Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters

The Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters (Korean: 안양 정관장 레드부스터스) is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League, based at Anyang Gymnasium in the city of Anyang. The club has won four KBL championship titles (2011–12, 2016–17, 2020–21, and 2022–23).

Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters
League	Korean Basketball League
Established	1992; 32 years ago (1992)
History	SBS Basketball Team 1992–1997 Anyang SBS Stars 1997–2005 Anyang KT&G Kites 2005–2010 Anyang Korea Ginseng Corporation 2010–2011 Anyang KGC 2011–2023 Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters 2023–present
Arena	Anyang Gymnasium
Capacity	6,690
Location	Anyang, South Korea
Team colours	Red, Black, White
Head coach	Kim Sang-shik
Team captain	Yang Hee-jong
Ownership	Heo Cheol-ho
Affiliation(s)	Korea Ginseng Corporation KT&G
Championships	4 Korean Leagues
Website	www.kgcsports.com
Home Away

History

Pre-KBL era (1992–1997)

Anyang KGC traces its lineage to the amateur basketball team started by Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) in 1992. It was one of several basketball teams started by corporate companies hoping to take advantage of the "basketball craze" taking place during the early to mid-1990s. Prior to 1997, domestic basketball was an amateur sport and all teams, whether sponsored by a corporate company or a university, participated in the National Basketball Festival (농구대잔치) competition. The SBS team lacked the financial resources to attract the era's biggest stars and was mostly overshadowed by the dominance of the Kia, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Electronics and the college teams from Yonsei University and Korea University. One of the better-known players from this era was Jung Jae-kun.^[1]

Anyang SBS Stars (1997–2005)

When domestic basketball turned professional, SBS decided to register its team for the upcoming league. The Anyang SBS Stars would move to Anyang, where the team has been ever since.^[2] The Anyang municipal government agreed to invest in building a new sports complex to house the basketball team in addition to the football team (Anyang LG Cheetahs) and ice hockey team (Anyang Halla).^[3][4] However the project would take several years to complete so the Anyang SBS Stars had to play their "home" games elsewhere, even though it had "Anyang" in its name. The team spent its first several years playing at Jamsil Arena (now home to Seoul Samsung Thunders), Uijeongbu Gymnasium (repurposed for volleyball and now home to Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars) and Daelim University College's gymnasium.^[5] Anyang Gymnasium was completed on schedule ahead of the 2000–01 season.^[6]

At the end of the 2004–05 season, SBS sold the team to Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation (KT&G). At that time, it was the only basketball team sponsored by a broadcasting company. Taeyoung Group, the parent company of SBS, decided to consolidate its financial resources in the broadcasting sector, hence the sale.^[7]

KT&G / KGC era (2005–present)

Under their new sponsors, Anyang KT&G Kites spent the next several seasons in the middle ranks of the league table and changed names several times. Red, the color of KGC's best-known product Cheong Kwan Jang, was adopted as the team color and has been associated with Anyang KGC ever since. In 2010, KT&G opted to transfer ownership and naming rights of its sponsored sports teams to subsidiary Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC) as company directors felt that the sports teams being associated with a tobacco company would be detrimental to marketing efforts. The team, although keeping the signature red color, went through a rebranding with a new team logo and mascot.^[8]

The 2011–12 season was a major milestone for the team as they won their first ever Championship. At that time, Anyang had a relatively young and inexperienced squad, consisting of center Oh Se-keun, forward Yang Hee-jong and guards Kim Tae-sul, Park Chan-hee and Lee Jung-hyun, while their own head coach Lee Sang-beom was only in his third season as a head coach of a KBL team.^[9][10] The team suffered the embarrassment of scoring only 41 points in the January game against eventual regular season champions Wonju Dongbu Promy and setting an all-time record for the lowest score in a league game.^[11] Despite the setbacks, Anyang managed to reach the final of the play-offs, where they were up against Dongbu. Pundits and observers had predicted the young squad was no match for a Dongbu team which earned the nickname "Dongbu Mountain Fortress" (동부산성) for recording the league's best defensive record.^[12][13] Anyang won four out of six games to lift the Championship trophy for the first time in its history.^[14] Oh, Yang, Kim, Park and Lee became collectively known as Insamshinki (인삼신기), a portmanteau of KGC's Korean name Insamgongsa (인삼공사) and Dong Bang Shin Ki (동방신기). The quintet went on to carve out their own decorated careers as the league's top domestic players and establish themselves as the backbone of the national team.^[15]

KGC spent the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons in the lower half of the league table, failing to qualify for the play-offs on both occasions. The 2011–12 team was soon broken up with the departure of Kim to Jeonju KCC Egis and Park, Lee and Oh each enlisting for mandatory military service one after another. They were dealt another blow when Lee Sang-beom's successor Jun Chang-jin was investigated for allegations of match-fixing during his time at Busan KT Sonicboom. Jun never had the chance to coach the team in a league game as he resigned before the 2015–16 season began.^[16] To add to the turmoil, Oh was also investigated in connection with the match-fixing case after it was discovered that he and several college teammates had placed bets with the illegal sports betting site back when they were students.^[17] Jun's assistant Kim Seung-gi took over and found himself having to fill the void left by Oh, who was suspended for 20 games, and other key players who were absent due to injury or enlistment.^[18]

