Steven Esterkamp

Steven Esterkamp
Player information
Full name	Steven Michael Esterkamp
birthday	January 8, 1981
place of birth	Cincinnati (OH), USA
size	198 cm
position	Small forward
college	Ohio
Clubs as active
1999–2003 Ohio Bobcats ( NCAA ) 2003 Allianz Swans Gmunden 2003–2004 SG Braunschweig 2004–2009 Paderborn Baskets 2009–2011 Eisbären Bremerhaven 2011 ETB Wohnbau Baskets Essen 2011–2013 ratiopharm ulm 2013 SC Rasta Vechta 2013–2014 see Oliver Baskets 00000 00000 00000
Clubs as coaches
2014–2017 Oettinger Rockets Gotha ( 2nd BL ProA ) (AC) 2017–2019 Dukes Wolfenbüttel since 2019 Paderborn Baskets 00

Steven Michael Esterkamp (born January 8, 1981 in Cincinnati , Ohio ) is an American basketball coach and former player. He has been the head coach of the Paderborn Baskets since summer 2019 .

After studying in his home country, Esterkamp began a professional career in Austria in 2003 , before moving to the 2nd basketball league in Germany shortly afterwards . Here he rose to the top division basketball Bundesliga with the Paderborn Baskets in 2006 . In 2011 he got a contract with ratiopharm Ulm, with whom he was able to become German runner-up in 2012 and reached the quarter-finals in the Eurocup 2012/13 . In the basketball Bundesliga 2013/14 he played for the s.Oliver Baskets from Würzburg after a brief engagement with the newly promoted SC Rasta Vechta . His older brother Dave was also a professional basketball player and won two championships each in Austria and Switzerland , where he played for Friborg Olympic for eight years .

Career

player

Steven Esterkamp started his sporting career at Ohio University , where he played for the Bobcats in the NCAA's Mid-American Conference . After completing his studies, Esterkamp signed a contract with the Austrian cup winner Allianz Swans from Gmunden in 2003 in the A-League , in which his brother Dave already played in another team. After there was no long-term commitment, shortly after the start of the season he went to Germany in the 2nd Basketball Bundesliga Group North for SG Braunschweig, the reserve team for the first division club BS Energy . He then moved to the 2nd Bundesliga 2004/05 to the more ambitious league competitor Paderborn Baskets, who also signed the second division top scorer Tim Black . Apart from a defeat on the 10th matchday against the self-proclaimed promotion favorite Eisbären Bremerhaven, all season games were won, but had to give the Bremerhaveners the right of way in the promotion because of the poorer direct comparison . In the 2. Basketball Bundesliga 2005/06 they won all the season games and achieved promotion to the top German division with their 50th win in a row.

Here the Paderborn team were able to establish themselves in the league with Esterkamp in the following two seasons and, despite the departure of Tim Black, who was the top scorer in the first division in the 2007/08 basketball league, finally reached the 2008/09 basketball league for the first time the play-offs for the German championship, in which they were eliminated in the first round in just under five games against defending champion Alba Berlin . After alleged sponsor commitments, the Paderborn-based company took over financially and was on the verge of bankruptcy . Long-time coach Doug Spradley switched to league competitor Eisbären Bremerhaven, who had only held the class by purchasing a " Wild Card ", and brought Esterkamp to Bremerhaven as well . At this club Esterkamp did not get into step after a protracted injury at the beginning of the basketball Bundesliga 2009/10 . After he hardly got any working time at the beginning of the Basketball Bundesliga 2010/11 , the contract was terminated and Esterkamp moved back to the second German league, now called ProA , where he was still relegated to the ProA 2010/11 with the ETB Wohnbau Baskets in Essen reached. Then Esterkamp got a contract in the top German league again for the basketball Bundesliga 2011/12 .

With the club ratiopharm from Ulm , Esterkamp was able to surprise in the 2011/12 season and they moved into the play-off final series, in which, however, they lost to the defending champion Brose Baskets from Bamberg. After the runner-up in 2012 they reached in the European club competition Eurocup 2012/13 the knockout games in the quarter-finals, in which, however, they were defeated by the later finalists Bilbao Basket . In the German championship this time they were narrowly defeated in the play-off semifinals to the EWE Baskets Oldenburg . After Esterkamp tried in vain for a naturalization while retaining his US citizenship, the contract with the team captain was terminated after the end of the 2012/13 season. In the new season of the Basketball Bundesliga 2013/14 Esterkamp finally got a trial contract in mid-October 2013 with first division promoted SC Rasta Vechta. However, he decided to end the contract with the experienced player after one month on November 18, 2013. On December 27, 2013, s.Oliver Baskets from Würzburg announced that it would sign Esterkamp for six weeks, although the contract was not extended after the end of the term.

Trainer

In July 2014 Esterkamp became assistant coach of the Oettinger Rockets Gotha from the 2nd Bundesliga ProA . On January 31, 2017, he and head coach Chris Ensminger were fired.

In the summer of 2017, he took up his first position as head coach with the Dukes of Wolfenbüttel in the 2nd Bundesliga ProB . In the 2017/18 season Wolfenbüttel reached the ProB quarter-finals under his leadership, in 2018/19 Esterkamp missed relegation in the ProB with the Lower Saxony. In the summer break of 2019 he moved to the Paderborn Baskets (2nd Bundesliga ProA) and thus to an old place of work. He took over the coaching office there. He and his team were in sixth place in the 2019/20 season when match operations were canceled due to the spread of COVID-19 . Esterkamp was shortlisted for the season's best ProA coach, his playmaker Kendale McCullum was named the best second division player of the season.

Web links

• Esterkamp, Steven - Player profile on the website of the ULEB ( English )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eisbären sign US boy Steven Esterkamp. Schoenen-Dunk.de, July 23, 2009, accessed on December 30, 2013 (Medien-Info Eisbären Bremerhaven). 
2. ↑ "I give Pesic a high credit for that". Sport1 , July 1, 2013, accessed on December 30, 2013 (interview with Ulm's trainer Thorsten Leibenath ). 
3. ↑ Vechta separates from Esterkamp. Crossover-Online.de, November 19, 2013, archived from the original on November 26, 2013 ; accessed on December 30, 2013 (Medien-Info RASTA Vechta). 
4. ↑ Steven Esterkamp signed for six weeks. s.Oliver Baskets , December 27, 2013, archived from the original on December 28, 2013 ; accessed on December 30, 2013 (media info). 
5. ↑ Steven Esterkamp becomes assistant coach of the Rockets. In: BiG-Gotha.de. July 31, 2014, accessed January 31, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Rockets Gotha separate from head coach Ensminger. (No longer available online.) Mdr.de, January 31, 2017, archived from the original on January 31, 2017 ; accessed on January 31, 2017 . 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.  
7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated April 9, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ news38.de/ck: Out in the quarter-finals: Dukes Wolfenbüttel lose game three at Schalke. April 9, 2018, accessed March 20, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Dukes Wolfenbüttel - Dukes lose key game. Retrieved March 20, 2019 . 
10. ↑ ProA: Uni Baskets Paderborn sign Steven Esterkamp as their new head coach - Paderborn Baskets. Retrieved April 8, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Uni Baskets Paderborn: Kendale McCullum is Player of the Year in the Pro A - Paderborn Baskets. Retrieved June 26, 2020 (German).