1950–1998 The multi-sports club
Gymnastikos Syllogos Amarousiou (Amarousi Sports Club) was founded in 1896, the same year that Maroussi native
Spyridon Louis won the
Olympic marathon at the
1896 Summer Olympics. The club's men's basketball section started in 1950. The basketball section played in the Greek minor leagues for the first two decades of its existence. It reached the Greek top division, the
A National Category (Alpha League) in 1969, where it played for one season before being
relegated. In the 1970s, the club was led by Nikos Darivas at
point guard and
Dimitris Fosses at
center, and starting with the 1971–72 season, the club played in the Greek top division for all but one year of the following decade. Maroussi qualified for the
European third-tier level
FIBA Korać Cup's
1978–79 season. The club was then relegated after the 1980–81 season, and alternated between the second-tier level
A2 League and the third-tier level
B League for the next 18 years.
1998–2010 Maroussi was
promoted back up to the
Greek First Division for the 1998–99 season, and moved from the Spiros Louis Gym to the newly constructed
Maroussi Saint Thomas Indoor Hall. Maroussi won the title of the
European second-tier level
FIBA Saporta Cup, during the
2000–01 season. That team was coached by
Vangelis Alexandris, and it featured the inside-outside scoring tandem of
Jimmy Oliver and
Ashraf Amaya, as well as the rebounding skills of
Vassil Evtimov. Maroussi became the
sixth Greek team to win a European continental-wide title. The club at this time received financial backing from Greek businessman
Aris Vovos. The club then played in the second-tier level
FIBA Saporta Cup, and its successor, the
EuroCup, the third-tier level
FIBA Korać Cup, and the fourth-tier level
FIBA Europe Champions Cup. Maroussi reached the final of the third-tier level
FIBA Europe League's (later called
FIBA EuroChallenge)
2003–04 season, but they lost in the final to the Russian club
UNICS Kazan. In the
Greek Cup, Maroussi reached the Greek Cup Final Four in the 1999–00 season and the Greek Cup Final in the 2001–02 season. Under the club's
head coach at the time,
Panagiotis Giannakis, and with the young star
play-maker of the club at the time,
Vassilis Spanoulis (recipient of the
Greek League Best Young Player and
Greek League Most Improved Player awards in 2003 and 2004), the club finished in second place in the
2003–04 regular season, with a 21–5 record. It then beat
Peristeri and
AEK Athens, which had been the league's runner-up the preceding year, and the league's champions the year before that, in the playoffs, before ultimately losing in the Greek League Finals to
Panathinaikos. In 2010,
Markopoulos left Maroussi for
PAOK, and he and was replaced as the team's head coach by
Georgios Bartzokas, a former Maroussi player. Maroussi beat fellow Greek League club
Aris, and the
German League club
Alba Berlin, in the
EuroLeague 2009–10 season's
Qualifying Round, to reach the regular season group stage of the competition. In
the EuroLeague's Group C, they beat the
Israeli League club
Maccabi Tel Aviv at home, and reached the
EuroLeague Top 16 Phase, where they beat fellow Greek club Panathinaikos and the
Adriatic League club
Partizan Belgrade, while playing home games at the
Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall. In the
2009–10 season, Maroussi finished the regular season in third place. They then beat
Kolossos in the first round of the playoffs, but they were then beaten in the semi-final of the playoffs by
Olympiacos. In the 3rd place playoff series, they beat
Panellinios, to again qualify for the next season of the
EuroLeague. Maroussi player
Kostas Kaimakoglou was selected to the
Greek League Best Five team, and
Georgios Bartzokas became the third Maroussi head coach in five years to receive the
Greek League's Best Coach award.
2010–present The club's decline Club President
Aris Vovos left the club during the 2010 off-season, leaving a big gap in the club's finances. After a consortium led by Giorgos Gamaris and Thanasis Maris, failed to gain control of the club, its ownership reverted to the club's
amateur section in October. The team was then only allowed to be registered to the
top-tier level
Greek Basket League's
2010–11 season on appeal. The players' union criticized the club for late salary payments. The
EuroLeague revoked the club's licence to play in the Qualifying Rounds of the competition. The former
Panathinaikos club
football player
Vasilis Konstantinou, a
Marousi native who had played youth basketball with the team, was named team president in October. Head coach
Vangelis Alexandris returned to replace the departing
Bartzokas, whilst experienced players such as
Nestoras Kommatos,
Ioannis Gagaloudis, and
Dimitrios Charitopoulos were brought into the team to form a new squad following a player exodus. Maroussi finished the
2010–11 season in 5th place in the regular season standings. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to
Aris. By finishing in the top 5 in the Greek League, they qualified for the next season's edition of the
European 2nd-tier level
EuroCup, but they were not permitted to participate in the competition, due to financial issues. In May 2011, Maroussi was ordered by
FIBA's Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) to pay thousands of
euros to former player
Jared Homan in unpaid salaries and bonuses. Maroussi was unable to pay Homan, or
Georgios Diamantopoulos, who won a similar ruling against the club in August of that year. Due to this, the club was then banned by FIBA from being able to register any new players in the Greek League, in November 2011. A temporary financial agreement with Homan, led to the suspension of the ban on registering any new players for one day, during which
Frank Elegar was recruited to the club.
Nikos Linardos became the team's new head coach for the
2011–12 season, which began with a long losing streak, despite Maroussi player
Nestoras Kommatos being one of the league's top scorers, and Maroussi player
Ioannis Gagaloudis being one of the league's
assists leaders. The team's financial crisis deepened.
Gagaloudis,
Kommatos,
Charitopoulos, and
Elegar all left the club, due to unpaid salaries. Teenagers from the club's youth team, such as
Dimitrios Agravanis and Lampros Tsontzos, were then moved into the team's starting five for Greek League games. The club was also prohibited from selling any tickets to home games, due to unpaid taxes, and it ceased paying its players and training staff. Maroussi finished the
2011–12 season with a 1–23 regular season record, winning their only game of the season against
Peristeri, another team that was suffering from financial problems at the time. Due to going into bankruptcy, the club was then
demoted to the
third-tier level
semi-professional competition, the
Greek B League, for the 2012–13 season. The club was then
demoted to the fourth-tier level
Greek C League, for the 2015–16 season. For the 2016–17 season, the club was
promoted up to the Greek B League. Then, for the
2017–18 season, the club was promoted up to the second-tier level
Greek A2 League. In the 2019–20 season, the club played in the Greek 3rd Division, and in the 2020–21 season, the club played in the Greek 2nd Division. Following the teams defeat by
Panionios on October 26, the team announced on October 27, that their new coach will be
Ilias Zouro, who worked with the team during the 1998-99 season. == Arenas ==