Basketball club UNICS Kazan: history, achievements, composition

BC UNICS (Kazan) is the Russian professional basketball club of Tatarstan, currently playing in the VTB United League. The home arena of the team is the "Basket Hall", whose stands are designed for 7,500 spectators.

History

Although officially a professional club was founded in 1991 (when it appeared at the lowest levels in the professional league), the history of UNICS originates from the Petrel team from Kazan Federal University. She took part in the student championships of the USSR since 1957 and won the title of the best university team of the Soviet Union twice: in 1965 and 1970. Because of this, the name UNICS is an abbreviation: university, culture, sport.

In 1997, he reached the Russian basketball Super League A, which is the highest echelon of domestic basketball. A year later, Evgeny Bogachev, chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Tatarstan, became president of the club, who he is today.

The beginning of the way

The club has come a long way to Super League A (Russian Basketball Championship) since it was created in 1991. In the period from 1994 to 1997, UNICS (Kazan) secured a place in the first Russian division, and then made a dizzying debut in the Premier League, finishing in the top five teams. Thanks to this, Kazan basketball players participated in European competitions already in 1997.

The beginning of the new millennium was destined to be a turning point for the club. The team took second place after CSKA in the Russian basketball Super League in 2001 and 2002. The team also reached the semifinals of the Saporta Cup, losing in the Marussi semifinal from Greece. BC UNICS (Kazan) won their first title, which became the Cup of Russia, in March 2003 with a score of 82-81, having won a strong-willed victory over CSKA.

UNICS fans did not have to wait long to see the team as the European champion. The so-called FIBA ​​Four Cup Final Challenge was held in Kazan, in which UNICS defeated the same Greek Marussi with a score of 87-64. After that, she learned about a club like UNICS in all of Europe. Basketball Kazan fell in love no less than football and hockey. Famous players began to move into the team. The club signed a contract with Saulius Strombergas, Eurelius Zhukauskas and Chris Anstey.

By the 2005/2006 season, UNICS climbed one level up and made its debut in Eurocup (the second most important club tournament in Europe). Having started the season well, the team slowed down and unexpectedly dropped out of the tournament at the 1/8 final stage. Over the next season, the team got stronger, retaining the main group of players from previous seasons and signing a contract with Dariusz Lavrynovych, who reunited with his twin brother Krzysztof Lavrynovych. The club made it to the semi-finals of Eurocup, where they lost to Real Madrid, the future champion of the tournament. UNICS (Kazan) also participated in the Super League finals, losing to the long-standing champions of CSKA (Moscow).

Long-awaited success

In the 2010/2011 season, UNICS still achieved success in the European Cup. Having passed through the entire sieve of the competition practically without loss both at the group stage and at the playoff stage, in the final, Kazan defeated the Spanish “Cajasol” (now it is called “Sevilla”). In addition, UNICS finished the regular season at the top of the standings with a solid margin, after which the victory was won in the grueling struggle with the main rivals of the CSKA and Khimki basketball clubs. The team received tickets to the main basketball tournament of the Old World - Euroleague. However, UNICS didn’t get it right at once, and the team struggled hard through the group stage, eventually losing in the quarterfinals.

Modern UNICS

Following one of the greatest seasons in the history of the club, UNICS continued to play in the Eurocup and Euroleague, as well as in the new VTB United League. The team has long maintained the stability of its performances, striving to win from year to year not only in the domestic, but also in the international arena. One of the secrets to the success of the club is that it managed to maintain the core of several players for several years. Players such as Marco Popovich, Maciej Lampe, Terrell Layday, Vladimir Veremeenko and Kelly McCarthy helped write a golden chapter in the history of the UNICS team (Kazan).

Basketball club in the season 2013/2014 won group A of the VTB United League regular season, eventually winning the “bronze”. In Eurocup, the club reached the final, where they lost to the Spanish “Valencia” after two matches (Kazan lost both matches of the final series). In the last season, UNICS managed to take only 6th place in the VTB United League group, and in the playoffs they stopped at the ¼ final stage. Unfortunately, in the Euroleague the club dropped out at the group stage.

Command

The head coach of the team is the famous Russian athlete Yevgeny Pashutin, who worked with the Russian national basketball team and BC CSKA.

At the moment, the team is fully equipped, the players have no serious injuries. Let's hope UNICS will be able to compete for the highest places this season.