The birth of the Geelong Basketball Club took place when a group of local basketball officials decided to look for a greater challenge.

Officials of the Geelong Amateur Basketball Association felt that Geelong should be represented in the top Victorian competition, the VBA.

For many years Geelong's top players, seeking the highest level of competition had played with leading clubs in Melbourne.

So in late 1977 a group of Geelong men banded together and formed the GBC to give local basketballers the opportunity of playing top level competition without the inconvenience of having to travel to Melbourne for practice session.

The club wanted to achieve the highest possible results on the court, so its founders believed the best way was to be successful off the court as well. Also the club wanted to be in the top half of the VBA ladder, not down the bottom.

The club finished sixth in the 1978 Victorian Championship with wins during that year over Coburg, Nunawading and visiting Simon Fraser University.

In season 1979, Geelong finished in fifth position with the highlights being an 18 point win over the visiting Colarado University team and a 121-106 victory in a state championship game over eventual national league premiers St Kilda.

Season 1980 was a most successful year for the club. An extensive recruiting campaign saw the signing of 1979 national league's  leading scorer, Cal Bruton and two outstanding recruits, Steven Kelocinski (6ft 8inc), and Ray Shirley (6ft 9inc), combined with the locally bred players to be a formidable combination. That year the side won three major tournaments and had victories over touring American College teams, University of Puget Sound and Oklahoma State. The side was also runners-up in the VBA championships.

In 1981 the GBC took part in anew competition- the south Eastern Conference- as well as the Victorian championships. Matches were played in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania with Geelong winning the competition defeating Frankston in the grand final by 11 points.

By winning the South Eastern Conference, Geelong  was invited to compete in the Converse Super Challenge in Adelaide against Launceston (1981) national league winners, West Adelaide (No 1 team in South Australia) and St Kilda (Australia's representative in the world championships in Brazil). Geelong proudly emerged victors of the Super Challenge. The club was also the Victorian Summer Championship Premiers with a resounding victory over the national league team Nunawading. With the victory Geelong was accepted into the National Basketball League.