The Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes Campeones de Básquetbol, or Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes de Básquetbol (South American Basketball Club Championship), was an international men's professional basketball cup competition that took place between South American sports clubs. It was originally organized by the South American Basketball Confederation, and then later by FIBA Americas. It was played annually between the league champions in each country, plus the winner of the previous edition.

History

The South American Championship of Champion Clubs was founded in 1946, and it was the first international tournament in South America. It was played in a round robin format, usually hosted by a single city. From 1965 until 1987 the champion teams (and on many occasions the runners-up too) participated in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup represented South America. The competition was the first-tier and most important club competition in South America until 1996 when the FIBA South American League was launched, with a format that looked more of one of a European completion and not a single tournament. The competition was finally discontinued in the year 2008, after the new top-tier panamerican FIBA Americas League had been recently formed in December 2007 and meant that each South America country's top teams would qualify to the new league and not the FIBA South American League. Subsequently the South American Championship lost its importance and it was abolished.

South American Championship of Champion Clubs levels on the South American pyramid

Names of the top-tier level South American / Latin American competition

Format

The competition was hosted in one or more cities. In the first round, the eight clubs were divided in two groups of four teams each. The two best placed teams of each group advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the first placed team of a group played against the other group's runner-up. The final was contested by the semifinal winners.

List of champions

Final tournament

Titles by club

Titles by country

Topscorers per tournament

1946: Roberto Lovera (Club Atlético Olimpia) 1953: Aristides Isusi (Club Olimpia) 140 pts 1958: Héctor Costa (Sporting Club Uruguay) 124 pts 1966: 🇧🇷 Wlamir Marques (Corinthians) 1989: 🇺🇸 Al Smith (Trotamundos B.B.C.) - Sam Shepherd of Trotamundos was MVP 1995: 🇺🇸 Billy Law (Rio Claro) 1998: 🇺🇸 Charles Byrd (Vasco da Gama) 161 pts 2000: 🇻🇪 Victor David Diaz (Trotamundos B.B.C.) 99 pts 2003: 🇺🇸 Jervaughn Scales (Gimnasia) 2004: 🇦🇷Paolo Quinteros (Boca Juniors) 138 pts 2006: 🇺🇸 Maurice Spillers (Boca Juniors) (also MVP) 2007: 🇧🇷 Evandro Fernandes Pinto (Minas Tenis Clube) 113 pts 2008: Leandro Garcia Morales (Bigua) 94 pts

Winning rosters

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Sources