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KK Cedevita Junior

Cedevita Junior
Cedevita Junior logo
NicknameVitamini (The Vitamins)
LeaguesHT Premijer liga
Founded14 August 1991; 33 years ago (1991-08-14)
HistoryKK Botinec
(1991–1994)
KK Hiron Botinec
(1994–2005)
KK Cedevita
(2005–2019)
KK Cedevita Junior
(2019–present)
ArenaCedevita Basketball Dome,
Zagreb Fair
LocationZagreb, Croatia
Team colorsOrange, White, Black, Sky Blue
       
Main sponsorCedevita
PresidentNeven Vranković
General managerTomislav Zebić
Head coachDamir Mulaomerović
OwnershipAtlantic Grupa
Championships5 Croatian Championships
7 Croatian Cups
3 Croatian Supercups
1 ABA League Supercup
Retired numbers1 (45)
Websitewww.kkcedevitajunior.hr

Košarkaški klub Cedevita Junior (English: Cedevita Junior Basketball Club), also known as Cedevita Junior, is a men's basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is named after its main sponsor Cedevita, and competes in the Croatian HT Premijer liga.

Before its merge to Slovenian team Cedevita Olimpija in 2019, the club won 5 National League championships in 5-in-a-row sequence, seven National Cup titles, three National Supercup title, and one Adriatic Supercup title.

History

Botinec

The club was established in Zagreb in 1991 as KK Botinec, later becoming KK Hiron Botinec for sponsorship reasons. From season to season, the club moved up from the lowest levels of competition until it reached the A-1 League in 2002. In its first season of elite competition, it took 5th place in Croatia, behind the well-known clubs KK Cibona, KK Zadar, KK Zagreb and KK Split.

New name and bigger ambitions

A big step was taken in 2005 when Atlantic Grupa, a strong regional company, became the main sponsor of the club, after which the club was renamed to KK Cedevita. The young and modern board of directors raised the ambitions of the club, which achieved great success first in the 09–10 Season when it finished at 3rd place in the Croatian league (in the semi-final playoffs Zadar-Cedevita 2–1), played the semi-finals of the Croatian Cup along with taking 7th place in the strong regional Adriatic League as newcomer. Super Season, with the greatest success in Europe, is 10–11 with 3rd place in EuroCup in very first appearance in the competition of that level. Cedevita played EuroCup Final Four after victorious trip near Dynamo Moscow, Aris, Azovmash, Hemofarm Stada, Gran Canaria and Asefa Estiudiantes in Zagreb and Azovmash, Hapoel Galil Gilboa, Unics, Gran Canaria, Estudiantes and Benetton on the road. After a regular 1st place in the Croatian league, Cedevita won Cibona in semi-final playoffs but lost The Finals against Zagreb CO. Also, Cedevita again took 7th place in Adriatic league. First trophies came in 11–12 season with Cup Dražen Petrović and Croatian National Cup Krešimir Ćosić, also with the finals of the ABA league. First Croatian Champions title Croatian league came in the 13–14 season, also with the second Cup Krešimir Ćosić title and the second finals in the ABA league. Cedevita took two U–18 and one Under-16 Croatian Championships titles.

The first national titles (2011–2013)

The club logo used from 2005 to 2016

But one of the best Season, with the greatest success, is 2011–12, with first-ever Trophies for the team. After winning of the Cup Dražen Petrović (Croatian Supercup) against Zagreb, Cedevita took Croatian Cup Krešimir Ćosić for the first time in history, again against Zagreb in The Finals. After playing in Europe, beating French Champion Elan Chalon in qualifications, Cedevita finished the competition in the group, with strong Spartak St. Petersburg, Benetton Treviso, and Bayern. But the real success was 2nd place in the regular season of Adriatic league and crown came with great Finals in Tel Aviv, victory against Partizan in semi-finals and lose against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the finals. With that result, Cedevita had Euroleague place in her pocket. After 2nd place in the Croatian league, Cedevita won Split in semi-final playoffs but lost The Finals against Cibona.

Since 2005, the club has been led by great coaches such as the former coach of the Croatian National Team Srećko Medvedec, former Olympic Silver Medalist from Seoul and best scorer of the Euroleague Zdravko Radulović, former Yugoslavian National Team player Slobodan Subotić, former coach of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos and Aleksandar Petrović, National Team player and later Croatian National Team coach (brother of the famous Dražen Petrović) who became the best Eurocup coach in the 2010–11 season. Today, sitting on Cedevita's bench is current National Team of Croatia coach Jasmin Repeša who came in 13–14 season and will lead the team in 14–15 season.

