The South Adelaide Basketball Club (SABC), nicknamed the Panthers, was formed in 1952 as one of the foundation clubs in the sport of basketball in South Australia. The club joined the SA State League for its inaugural season in 1957 and has since won 11 league titles; 10 by the men and one by the women. The club also holds an Australian basketball record of 51 straight wins, being set in 1965.
In March 2015, the SABC retired the playing numbers of three of the club's greatest basketball players: Michael Ah Matt (#8), Scott Ninnis (#9) and Mark Davis (#33).
Ah Matt, a 6'2" (188 cm) guard who was born in Townsville in 1942 and came to Adelaide in 1959 via Darwin, was a SA SA State League championship winner in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969 and 1973. He was the first Indigenous Australian to represent Australia in basketball at the Olympic Games when he was selected for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Ah Matt died from a heart attack in 1984.
Ninnis, a 6'2" (188 cm) shooting guard and a local junior born in 1965, is the son of 1960's Panthers championship player Bruce Ninnis (a team mate of Ah Matt). He won 4 SA State League championships with the Panthers (1987, 1989, 1995 and 1997) and the Woollacott Medal in 1995 as well as winning 3 National Basketball League championships with the Adelaide 36ers (1986 and 1998) and the South East Melbourne Magic (1992). Ninnis was also the NBL's Most Improved Player Award winner in 1993 and was the 36ers head coach from 2008–2010 as well as being the clubs assistant coach from 1998–2003 including during their 1998–99 and 2001–02 championships.
Davis, a 6'7" (201 cm) rebounding power forward born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1960, was brought to Adelaide by the SABC in 1985 when the club was looking for an import and was told there was one "killing it" in New Zealand. Davis won five SA State League championships with the Panthers (1987, 1989, 1991, 1995 and 1997) and a record five Woollacott Medals. After just 5 games with South Adelaide, Davis was recruited to the NBL's Adelaide 36ers. In 1986 he was the NBL's Grand Final MVP and in 1987, he jointly won the NBL's MVP award with Brisbane's Leroy Loggins. Davis also played on Adelaide 36ers championship teams in 1986, 1998 and 1998–99 and won every Adelaide 36ers Club MVP award from 1985–1993. After just 2 seasons in the NBL, David broke the record for the most rebounds in league history and held the record from 1987–2003. Davis grabbed 5,200 rebounds (3,221 defensive and 1,979 offensive) in his NBL career from 1985–2001 and as of 2016–17 remains in 2nd place all-time.
Both Ah Matt (2010) and Davis (2006) are also members of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.
