Paul Van Roy

Paul Van Roy (1931/1932 – 22 July 2020) was a Belgian basketball player and journalist.
Biography.
Van Roy was born in Niel, Belgium, where he would live his entire life. He started playing football but after one or two years he switched to basketball when he was 15 years old. As a basketball player he was one of the main players of basketball team RUBO in the early 1950s. Within six years the team was promoted 5 times, ending up playing in the highest division in 1957. Van Roy also played for the Belgium men's national basketball team. He scored 75 points in 1 match. During his basketball career, he played matches in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Germany. He continued playing basketball until he was 60 years old playing with Rubo-Niel.
For more than half a century, Van Roy was a local journalist and correspondent for "Gazet van Antwerpen". He wrote articles for the news agency until his death. He was nicknamed ‘De grote vriendelijke reus’ (translated: The Big Friendly Giant).
Death.
Van Roy died in July 2020, aged 88, from pancreatic cancer.