BC UNICS

BC UNICS
Leagues	VTB United League
Founded	1991(1991)
History	BC UNICS (1991–present)
Arena	Basket-Hall Kazan
Capacity	7,482
Location	Kazan,Russia
Team colors	Green, White
President	Yevgeny Bogachev
Team manager	Valery Kolesnikov
Head coach	Velimir Perasović
Championships	1EuroCup 1Russian Championship 3Russian Cups 1North European League 1EuroChallenge
Website	unics.ru
Home Away

BC UNICS(Russian:БК УНИКС) is a professionalbasketballclubinKazan,Russia, that plays in theVTB United League,and formerly played in theEuroLeague.On February 28, 2022,EuroLeague Basketballsuspended the team because of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Their home arena isBasket-Hall Kazan.

History

1991-1999

UNICS was established in 1991. Though officially the club's men's professional club was founded in 1991 (when it first began to play in the lowest level of the national pro leagues), UNICS traces its origins back toKSU'scollege teamBurevestnik,which participated in theUSSRstudent championships from 1957. Because of this, the name 'UNICS' is an abbreviation – UNIversity, Culture, Sport.

Between 1994 and 1997, UNICS secured a berth in Russia's first division. In 1997, UNICS was promoted to theRussian Basketball Super League A,which was at the time thetop-tier level Russian league.A year later, Yevgeny Bogachev, the chairman of the National Bank of theTatarstan,became the president of the club.

2000-2019

The team placed second toCSKAin theRussian Basketball Super Leaguein 2001 and 2002, a year in which it also reached theSaporta Cupsemifinals, losing against the Greek clubMaroussiin the semifinals. UNICS' first title was theRussian Cupin March 2003, with an 81–82 overtime victory overCSKA.Kazanhosted theFIBA Europe Leaguefinal four, which was eventually named theFIBA EuroChallenge,in April 2004. UNICS won its regular season group, and advanced to the final four, where the club was crowned the FIBA Europe League champions. TheMVP of the tournament's final four.By the 2005–06 season, UNICS went one level up, and made itsULEB Cup(later named EuroCup) debut. However, things turned south quickly, as UNICS lost at home againstRomain the tournament's eighth finals’ second leg, and crashed out. The team the next season made it to theULEB Cupsemifinals, before losing to the eventual league champsReal Madrid.It also returned to theRussian Leaguefinals, losing againstCSKA.

In the 2007–08 season, UNICS made it to the ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) Final Eight, but fell toAkasvayu Gironain the quarterfinals. UNICS finally broke through in the EuroCup in the 2010–11 season, by winning its regular season and Last 16 groups, before sweeping its quarterfinal series againstPepsi Caserta.UNICS beatKK Cedevita87–66, in the semifinals, behind 27 points fromTerrell Lyday,and registered a 92–77 win againstCajasol Sevilla,in the title game.Marko Popovićhad a EuroCup Finals record of 11assists,to lead UNICS to the title. In the Russian League, UNICS had a 21–6 record, to finish the regular season atop the standings, but then went out in the playoff semifinals, after a five-game duel againstBC Khimki.The club then competed in the Turkish AirlinesEuroLeaguein the following season.It made itsEuroLeaguedebut in the 2011–12 season. In the Russian League it finished first at the end of the regular season, and reached the playoff semifinals.

2020-present

Jarrell Brantleyleft the team in early 2022 due to the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.The team is suing him for $250,000, and trying to prevent him from signing with aG Leagueteam.Similarly, AmericansIsaiah Canaan,John Brown,andJohn Hollandleft the team after the invasion.

On February 28, 2022,EuroLeague Basketballsuspended the team because of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Lorenzo BrownandMarco Spissudecided not to break their contracts and stayed with the team until the end ofVTB League.

