Sam Van Rossom (37) announces retirement: “Basket gave me enormous satisfaction, but the time has come”

“The time has come,” Van Rossom soberly looks at his farewell in a video interview with Belga. “I think I’m still playing at an acceptable level at the moment, but I’m not getting any younger. I feel that in various things. I have suffered somewhat physically again this year. The knee was a problem again for three to four months. These problems with my body are not abnormal either. I will be 38 years old in June. Yes, the physical aspect is one of the main reasons why I quit.”

Sam Van Rossom was a professional basketball player for nineteen seasons, four in his own country and fifteen abroad (two in Italy, thirteen in Spain). Until now, his entire life had been dominated by basketball. “Basketball has meant a lot to me and also given me a lot of satisfaction. I have also gained a lot of friends from it,” the Ghent resident looks back with satisfaction.

Filou Oostende’s playmaker wants to make something of the last weeks of his career. The play-offs start on Wednesday: “It’s not over yet. We had a very good season. We now have to try to crown that in the play-offs. We can win two more titles. That’s definitely my goal now.” Van Rossom is referring to the Belgian national title and also the BNXT title, the championship of the joint Belgian and Dutch competition.

Strong holder of Belgian Lions

Sam Van Rossom started playing basketball as a child in Ghent. He made it to the first team of De Pinte in the second division at a young age. From De Pinte he moved to Ostend in 2005. With Ostend he became champion twice and won the cup once. In his first year with the coastal team, Van Rossom was awarded Promise of the Year. In his second and third seasons he won the referendum for Belgian Player of the Year.

When he was 22, Van Rossom moved abroad. He played for two seasons at the Italian Pesaro, but the competition where the Ghent native would make the most name for himself was the Liga Endesa in Spain. He played there for a total of thirteen seasons: first three at Zaragoza, then ten at Valencia. With Valencia he played several seasons in the EuroLeague (the highest European competition) and reached three Eurocup finals (the second highest European Cup in basketball), winning two of them. The highlight of his career was the Spanish title with Valencia in 2017. It was the first title ever for the club.

Until his retirement in June 2022, Van Rossom was one of the strongholds of the national team for many years. With the Belgian Lions led by national coach Eddy Casteels, he played four consecutive European Championships. With 121 caps, Van Rossom is in the Club 100 of Basketball Belgium, a select group that includes only 14 Belgian Lions.

No future as a coach

This season, Van Rossom returned to Belgium after fifteen years abroad to end his career in Ostend. And he has not complained: “I am extremely grateful that I had this year in Ostend. I had a great time with the team. It’s been a nice year so far. What helped was that we won a lot of games. That always makes it more pleasant.”

What he will do with the rest of his life after his basketball retirement is still unknown, even for Van Rossom himself. “There are several small projects on the table, but I don’t know yet what exactly I am going to do. I will definitely still do things related to basketball, but not on a daily basis anymore. I have always said no to coaching, never say never, but in principle coaching is not in my future idea.”