Science City Jena has found its head coach for the coming years. As had already been leaked, Bremerhaven coach Steven Esterkamp has been hired by the Kernbergen-based club.
The 45-year-old American had only extended his contract with the Eisbären this past spring. Now, Jena has exercised the contractually stipulated buyout clause, including a transfer fee. Esterkamp signed a three-year contract valid through 2029, regardless of league affiliation.
“We are very pleased to have found a coach in Steven who is already familiar with the German national leagues and has done a good job at various locations,” explained Jena’s sporting director Stephan Haukohl.
As a player, Esterkamp played for various clubs in the Basketball Bundesliga for over a decade. In 2014, he finally made the move to the coaching bench, where he worked—also in Thuringia—as an assistant coach for the Rockets Gotha. Most recently, he spent over two years on the sidelines in Bremerhaven. He recently led the traditional North German club to the semifinals of the Pro A playoffs, where they were narrowly defeated after five games by Phoenix Hagen, the eventual second-division champion.
Esterkamp on leaving Bremerhaven: “A very difficult decision”
“It was a very difficult decision to leave the Eisbären,” Esterkamp was quoted as saying in Bremerhaven’s press release. “Everyone I’ve worked with over the past two years has been great. (…) I know that the Eisbären family will continue to be successful in the years to come.”
For Jena, on the other hand, the long period of uncertainty is over after interim coach Mike Taylor decided not to continue with the team. Together with the sacked promotion coach Björn Harmsen, Esterkamp is already the third coach at Science City within a few months. The Cincinnati-born basketball coach is now tasked with helping to secure the team’s survival in the league once again and further developing the organization as a whole.