Nottingham Hoods’ New Co-owner Outlines Club Ambitions

The new co-owner of the Nottingham Hoods aims for the second-tier basketball club to compete in the top flight and on the European stage within a decade. This ambition will be pursued using two decades of experience gained with one of British basketball’s most successful teams. Russell Levenston departed his role as managing director of the Leicester Riders in the summer, having spent 17 years with the club. During his final 11 years at the Riders, the men’s team secured 17 major honours, which included six British Basketball League titles. Concurrently, the women’s team achieved four championships. Levenston has since relocated across the East Midlands, investing in Nottingham and assuming the position of managing director. He is committed to replicating his previous achievements at Leicester. Levenston stated to BBC East Midlands Today, “It will take time,” adding, “Rome wasn’t built in a day and what we created in Leicester, the first four or five years were really hard but the success came after that. For me, it’s now about laying those foundations and that stability to hopefully do the same here.” Given his extensive history with the Riders, a team consistently vying for titles at the pinnacle of British basketball, Levenston’s engagement with a Nottingham team that has never reached that competitive tier is seen as a significant advantage for the aspiring club. The Hoods were established in 2009. Since the 2017-18 season, they have participated in the National Basketball League’s top division, which is Britain’s second-tier competition, ranking below Super League Basketball (formerly known as the British Basketball League). The team has developed into a professional organization, conducting its play and training sessions at the Nottingham Wildcats Arena, a facility owned by the Women’s Super League Basketball team. The Hoods have experienced a challenging start to their current season, placing them second from the bottom in their league. In contrast, their East Midlands rivals, the Derby Trailblazers, a club aspiring to regain elite status, currently hold the second position in the table after 10 matches. Nevertheless, there is no system of promotion or relegation between the NBL and SBL, as the top flight operates under a franchise model. Levenston emphasizes that “patience” will be crucial for the Hoods and maintains that the club continues to be Nottingham’s “best kept secret.” Levenston remarked, “It took me a lot longer to lay the foundations at Leicester, and a lot of that experience and those lessons learned has helped put us ahead of where would have been.” He further stated, “I have a five-year plan that will bring top-flight basketball to Nottingham that will hopefully have us competing at the highest level.” Levenston also shared, “I have the ambitions of taking the team into Europe in the future, and that is more like the 10-year plan.”