Claire Melia will make history this Thursday. The BAXI Ferrol forward will become the first Irish woman to appear on the roster of a team in a semi-final of any European club basketball competition. Five men can claim that honour, Emmet Ryan explains the odd history of the other five.
Basketball has a long history in Ireland. Despite never appearing at EuroBasket or a FIBA World Cup, the nation can claim an Olympic appearance. Granted that was in 1948 and the Irish team was invited as a guest. The Emerald Isle has however rarely been known for players appearing on the grand stage in Europe.
Claire Melia will become the first Irish woman to ever play in a semi-final of a European club competition on Thursday. Her Baxi Ferrol side will take on Asvel in the first leg of the Eurocup Women semi-finals.
Five men with Irish passports can claim such a feat but their route and stories vary wildly. Meet, the other five.
Pat Burke
Euro record: Euroleague champion 2000, FIBA Suproleague finalist 2001 (both with Panathinaikos), Korac cup semi-final in 2002 (Maroussi)
Easily the best known name on this list. Pat Burke is the only player other than Claire Melia to be born in Ireland and reach a European club semi-final in basketball. Burke had NBA stints with the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns.
It’s his spectacular run with Panathinaikos that gets him on the list. Burke won three Greek titles with the club as well as, of course, the Euroleague crown in 2000. He also reached the FIBA Suproleague final the following year, when there was a split in Europe’s top competition. That marked the last time an Irish born player reached a European final or semi-final.
At least that was what I thought. In the initial version of this piece, I missed his run to the Korac Cup semi-final in 2002 with Maroussi. In that instance, his side lost to Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody which is now know as Lokomotiv Kuban.
Levon Kendall
Euro record: Eurocup finalist in 2015 with Gran Canaria
After the Pat Burke heroics at the turn of the century, we have to jump all the way to 2015 for the next instance. Levon Kendall, son of a rock star, was born in Canada and played his ball all over.
Kendall qualified for an Irish passport through ancestral heritage. His international play however was entirely with Canada. Still, he became the first Irish citizen since Burke to go on a magical European run. His Gran Canaria side reached the final of Eurocup in 2015 before being swept aside by Khimki over two legs.
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Will Hanley
Euro record: Won Basketball Champions League with Tenerife in 2017
Hanley, from Stamford Connecticut, made his international debut for Ireland in 2021 which was technically after he wrapped up his club career. Hanley, like Kendall, qualified through ancestry, but opted to play for Ireland at the international level. He averaged a respectable 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in six games for the Irish national side, winning the 2021 FIBA Small Countries title in the process.
At the club level, it was with Iberostar Tenerife that Hanley enjoyed the most success. Hanley was part of the Tenerife side that went all the way to claiming the Basketball Champions League title in 2017. That made him the first, and to date only, Irish citizen since Pat Burke to win a European club title.
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Conor Morgan
Euro record: Eurocup semi finalists in 2022 (Andorra) and 2024 (London Lions)
The second entrant from Canada to make the list. Conor Morgan was oft-discussed in Irish basketball circles as a player that could be lured to wear green internationally. This always seemed a bit odd for me. While Morgan holds Irish citizenship, his commitment to playing for Canada never once seemed in question.
Morgan has enjoyed two runs to Eurocup semi finals both of which were tinged with sadness. The first, with Andorra, ended in defeat to Bursaspor. That Andorra side was later relegated from ACB the same season. Then last year he was on the London Lions roster that reached the semi-finals of the same competition. Then, of course, all the stuff happened.
James Metecan Birsen and Pat Burke are the lone two Irish basketball players that were on the rosters teams that reached the final of Euroleague.
James Metecan Birsen
Euro record: Euroleague runner up 2019 (Anadolu Efes), Basketball Champions League runner up 2021 (Kariyaka), Euroleague Final Four 2024 (Fenerbahce)
The true cult hero of BiE, James Metecan Birsen made his first competitive appearance for Turkey in 2017 and remains proudly determined to play for his homeland.That’s great, I just love that he’s also Irish because of his mammy. Birsen has won two underage European national titles with Turkey and has four Turkish league titles in his rather impressive medal collection.
His entry on this list however is across three different European runs. While Birsen’s minutes were relatively limited in both of his deep Euroleague runs, few things fill me with joy like seeing “James Metecan Birsen” appear on screen with an Ireland flag in the caption. He was part of the early iteration of ‘Cool Efes’ that reached the Euroleague championship game in 2019. That was followed up last year with Fenerbahce reaching the semi-finals last season, where they lost to eventual winners Panathinaikos. In between those was a run to the Basketball Champions League final with Karsiyaka, where Birsen played a bigger role but wasn’t quite able to get his side over the line.
Birsen’s Fenerbahce was the most recent side on this list to reach a semi-final. Claire Melia will take that baton on Thursday with Baxi Ferrol. No matter what happens against Asvel, she has already made history.
A previous version of this column excluded Birsen’s 2021 run in the BCL. Big thanks to Igor Curkovic for spotting that.