Team names

• 1992–1997: SBS Basketball Team
• 1997–2005: Anyang SBS Stars
• 2005–2010: Anyang KT&G Kites
• 2010–2011: Anyang Korea Ginseng Corporation
• 2011–2023: Anyang KGC
• 2023–present: Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 0 Lee Woo-jung 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 29 – (1995-06-16)16 June 1995 G 1 Bae Byung-jun 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 34 – (1990-08-09)9 August 1990 F 2 Yoo Jin 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 25 – (1999-02-02)2 February 1999 F 3 Jeong Jun-won 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 35 – (1989-01-05)5 January 1989 G 5 Byeon Jun-hyeong 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 28 – (1996-03-11)11 March 1996 G 6 Park Ji-hoon 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 29 – (1995-01-21)21 January 1995 F 7 Ham Jun-hoo 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 36 – (1988-06-16)16 June 1988 G 9 Go Chan-hyuk 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 23 – (2001-05-25)25 May 2001 F 10 Moon Seong-gon 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 31 – (1993-05-09)9 May 1993 F 11 Yang Hee-jong (C) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 40 – (1984-05-11)11 May 1984 G 12 Rhenz Abando (AQ) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 26 – (1998-03-11)11 March 1998 F 13 Han Seung-hui 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 26 – (1998-05-05)5 May 1998 C 14 Omari Spellman (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 27 – (1997-07-21)21 July 1997 F 15 Ju Hyun-woo 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 26 – (1998-09-06)6 September 1998 G 22 Jo Eun-hoo 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 24 – (1999-12-13)13 December 1999 C 32 Kim Cheol-uk 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 32 – (1992-06-25)25 June 1992 C 41 Oh Se-keun 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 37 – (1987-05-20)20 May 1987 F 86 Darryl Monroe (I) 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 38 – (1986-01-30)30 January 1986	Head coach Kim Sang-shik Assistant coach(es) Choi Seung-tae Cho Sung-min Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import player (AQ) Asian player quota Injured Roster Updated: 6 October 2022

Season by season

Season	Regular season					Playoffs	Head coach
	G	W	L	PCT	Pos
1997	21	14	17	0.667	2nd	Semifinal	Kim Dong-gwang
1997–98	45	18	27	0.400	8th	Did not qualify	Kang Jung-soo
1998–99	45	22	23	0.489	7th
1999–2000	45	21	24	0.467	5th	Semifinal	Kim In-geon
2000–01	45	26	19	0.578	4th	Semifinal
2001–02	54	28	26	0.519	6th	First round
2002–03	54	22	32	0.407	8th	Did not qualify	Jung Deok-hwa
2003–04	54	18	36	0.333	9th
2004–05	54	33	21	0.611	3rd	Semifinal	Kim Dong-gwang
2005–06	54	27	27	0.500	7th	Did not qualify
2006–07	54	25	29	0.463	6th	First round	Kim Sang-shik (acting)
2007–08	54	30	24	0.556	4th	Semifinal	Yoo Do-hoon
2008–09	54	29	25	0.537	7th	Did not qualify	Lee Sang-beom
2009–10	54	16	38	0.296	8th
2010–11	54	16	38	0.296	9th
2011–12	54	36	18	0.667	2nd	Winners
2012–13	54	30	24	0.556	4th	Semifinal
2013–14	54	19	35	0.352	9th	Did not qualify
2014–15	54	23	31	0.426	8th		Lee Dong-nam (acting)
2015–16	54	30	24	0.556	4th	Semifinal	Kim Seung-gi
2016–17	54	39	15	0.722	1st	Winners
2017–18	54	29	25	0.537	5th	Semifinal
2018–19	54	25	29	0.463	7th	Did not qualify
2019–20	43	26	17	0.605	3rd	Not held[a]
2020–21	54	30	24	0.556	3rd	Winners
2021–22	54	32	22	0.593	3rd	Runners-up
2022–23	54	37	17	0.685	1st	Winners	Kim Sang-shik
2023–24	54	18	36	0.333	9th	Did not qualify

1. Playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.

Honours

• Korean Basketball League championship

Winners: 2011–12, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2022–23

Runners-up: 2021–22

• Korean Basketball League regular season

Winners: 2016–17, 2022–23

Runners-up: 1997, 2011–12

References

1. "<농구대잔치>상무 표필상.정재근 앞장 기업은행 제쳐". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). December 27, 1993.
2. "프로농구 연고지 확정-서울은 공동.부산은 기아자동차". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). November 27, 1996.
3. "안양종합운동장에 실내체육관.빙상경기장 건립". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). September 9, 1997.
4. "운영보사위원회회의록" (in Korean). Anyang City Council. December 13, 1999.
5. "[현장에서] 의정부 첫 대형이벤트...농구열기 '후끈'". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). November 14, 1997.
6. "[농구전용구장] 안양에 생긴다… 10월 개장". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). March 27, 2000.
7. "SBS 농구단 팔린다". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). July 28, 2005.
8. "한국인삼, KT&G 스포츠단 인수 운영" (in Korean). KBS. September 30, 2010.
9. "곰인줄 알았는데 … 강동희도 놀란 '여우' 이상범". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). April 14, 2012.
10. "기쁜 우리 젊은 날 1". GQ Korea (in Korean). May 8, 2012.
11. "'무록' KGC 양희종, 챔프전 히든카드로 급부상" (in Korean). JTBC. March 25, 2012.
12. "달라진 구단명, 달라지지 않은 연고지". Basket Korea (in Korean). March 27, 2020.
13. "'동부산성'의 위력 앞에 모비스 무릎 꿇다". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). January 5, 2012.
14. "오세근 시대 개막…인삼공사 첫 우승". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). April 6, 2012.
15. "함께 별을 딴 동료의 첫 굿바이, 인삼신기가 김태술에게". Jumpball (in Korean). May 14, 2021.
16. "'승부조작 혐의' 전창진, 안양 감독직 자진 사퇴". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). August 6, 2015.
17. "불법 스포츠도박 프로농구 선수 등 15명 기소…김선형·오세근 기소유예". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). October 23, 2015.
18. "오세근 돌아온다...'완전체' 인삼신기, 개봉박두". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). November 4, 2015.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)