Before Repeša coach was in 2012–13 four-time European Champion with Jugoplastika Split, Limoges and Panathinaikos, great Božidar Maljković, the successor of the former Croatian champion with Cibona and Belgian champion with Charleroi, Dražen Anzulović, who led Cedevita in season, 2011–12. Over the past few years, former Croatian and Bosnian National team members played for the team, including Slaven Rimac, Jurica Žuža, Damir Milačić, Krešimir Novosel, Mate Miliša, Milan Parezanović, Pero Dujmović, Stipe Modrić, Frano Čolak, alongside several excellent American players such as A. J. Guyton, Marlon Garnett, Adam Harrington, God Shammgod, Vonteego Cummings or Ramel Bradley.

The 2009–10 roster was strong with former Croatian National Team players Andrija Žižić, team captain Marino Baždarić and Damjan Rudež, B National Team player Tomislav Petrović, Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team players Bariša Krasić and Ivan Opačak, Canadian National Team playmaker Jermaine Anderson and Americans Ricardo Marsh and Thomas Mobley, as well as the Under-20 Croatian National Team player Dino Butorac. In younger selections cadets became Champions of Croatia.

The 2010–11 roster was especially strong with Žižić, Baždarić, Rudež, Petrović, Butorac, and newcomers as former Croatian National Team players Vedran Vukušić and Vladimir Krstić, ex Cibona player Robert Troha and ex BIH National Team player Vedran Princ. EuroCup MVP was American Dontaye Draper, new Croatian National Team member, EuroCup second team member Bracey Wright and center Corsley Edwards. In younger selections, juniors and cadets became vice Champions of Croatia.

Cedevita started 11–12 season's roster was especially strong with the best foreign player ever in Croatia, three times European Champion with CSKA and Bologna, Slovenian National Team player Matjaž Smodiš, fine Americans Chris Owens and Chris Warren, ex NBA and National Team player Dalibor Bagarić, new NT players Miro Bilan and Marko Car, along with Draper, Baždarić, Princ, Vukušić, Petrović, Opačak. In younger selections, juniors became Champions and cadets vice Champions of Croatia.

The 2012–13 season was marked by the arrival of the four times European Champion, coach Božidar Maljković for the first time ever participation of the club in the EuroLeague. Three Croatian National Team members, Marko Tomas, Lukša Andrić and Luka Babić joined the club, as well as stars like Mickaël Gelabale or Vlado Ilievski. Cedevita achieved its first victories at the highest level in Europe, but without passing to the TOP 16. After Maljković left the club, Aleksandar Petrović became the new coach but he also left the club before the end of the season in the Adriatic League in which Cedevita won the 6th place, enough for the participation in the EuroCup's next season. Before leaving, coach Petrović played the Cup finals, and interim coach Jakša Vulić reach the semifinals of the Croatian A-1 League play off. In younger selections juniors became vice Champions of Croatia and cadets, young cadets and Under-12 team played in Final fours.

Five Croatian League titles (2013–2019)

The club logo used from 2016 to 2019

The 2013–14 season started with big change on the bench, with the arrival of Jasmin Repeša, Croatian National Team coach who led Croatia to the semifinals of European Championships in Slovenia. Repeša had young but strong defense roster with one of the best young players in Europe, 19-year-old Jusuf Nurkić and 16-year-old Lovro Mazalin. With Bilan, Suton, Tomas, captain Baždarić and Babić from season before, team roster was stronger for occasional NT players Ante Delaš, Tomislav Zubčić and Ivan Ramljak and two strong Americans Nolan Smith and Allan Ray. BC Cedevita has won Cup Krešimir Ćosić, against BC Zagreb in the finals 86:68. In EuroCup passed by Elan Chalon, Charleroi and Oldenburg in the second stage, with Bilbao and Dynamo Sassari from a group, and stayed in Top 32 level regardless victories in Zaragoza or Istanbul over Bešiktaš. The club lost two games against Lietuvos Rytas, 83:84 and 75:74. But the best came latter. In great Final four tournament of ABA league in Belgrade, Cedevita defeat Partizan in front of 15,000 home supporters but lost in the finals from Cibona. This final is important because it ensured EuroLeague ticket for 14–15 season. The best came at the end of the season, with the first Croatian Champions title and great 3–0 victory in the series against Cibona. In 13–14 season Cedevita has won the new title in junior competition and became U–18 Croatian Champions.

