In June 1995, the claret team achieved a historic promotion to the ACB, a milestone that led to over thirty years of presence in Spanish and European basketball. That success, led by Manolo Hussein on the bench and with Berdi Pérez as sporting director, was accomplished without being the main favorite, in a very different era from the present.
Thirty-one years later, CB Gran Canaria returns to a basketball ecosystem that bears little resemblance to the reality of the 1990s. At that time, the club, which had become a Sports Corporation in 1992 with the intervention of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, faced a marathon league. The then newly created Liga EBA had 56 teams divided into four conferences, including the Canary Islands, Andalusia, and teams from Alicante in the South group.
The squad for that season, assembled by Manolo Hussein and supported by Rafael Calvo, consisted of national and homegrown players. Notable players included point guards Berni Hernández and Emilio Boada, shooting guard Jaume Morales, forwards Juanra Marrero, Alexis Lombilla, and Ángel Santana, power forwards Antonio Espinosa, Ramón Oliver, Jonathan Ojeda, and Pepón Artiles, and centers Francis García and American David Butler. Butler, an NCAA champion with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, provided strength under the basket.
The competition format was demanding: a first phase with four conferences of 14 teams, followed by a second qualifying round. Gran Canaria finished second in its group and later led Group G in the subsequent phase. The final decision took place at the Final Phase in Gijón, where the claret team, despite not being the favorite, defeated ACB Lliria and in the semifinals, Llobregat Centre Comercial, achieving the coveted promotion.
The approximate budget for that team was around 300 to 400 million old pesetas (approximately 2 million euros), with only one foreign player. The arena was the Centro Insular de Deportes, with a capacity of 5,200 spectators. In contrast, last season's squad had a budget exceeding 10 million euros, with a much larger number of players and European competitions that multiplied travel.
That promotion marked the beginning of the club's golden era, establishing it as a solid member of the Liga Endesa. The league also underwent significant changes, with debates about closed leagues and the creation of the 'place market,' making promotions increasingly difficult. The current Gran Canaria faces a new project with different parameters than in the 1990s, with limits on homegrown and foreign players.
