Den Helder Suns

After the bankruptcy of the Netherlands' professional BV Den Helder team during the 2013–14 season, a professional basketball representative team from Den Helder was missing for three seasons. In 2016, the Suns organisation was founded with the goal of making a return to the Dutch Basketball League (DBL). On June 30, 2017, Den Helder Suns announced it would return to the highest level in the 2017–18 season.^[1] On July 14, 2017, the Suns announced "Peter van Noord head coach Den Helder Suns."^[2]

In its first DBL season, Suns finished in the eight place of the regular season, above last-placed BAL. Captain Tjoe de Paula, who played for different clubs from Den Helder before, got his number retired on 19 April 2018.^[3]

Since the 2021–22 season, the Suns play in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.^[4]

For the 2025-26 season, the clubs application for a license in the BNXT League was initially rejected due to uncertainties to meet their financial obligations throughout the season. The club reapplied for a license and was received one a month after the initial rejection.^[5] The economic uncertainties for the club however persisted, leading the club to decide not to reapply for a license for the 2026-27 season. The club expected they were going to be unable to meet the requirement of a proper basketball floor and maintaining a salary for a general manager. They hope to participate in a new league of the NBB which would be ranked between the BNXT League and the Promotiedivisie. ^[6]

On 19 April 2018, Suns retired its first number as Tjoe de Paula was honored, who played for BV Den Helder during the periods 2001–2003, 2004–2006, 2008–2009 and 2017–18.^[3]

Den Helder Suns retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure	Ceremony date
5		Tjoe de Paula	G	2017–2018	19 April 2018[3]

Den Helder Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age G/F 0 Antoine, Bryan 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 25 – (2000-04-26)26 April 2000 PG 1 Mesidor, Reggie 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 26 – (2000-01-01)1 January 2000 G 2 Uijtendaal, Siem 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 24 – (2001-05-05)5 May 2001 G 3 Beens, Thijs 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 19 – (2006-11-19)19 November 2006 F 7 Gilmore, Carter 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (2001-12-12)12 December 2001 C 10 Visser, Jonas 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 25 – (2001-02-06)6 February 2001 SG 11 De Haas, Ezra 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 17 – (2008-03-22)22 March 2008 PF 12 Post, Steven 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 24 – (2002-02-11)11 February 2002 SG 22 Rantonits, Balsa 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 21 – (2004-10-30)30 October 2004 G 33 Thran, Nick (C) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 25 – (2000-05-03)3 May 2000 F 42 Stover, Drew 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (2002-02-27)27 February 2002 F 77 Van der Heiden, Noah 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 26 – (1999-08-15)15 August 1999	Head coach Paul Vervaeck Team manager Marco Starrenburg Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: December 4, 2025

The following players were the leading scorers for Den Helder in each DBL season:^[7]

Season	Name	PPG
2017–18	Tjoe de Paula	14.8
2018–19	Boy van Vliet	14.4
2019–20	Yarick Brussen	13.1
2020–21	Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries	14.7
2021–22	Ben Kovac	16.3