For many years, the Tigers were one of the front runners of the British basketball scene, winning the league Championship in 1994, but it was in the new millennium that the successes dried up and for owner John Nike, the team was too much of a financial burden.
The arrival of American swingman Daniel Gilbert from Germany was a major coup for the Heat during the summer of 2006, proving playcaller Paul James still has great ability in spotting stars of the future.
On 12 December 2006 the club announced their first major sponsorship agreement with French chimney manufacturers Poujoulat, in what was reported as potentially a six-figure deal.
Just 18 months since the franchise's foundation, the Guildford Heat picked up their first piece of silverware on 7 January 2007, with an 81–78 win in the BBL Cup final against the Scottish Rocks.
[6] Over 600 Guildford fans travelled up to the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham to see their team clinch the trophy in front of a bumper crowd of 3,785 people.
Despite seemingly looking to run away with the League title, the Heat's season suffered a huge blow when a knee injury to Chad McKnight against the Sheffield Sharks on 3 February, effectively ruled the American out for the remainder of the campaign.
However a month later, The Independent broke the news that McKnight had been issued with a three-month suspension for testing positive for marijuana, along with former Leicester star Steve Bucknall, who had also been released by his club.
[9] Following the end of Guildford's successful double winning season, they also became the first ever BBL team to achieve Sport England Clubmark Level 4 accreditation of quality.
[11] The Heat were drawn against DKV Joventut of the Spanish ACB; Germans Alba Berlin; Türk Telekom from Ankara, Turkey; BC Šiauliai of Lithuania and, KK Bosna of Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
[13] This was also to be the last game team captain and point guard Brian Dux would play before a horrific car accident in the early hours of 10 November, which left him in a coma.
Domestically, the team maintained a strong assault in the league, hovering near the top of the table for much of the winter period, although they failed in their defence of the BBL Cup at the hands of the Milton Keynes Lions, going down 80–91 in the semi-final.
On 2 March 2008, the Guildford Heat fought back from a half-time deficit to win the BBL Trophy for the first time in its history, defeating the Newcastle Eagles 86–79 at the Plymouth Pavilions.
The Play-off Final, held on the following day, saw Guildford up against the season's surprise package, the Milton Keynes Lions, who had just disposed of the Newcastle Eagles in the semi-final.
They defeated the previous season's BBL Cup winners, the Milton Keynes Lions, over two legs, winning both games 91–89 at the Spectrum and 68–60 at the Bletchley Centre.
The new year started brightly, and thanks to two victories in two days over London Capital (104–80) and the Milton Keynes Lions (101–99), the Heat booked their place in the semi-final of the Trophy.
However, all wasn't well behind closed doors, and following the exit of previous Chairman and main sponsor Robert Banks, the club announced on 12 February 2009 that it had gone into administration but with a buyout imminent.
[29] Just days after securing a place in the Play-offs, with a 74–65 win at home against the Milton Keynes Lions, club Managing Director Alan McClafferty announced that coach Paul James would not have his contract renewed at the end of the season.
[31] After Paul James’ departure as coach of the first team, the club quickly appointed Chad McKnight as player/coach on 8 July and subsequently brought back Mike Davies as General Manager.
[35] With back-up point-guard and long-time Heat player, Jon May, joining the EBL outfit Reading Rockets, Chad McKnight had a rebuilding job on his hands.
The club brought in several new faces, including BBL veteran Julius Joseph and up-and-coming young England star, Tayo Ogedengbe.
McKnight also brought in two Americans in explosive point-guard Aaron Drakeford and swing man Kenny Langhorne (who replaced Keonta Howell who decided not to return to the Heat after two years there).
However, other team members, including Aaron Drakeford and Kenny Langhorne, were carrying injuries and being asked to play big minutes due to a short bench.
[40] Economic headwins in the UK's higher education system, as well as no stability of a league, commercial structure and income streams, led to the final decision.
[40] In August 2024, former national team player and Scorchers general manager Dan Clark announced he launched another Guildford-based franchise, the Surrey 89ers.