In the 2014–15 season Cedevita became Croatian Champion again, with a win 3–1 in the playoffs finals vs Cibona, won Croatian Krešimir Ćosić Cup again and with an ABA league Finals (1–3 against Crvena Zvezda) will play in EuroLeague 15–16. Under-16 team is Croatian Champion, Under-18 team played in the Finals. Džanan Musa is MVP Under-16 European Championship with gold for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marko Arapović is a captain silver Under-19 Croatian Team at World Under-19 Cup with a position in best 5 of the tournament.

The new 2015–16 season with a new coach, Veljko Mršić and Gianmarco Pozzecco as assistant coach brings in some of the best seasons ever in 2015–16. Championships title again also Croatian Krešimir Ćosić Cup with semifinals in ABA league and Top 16 EuroLeague. In the 2016–17 again 4th-time champions with 5th time Croatian Cup, finals of Adriatic ABA League with Top 16 EuroCup. Miro Bilan, Marko Arapović, Filip Krušlin and Luka Babić played at the Olympic Games in Rio and Džanan Musa became the best scorer of FIBA Under-17 World Cup with Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team. In 2017–18 season the club started with legend player on coach position Jure Zdovc and assistant Slaven Rimac on the bench and first trophy, first ever ABA League Supercup in Bar. This season is a record in Croatia because Cedevita was first in Croatian League (5-th in a row) 2017–18 A-1 League as the senior team, also U-19, U-17 and U-11 team and U-15 vice champions. It was time for a 6-th Croatian Cup Krešimir Ćosić Cup. After TOP-16 in Eurocup Cedevita reaches semifinals of 2017–18 ABA League. Džanan Musa was EuroCup Basketball Rising Star 2017–18 EuroCup Basketball and ABA League Top Prospect 2017–18 ABA League First Division. In 2018-2019 season first coach will be Sito Alonso. The season was one of the worst in club history - poor results in the ABA League and the EuroCup lead to Alonso's firing and the hiring of former player Slaven Rimac. While the results improved, Cedevita was eliminated in the Top16 of the EuroCup, and the semifinals of the ABA League. Cedevita won Krešimir Ćosić Cup, but suffered a complete fiasco in the 2018–19 A-1 League, barely qualifying to the finals and getting swept by KK Cibona.

Merge with Olimpija Ljubljana

On June 4, 2019, it was announced that Cedevita is about to merge with Slovenian team Olimpija Ljubljana and form Cedevita Olimpija.[1][2] Some departments of the club, such as the Youth Academy, are planned to stay in Zagreb and continue as KK Cedevita Junior.[3] In June 2019, Cedevita had applied for a change of headquarters from Zagreb to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Upon the decision of resettlement, and followed by the confirmation of both assemblies, Cedevita Zagreb and Olimpija Ljubljana made the association of clubs.[4] KK Cedevita Olimpija was established at the meeting on July 8 in Arena Stožice.[5]

The club was a founding member of the Adriatic Basketball Association in 2015.[6] In December 2020, the club's shares were transferred to Cedevita Olimpija.[7]

Cedevita Junior years (2019–present)

Cedevita Junior was established as a new legal entity on May 31, 2019, and registered on June 11 by a local government authority. On June 18, the Croatian Basketball Federation issued a statement where they declined participation of the club in the 2019–20 Croatian League season.[8][9] In July 2019, Marino Baždarić was named a sports director.[10] The club was initially set to play in the bottom division of croatian basketball league by Croatian Basketball Federation, because it was considered as newly formed club. However, after merging with KK Agrodalm and taking its licence, Cedevita Junior began to compete in Prva liga (the second division of croatian basketball league).[11][12]

The club soon promoted to the HT Premijer liga after winning the second division title in 2021 and reached the Croatian Cup Final twice, in 2022 and 2023, but lost to fellow rivals Cibona Zagreb on both occasions.

Home arenas

Since the summer of 2019, the club has been playing their home games at the Cedevita Basketball Dome, which is located in the Zagreb Fair in Zagreb.

