Gravelines-Dunkerque

Basket Club Maritime Gravelines Dunkerque

	Foundation	1984
	Arena	Sportica
	Championships	Betclic ÉLITE
	Coach	Jean-Christophe Prat
	Famous players who have played for the club	Hervé Dubuisson / Laurent Sciarra / Andrew Albicy

Player to Watch : Aubrey Dawkins

Basketball runs in Aubrey Dawkins’ veins. With over 550 NBA games under his belt, his father, Johnny Dawkins, was just wrapping up his professional career when his fourth child – Aubrey – was born. Standing 15 centimetres taller, Gravelines’ new forward is quickly following in his father’s footsteps. During his final NCAA season, he led the UCF Knights to the brink of a sensational upset. Playing alongside Tacko Fall, the Orlando-based university came within one point of knocking out Duke, featuring Zion Williamson. It was a lay-up that Aubrey Dawkins failed to sink.

Since then, the North Carolina native has racked up experience in both America and Europe – in Germany, Turkey, the G-League, Puerto Rico and Italy. Most recently, he has averaged over 40 per cent from three-point range for three consecutive seasons. An athletic player and strong defender across multiple positions, Aubrey Dawkins has all the qualities to become BCM’s X-factor this season.

Playing Style

From wing player Aubrey Dawkins to their new point guard L.J. Thorpe, BCM boast a formidable attacking line-up. However, Jean-Christophe Pratt is well aware that his frontcourt is small. This apparent Achilles’ heel is something the former Paris Basketball coach hopes to turn into a strength.

By relying on a mobile frontcourt, Gravelines-Dunkerque employs an aggressive defense where every player has the athleticism to switch quickly. Offensively, the team from the North relies on quick ball movement and a series of pick-and-rolls. As a bonus, every player has the ability to explode in transition after a steal.

Club History

The history of Gravelines-Dunkerque began nearly 60 years before the club was founded. In 1926, Albert Denvers founded AS Huttes following a merger with Grand-Fort-Philippe. Gradually, the team moved up from the Regional league to National 2. To continue their rise, the club merged with US Gravelines in 1984. BCMGG was officially born! It was a successful move, as just four years after its creation, the Dunkerque team won National 2 (Pro B)… but failed to reach the top flight due to a complete reorganization of the French league. It wasn’t until the following season that they made their debut in the top division after defeating SLUC Nancy in the playoffs. From that moment on, Gravelines would never leave the top flight!

A regular at the highest level, the BCMGG made its European debut just two years after its promotion. Beyond simply participating, the team from the North performed well, advancing past the first round of the Korać Cup (C3) against Nashua EBBC, before falling to CB Estudiantes de Madrid. Their rise was, however, slowed by financial setbacks during the second half of the decade. With the arrival of Hervé Beddeleem as president in 2001, Gravelines-Dunkerque turned to local authorities for support and became the third-largest financial powerhouse in the league. The following year, the club changed its name to Basket Club Maritime Gravelines Dunkerque Grand Littoral.

The club is now a serious contender for national titles. It has managed to reach the finals without, however, lifting its first major trophy. From its loss in the 2003 French Cup to the one in the 2005 Semaine des As, and including the 2004 league championship, Gravelines has consistently fallen just short in the clutch. This losing streak came to an end in 2005 with a victory in the Coupe de France against Cholet following a wild comeback (91-79). Shortly thereafter, the Dunkerque team won the Match des Champions.

Since that season, Gravelines-Dunkerque has consistently finished at the top of the standings. Christian Monschau turned these superb performances into titles. Arriving in 2008, the Mulhouse native helped the club add a Semaine des As (2011) and a Leaders Cup (2013) to its trophy case. In the league, BCM finished at the top of the regular season standings on several occasions and achieved the feat of remaining undefeated at home for over a year. However, these promising results did not translate into success in the LNB playoffs. In Europe, on the other hand, the team performed well, reaching the EuroChallenge (C3) quarterfinals in 2011, followed by the semifinals two years later. This successful period came to an end at the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season with the departure of Christian Monschau.

A string of lackluster seasons followed. Despite the signing of D.J. Cooper—the reigning regular-season MVP—Julien Mahé’s team failed to maintain its former level of play. In 2020, Éric Bartecheky was fired following a 17th loss in 23 games. And while J.D. Jackson ultimately saved the club from relegation, he was let go a few months later in November 2022. It wasn’t until the 2023–2024 season that Gravelines-Dunkerque regained some stability under the leadership of the former Paris Basketball coach : Jean-Christophe Prat. But the two fires at Sportica threw the club into turmoil. It was ultimately after triple overtime against Limoges CSP that the BCM avoided relegation in 2025.

awards and honors

	French Cup	2005
	AS Week	2011
	Leaders Cup	2013

Focus : The Fires

Gravelines-Dunkerque’s run of bad luck began in December 2023 when a violent fire ravaged Sportica. An ambitious reconstruction project was then launched to increase the venue’s capacity to 4,000 seats.

But less than a year and a half after that tragedy, another fire broke out in the dojo of the Sportica sports complex. It was a disaster for the BCM, which was forced to play for a few more years at the Stade des Flandres in Dunkirk – the smallest venue in the Betclic ÉLITE.

Currently, the opening of this Sportica 2.0 is scheduled for September 2028. Meanwhile, Dunkirk plans to build another 7,000-seat multipurpose arena by the end of 2028. A new arena that could be of interest to BCM Gravelines-Dunkirk.

The Number: 12

That’s the number of 3-pointers scored by Karvel Anderson – a guard for Gravelines-Dunkerque – against Fos-sur-Mer on April 26, 2019 – an all-time record.