Honours

Domestic competitions

• VTB United League

Champions (1):2023

• Russian Cups

Champions (3):2003, 2009,2014

European competitions

• EuroCup

Champions (1):2011

• EuroChallenge

Champions (1):2004

• North European League

Champions (1):2003

Season by season

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	Russian Cup	European competitions		Other competitions
1997–98	1	Superleague A	7th		3Korać Cup	GS
1998–99	1	Superleague A	5th		2Saporta Cup	R32
1999–00	1	Superleague A	3rd		3Korać Cup	EF
2000–01	1	Superleague A	2nd		2Saporta Cup	SF
2001–02	1	Superleague A	2nd		2Saporta Cup	QF
2002–03	1	Superleague A	3rd	Winner	3FIBA Champions Cup	QF	NEBL	C
2003–04	1	Superleague A	2nd	Third place	3FIBA Europe League	C
2004–05	1	Superleague A	3rd	Runner-up	3FIBA Europe League	QF
2005–06	1	Superleague A	4th	Third place	2ULEB Cup	EF
2006–07	1	Superleague A	2nd	Runner-up	2ULEB Cup	QF
2007–08	1	Superleague A	6th	Semifinals	2ULEB Cup	QF
2008–09	1	Superleague A	3rd	Winner	2Eurocup	T16
2009–10	1	Superleague A	3rd	Runner-up	2Eurocup	T16	United League	RU
2010–11	1	PBL	3rd		1Euroleague	QR2	United League	3rd
					2Eurocup	C
2011–12	1	PBL	5th		1Euroleague	QF	United League	RU
2012–13	1	PBL	6th		1Euroleague	QR2	United League	QF
					2Eurocup	QF
2013–14	1	VTB United League	3rd	Winner	2Eurocup	RU
2014–15	1	VTB United League	6th	Second qualifying	1Euroleague	RS
					2Eurocup	SF
2015–16	1	VTB United League	2nd	First qualifying	2Eurocup	EF
2016–17	1	VTB United League	5th	Round of 64	1EuroLeague	RS
2017–18	1	VTB United League	4th		2EuroCup	QF
2018–19	1	VTB United League	3rd	First round	2EuroCup	SF
2019–20	1	VTB United League	4th		2EuroCup	R16
2020–21	1	VTB United League	2nd		2EuroCup	RU
2021–22	1	VTB United League	3rd		1EuroLeague	SP	United League Supercup	3rd
2022–23	1	VTB United League	1st				United League Supercup	7th

Players

See also:Category:BC UNICS players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility atFIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

UNICS roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age F 1 Akoon-Purcell, DeVaughn 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 31 –(1993-06-05)5 June 1993 SG 2 Belenitskii, Mikhail 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 22 –(2002-09-12)12 September 2002 C 3 Reynolds, Jalen 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 31 –(1992-12-30)30 December 1992 SG 4 Komolov, Artem 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 31 –(1993-06-01)1 June 1993 SG 5 Kulagin, Dmitrii 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 32 –(1992-07-01)1 July 1992 PF 7 Labeyrie, Louis 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 32 –(1992-02-11)11 February 1992 PG 9 Knight, Marcos 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 35 –(1989-09-24)24 September 1989 PG 12 Taylor, Tony 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 34 –(1990-08-09)9 August 1990 F/C 15 Toropov, Sergey 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 35 –(1989-10-15)15 October 1989 C 21 Bako, Ismaël 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 29 –(1995-10-10)10 October 1995 F 22 Stulenkov, Alexandr 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 32 –(1992-08-09)9 August 1992 F/C 27 Lopatin, Andrey 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 26 –(1998-08-27)27 August 1998 G 28 Platunov, Alexandr 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 27 –(1997-07-06)6 July 1997	Head coach Velimir Perasović Assistant coach(es) Kostas Kaimakoglou Artur Bigeev Milan Karakas Team manager Mikhail Kolesnikov Legend (C)Team captain Injured Roster Updated:October 5, 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Ismaël Bako	Jalen Reynolds
PF	Andrey Lopatin	Louis Labeyrie	Aleksandr Stulenkov
SF	DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell	Dmitry Kulagin	Sergey Toporov
SG	Mikhail Belenitskii	Artem Komolov	Aleksandr Platunov
PG	Tony Taylor	Marcos Knight

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility atFIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one officialNBAmatch at any time.

bold – FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists

Russian

• Ruslan Avleev(1997–01, 04–06) – 301 games,19.2 ppg;
• Petr Samoylenko(1998–07, 08–13) –774 games,5.8 ppg;
• Alexander Petrenko(1999–00) – 58 games, 13.2 ppg;
• Evgeniy Pashutin(2000–02) – 86 games, 8.5 ppg;
• Valentin Kubrakov(2000–02, 03–04) – 121 games, 8.5 ppg;
• Igor Kudelin(2002–03, 06–07) – 35 games, 8.1 ppg;
• Sergei Chikalkin(2002–03, 05–09) – 187 games, 10.6 ppg;
• Andrei Fetisov(2002–03) – 20 games, 6.2 ppg;
• Viktor Keirou(2003–05, 07–08) – 83 games, 5.4 ppg;
• Vadim Panin(2006–07) – 35 games, 6.1 ppg;
• Dmitri Sokolov(2006–09) – 128 games, 6.8 ppg;
• Nikolay Padius(2007–08, 10–11) – 59 games, 5.3 ppg;
• Fedor Likholitov(2009–10) – 10 games, 2.5 ppg;
• Zakhar Pashutin(2010–12) – 102 games, 4.3 ppg;
• Aleksey Savrasenko(2011–12) – 56 games, 4.6 ppg;
• Nikita Shabalkin(2012–13) – 28 games, 6.3 ppg;
• Egor Koulechov(2020–21)

Foreign

bold – former NBA players; Olympics, FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility atFIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one officialNBAmatch at any time.

