits and moved to a new hall in Guildford. The now 37-year-old Cunningham went back to the south coast of England to the Worthing Bears, who had been accepted into the BBL two years earlier, as player-coach, a personal union common at the time in the BBL, and took Irish with him. In the championship you replaced the Kings as the dominant team and won the regular season in which Colin Irish was elected MVP of the BBL. In the play-offs they beat the Kings, against whom they had lost the cup final, with one point difference in the semifinals, and they also won the play-off final game with one point difference against the Thames Valley Tigers . In qualifying for the main round of the European Championship in 1995 , the English national team failed in the summer of 1993 with Cunningham and Irish because of the poorer direct comparison with Romania . In the 1993/94 season, the Thames Valley Tigers remained the biggest rivals of the Bears, who lost the semi-finals in the league cup "BBL Trophy" against defending champions Tigers, while they won the final in the "National Cup" against the Tigers. In the play-offs of the championship, however, the main round first Tigers failed in the first round, so that the Bears could defend their play-off title in the final against the Kings. In the following season, the defending champion in the cup competition failed in the first round and lost again in the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy against the Tigers. In the championship they only moved into the play-offs as seventh, but just kept the upper hand over the Tigers in the first round. After defeating the main round first Sheffield Sharks in the semi-finals, the way was clear to win the play-off title for the third time in a row in the final against Irish 'old team from Manchester. In the 1995/96 season Irish took over as player-coach the fate of the Bears and persuaded his long-time comrade Cunningham, who had actually resigned, to hang on for another season. In the National Cup they were eliminated again early, but reached the final in the BBL Trophy, which was lost to the London Towers . With the exception of the play-offs, the Towers were able to win all of the BBL's competitions this season, because the Bears could not repeat their march through the play-offs from the previous season. As seventh they were eliminated this time in the first round.

As a result of the Bosman decision and the lifting of restrictions on EU citizens, Cunningham and Irish tried to gain a foothold in more lucrative leagues on mainland Europe in the 1996/97 season. While smashed a commitment in Crete for the 41-year-old Cunningham, six years younger Irish started the season 1996/97 across the English Channel at the French club from Cholet in the LNB Pro A . During the season, however, Irish returned to England and played the season at his former club in Manchester, which were now running as Giants, to the end. But the Giants were eliminated as sixth in the main round again in the first play-off round. Cunningham was now player-coach of the Solent Stars in Southampton , who had returned to the league system of the English NBL after three seasons at the start of the BBL, and brought Irish into his team. In the 1997/98 season you won the championship of Division Two with just one defeat and returned to Division One, in which you immediately took first place in the 1998/99 season. In the following season they finished third, but could move into the play-offs in the final, which was lost to the main round first Teesside Mohawks. Irish left the team, but was committed a year later as a player-coach for the Division One promoted Oxford United for the 2001/02 season, but the license was denied before the start of the season. Irish jumped in again as a player for the lower class Hackney White Heat in 2002 and then ended his career in basketball.

Web links

• Colin Lloyd Brian Irish | European Cup Radivoj Korac 1996 - player profile on the websites of FIBA Europa ( English )
• Fact File: Colin Irish, Solent Stars - Profile on the Britball.com archive pages (Author: Mark Woods, English, as of 2000)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2012-13 Men's Basketball Media Guide - Section 4. (PDF (16.7 MB)) Bowling Green State University , November 1, 2012, p. 64 , accessed June 30, 2013 (English). 
2. ↑ England Basketball: Senior Men - Playoff. (No longer available online.) England Basketball . Archived from the original on August 13, 2013 ; accessed on June 30, 2013 (English, overview of final results). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ England Basketball: Senior Men - League. (No longer available online.) England Basketball . Archived from the original on April 2, 2013 ; accessed on June 30, 2013 (English, overview of seasons). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ England Basketball: Senior Men - Cup Competitions. (No longer available online.) England Basketball . Archived from the original on April 2, 2013 ; accessed on June 30, 2013 (English, overview of final results). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ^ Javier Gancedo: From YMCA to the Towers: London clubs in European competitions. ULEB , February 12, 2013, accessed June 30, 2013 . 
6. ↑ 1992–93 BBL Championship & Playoffs. British Basketball League , accessed June 30, 2013 (season summary). 
7. ^ England / 1995 European Championship for Men: Qualifying Round. FIBA , accessed on June 30, 2013 . 
8. ^ Mark Fuhrmann: Brighton Bears - keeping the dream alive. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 18, 2012 ; accessed on June 30, 2013 (English, seasonal chronicle on private “Tribute” website). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Colin IRISH - Pro A - Cholet Basket. Cholet Basket , accessed June 30, 2013 (French, player profile).