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Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse

	Foundation	1937
	Arena	Ekinox
	Championships	Betclic ÉLITE / EuroCup
	Coach	Frédéric Fauthoux
	Famous players who have played for the club	Zaccharie Risacher / Devin Booker / Zachery Peacock

Joueur à surveiller : Darius McGhee

At 26, Darius McGhee is entering his second season in Europe after making a huge splash across the Atlantic. This natural scorer has reached the same heights as a certain Stephen Curry in terms of three-pointers made in a single NCAA season, while also winning his conference’s MVP award three times.

He is an offensive phenomenon, blessed with an exceptional shot and extraordinary grit. Darius McGhee showcased this concentrated talent in Bonn last season, averaging over 15 points per game and recording two 40-point games.

The epitome of a crowd-pleaser, wherever he goes his shots – coming out of nowhere – set the arena ablaze. At 5’9”, he’s pure talent, though this also highlights his limitations as a player without the ball. Physically limited, the coaching staff nevertheless tailors their game plan to put him in the best possible position.

Playing Style

While the roster has changed completely (10 new players), Frédéric Fauthoux’s philosophy remains the same. Fully in tune with the times, Bourg bases its tactical approach on a sharp transition game. Much like Tuomas Iisalo’s Paris team, the JL likes to push forward, transition quickly, and use their speed to take a shot in under 7 seconds.

Frédéric Fauthoux also instills such resilience that it’s very rare to see the Bourg players let up, even in garbage time. This is also reflected in their play through their aggressive offense, the JL’s trademark. It’s simple: the team that drew the most fouls in the Betclic ÉLITE last year was Bourg-en-Bresse (24.8 per game)! Having become a master of the art, the French national team coach likes to have 1-on-1 players on his roster.

Club History

On the eve of World War II in 1937, the Association de la Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse established a basketball division. Aside from a departmental title and a UFOLEP French championship, it wasn’t until the mid-1960s that the JL made its debut in the National League. During this period, players from the youth academy made their debuts with the national team, a sign of the club’s stability. Still under the leadership of Jean Grolet, Bourg bounced between N3 and N2 from 1970 to 1978, before returning to square one and remaining there for over 17 years. Worse still, JL was relegated to N4 but fortunately bounced back immediately.

After several seasons of wandering in the lower tiers of the elite, the Bourg players did everything in their power to recapture their former ambition. The result: nearly 20 years later, Bourg returned to Nationale 2 in the early 1990s. Led by their legendary captain Jean-Luc Tissot, JL climbed the ranks one by one until reaching the professional ranks in 1996. And there too, Jeunesse Laïque surprised everyone with a podium finish after just three seasons in Pro B, followed by a first-place finish that secured promotion as the new millennium approached.

A first-time appearance in the top tier of French basketball culminated in an encouraging 10th-place finish before a roller-coaster ride began. First came the fear of relegation, marked by a relegation playoff in 2003. This was followed by “the epic run,” as the fans dubbed it. At the helm of a golden generation, Frédéric Sarre brought the playoffs back to the Ain region twice, as well as an AS Week final. These feats all shared a common thread: each time, Le Mans came along to spoil the party.

Soon, however, the time of dreams gave way to nightmares. In the span of a single summer, Bourg collapsed. From serious title contenders to the penultimate spot, the Bressans plummeted. In other words, the 2006-2007 season marked a return to Pro B. Initially, the JL made the playoffs but failed to defeat its new nemesis: Poitiers. Then nothing, save for one, two, three seasons in the middle of the pack.

La Jeunesse Laïque had lost the spark it once had. That’s when the legendary duo of Fred Sarre and Gérald Simon took the reins of the project. And it worked! They knocked out their nemesis Poitiers in the promotion playoff final. Although Boug was immediately relegated, the club won the 2016 Pro B Leaders Cup and secured its place in Pro A once and for all the following year.

With two-time MVP Zack Peacock in its ranks, the Burgundy-based team is making visible progress. That one-point loss in the 2019 Leaders Cup final against SIG (98-97) was consoled by a strong fifth-place finish that secured a spot in Europe. A new chapter in Auvergne was marked by a qualification for the 2020 EuroCup (C2) Top 16 following a particularly competitive group stage. JL even went on to reach the 2024 EuroCup final, which they lost to… Paris (77-64/89-81)! Bourg also reached the final four of the Betclic ÉLITE playoffs three times in a row, including another Leaders Cup final and, most notably, the EuroCup title snatched from right under Besiktas’s nose (72-60/73-71). Without a doubt, Jeunesse Laïque Bourg-en-Bresse is currently at the pinnacle of its history.

awards and honors

	EuroCup	2026

EuroCup

2026

Spotlight: Frédéric Fauthoux

One key factor sets Bourg-en-Bresse apart from all other Betclic ÉLITE clubs. In addition to his role with the club, Frédéric Fauthoux also serves as head coach of the French national team. While this is fairly common in the world of basketball, it remains an unusual situation for any club to manage.

With 47 caps already under his belt as a player for Les Bleus, Frédéric Fauthoux made the transition to coaching in 2012 at Élan Pau-Nord Est. This was followed by five years at Metropolitans 92 and two years at ASVEL as an assistant coach. Having arrived in the summer of 2022, Frédéric Fauthoux has led the Burgundy team to three consecutive conference finals.

But following the 2024 Olympics – which marked the end of Vincent Collet’s 15-year tenure as head coach – the FFBB almost naturally turned its attention to Frédéric Fauthoux. In addition to a superb 2024-2025 season in Bourg, the native of Landes has racked up 11 straight wins, marking the second-best start for a French national team coach. This EuroBasket 2025 serves as the starting point for the “LA 2028” mission.