USA

• Glen Whisby(2000–01) – 51 games, 10.4 ppg;
• Anthony Bonner(2001–02) – 8 games, 14.9 ppg;
• Michael McDonald(2001–02) – 45 games; 12.2 ppg;
• Acie Earl(2001–02) – 30 games, 11.8 ppg;
• Dickey Simpkins* (2002–03) – 38 games, 12.3 ppg;
• Kebu Stewart(2002–03) – 18 games, 8.3 ppg;
• LaMarr Greer(2003–04) – 41 games; 12 ppg;
• Joe Ira Clark(2004–05) – 41 games, 7.8 ppg;
• Paul Shirley(2004–05) – 9 games, 4.9 ppg;
• Shammond Williams(2004–05) – 57 games,17.1 ppg;
• Travis Best(2005–06) – 40 games, 11.5 ppg;
• Samaki Walker* (2005–06) – 4 games, 7 ppg;
• Sam Clancy, Jr.(2005–06) – 30 games, 4 ppg;
• Jarod Stevenson(2006–07) – 32 games; 10.4 ppg;
• Mateen Cleaves(2006–07) – 11 games, 5 ppg;
• Jerry McCullough(2006–08) – 80 games, 6.8 ppg;
• Tariq Kirksay(2007–09) – 95 games, 9.3 ppg;
• Joseph Forte(2007–08) – 11 games, 8.4 ppg;
• Marc Jackson(2008–09) – 19 games, 6.5 ppg;
• Terrell Lyday(2008–13) –243 games,12.2 ppg;
• Ricky Minard(2010–11) – 48 games, 7.4 pts;
• Kelly McCarty(2010–13) – 114 games, 9.5 ppg;
• Henry Domercant(2011–12) – 58 games, 13.4 ppg;
• Lynn Greer(2011–12) – 55 games, 8 ppg;
• Mike Wilkinson(2011–13) – 63 games, 7.1 ppg;
• Mire Chatman(2012–13) – 45 games, 8.5 ppg;
• Chuck Eidson(2012–13) – 48 games, 13.6 ppg;
• Drew Goudelock(2013–14) – 46 games, 19.3 ppg;
• John Holland(2020)
• O. J. Mayo(2021–22) – 9 games, 7.2 ppg;

Australia

• Chris Anstey(2003–05) – 93 games, 13.1 ppg;
• Nathan Jawai(2011–12) – 46 games, 8.7 ppg;

Europe

• D'or Fischer
• Alex Tyus
• Slobodan Šljivančanin(1998–00) – 117 games, 10 ppg;
• Branislav Vićentić(2001–02) – 29 games, 10.4 ppg;
• Oliver Popović(2001–03) – 80 games, 14.6 ppg;
• Damir Mršić(2002–03) – 31 games, 7.7 ppg;
• Eurelijus Žukauskas(2002–04) – 78 games, 10 ppg;
• Martin Müürsepp(2001–02, 03–04, 05–06) – 86 games, 11.3 ppg;
• Saulius Štombergas(2003–04, 05–07, 09–10) – 144 games, 11 ppg;
• Stevan Nađfeji(2004–05) – 40 games, 7.4 ppg;
• Kaspars Kambala(2004–05) – 54 games, 14.5 ppg;
• Kšyštof Lavrinovič(2005–07) – 78 games, 12.7 ppg;
• Darjuš Lavrinovič(2006–08) – 68 games, 12.9 ppg;
• Duško Savanović(2006–08) – 71 games, 10.3 ppg;
• Marko Tušek(2007–08) – 36 games, 10.1 ppg;
• Krešimir Lončar(2008–10) – 114 games, 11.8 ppg;
• Marko Popović(2008–11) – 142 games, 13.9 ppg;
• Vladimir Veremeenko(2008–13) –249 games,8.8 ppg;
• Maciej Lampe(2009–11) – 96 games,15.9 ppg;
• Hasan Rizvić(2010–11) – 64 games, 5.4 ppg;
• Slavko Vraneš(2010–11) – 39 games, 2.6 ppg;
• Boštjan Nachbar(2011–12) – 22 games, 3.6 ppg;
• Ian Vougioukas(2012–13) – 47 games, 10.9 ppg;
• Kostas Kaimakoglou(2012–2021) – 37 games, 12.5 ppg;
• Artūras Milaknis(2015–16);
• Nenad Dimitrijević(2022–23) – VTB United League playoffs MVP;

• Maurice Ndour

Milan Gurović(2004) andHüseyin Beşok(2005) shortly were under contract with UNICS Kazan, but never played a single game for the team.

(*) former NBA champions

Head coaches

bold – Olympics, FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists

• Stanislav Eremin– 2000–06;
• Antanas Sireika– 2006–08;
• Aco Petrović– 2008–09;
• Valdemaras Chomičius– 2009–10;
• Evgeniy Pashutin– 2010–12;
• Aco Petrović – 2012–2013
• Stanislav Eremin– 2013;
• Andrea Trinchieri– 2013–2014
• Argiris Pedoulakis– 2014–2014
• Evgeniy Pashutin – 2014–2017
• Dimitrios Priftis– 2017–2021
• Velimir Perasović– 2021–

External links

• Official Site(in Russian)
• Eurobasket Team Info