Honours

KK Cedevita

Total titles: 16

Honours No. Years
National league – 5
Croatian League Winners 5 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
Runners-up 3 2010–11, 2011–12, 2018–19
Prva Liga Winners 1 2020–21
National cup – 7
Krešimir Ćosić Cup Winners 7 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Runners-up 3 2013, 2022, 2023
National Supercup – 3
Dražen Petrović Cup Winners 3 2011, 2014, 2015
Runners-up 1 2013
Regional competitions – 1
Adriatic League (2001–present) Runners-up 4 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17
Adriatic Super Cup (2017–present) Winners 1 2017
European competitions – 0
EuroCup Third place 1 2010–11

Identity

After the company Cedevita changed its brand colors from red to orange in 2015,[13] the basketball club also re-branded and adopted orange as its main color for the 2016–17 season.

Players

Current roster

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

Cedevita Junior roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
G 0 United States Eaddy, Tahj 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1996-07-05)5 July 1996
SG 2 Croatia Rašić, Sandro 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 23 – (2001-04-02)2 April 2001
F/C 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina Karačić, Ivan 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 28 – (1996-02-20)20 February 1996
F 4 Croatia Jelić, Martin 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 25 – (1999-12-11)11 December 1999
PG 6 Croatia Šare, Niko 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 19 – (2005-04-20)20 April 2005
G 7 Croatia Krajnović, Luka 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 20 – (2004-04-27)27 April 2004
C 8 Croatia Sobin, Josip 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 35 – (1989-08-31)31 August 1989
G/F 10 Croatia Brzoja, Mislav 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 30 – (1994-01-09)9 January 1994
G 11 Croatia Mršić, Luka 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 22 – (2002-01-11)11 January 2002
F/C 23 Croatia Buljan, Tomislav 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 22 – (2002-11-03)3 November 2002
G 55 Croatia Anzulović, Luka 20 – (2004-02-21)21 February 2004
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (L) On loan
  • Injured Injured

Retired numbers

Cedevita Zagreb retired numbers
No Nat. Player Position Tenure Date retired
45 Croatia Marino Baždarić SF 2010–2014 2015

Season-by-season

Cedevita (2009–2019)

Seasons Adriatic League Croatian League Cup ABA League Supercup European competitions Head Coach Roster
2009–10 7th place 3rd place Semifinalist EuroChallenge
Regular season
Slobodan Subotić,
Aleksandar Petrović
Srđan Subotić, Nino Primorac, Bariša Krasić, Andrija Žižić, Damjan Rudež, Tomislav Petrović, Hrvoje Kovačević, Jermaine Anderson, Ricardo Marsh, Franko Kaštropil, Ivan Opačak, Dino Butorac, Marino Baždarić, Thomas Mobley, Vladimir Kuljanin
2010–11 7th place Finalist Semifinalist Eurocup
3rd place
Aleksandar Petrović Dontaye Draper, Vladimir Krstić, Robert Troha, Andrija Žižić, Damjan Rudež, Tomislav Petrović, Hrvoje Kovačević, Corsley Edwards, Vedran Vukušić, Franko Kaštropil, Vedran Princ, Dino Butorac, Marino Baždarić, Aaron Pettway, Trent Plaisted, Bracey Wright
2011–12 Finalist Finalist Champion Eurocup
Regular season
Dražen Anzulović Dontaye Draper, Matjaž Smodiš, Marko Car, Filip Kraljević, Chris Warren, Tomislav Petrović, Ivan Opačak, Miro Bilan, Vedran Vukušić, Dalibor Bagarić, Vedran Princ, Chris Owens, Marino Baždarić, Martin Junaković, Jakov Mustapić, Karlo Lebo
2012–13 6th place 3rd place Finalist Euroleague
Regular season
Božidar Maljković,
Aleksandar Petrović,
Jakša Vulić
Marques Green, Bracey Wright, Marko Car, Mickaël Gelabale, Curtis Stinson, Derwin Kitchen, Vlado Ilievski, Miro Bilan, Lukša Andrić, Predrag Šuput, Ante Mašić, Goran Suton, Marino Baždarić, Marko Tomas, Roko Rogić, Karlo Lebo, Luka Babić, Jusuf Nurkić, Ivan Buva
2013–14 Finalist Champion Champion Eurocup
Last 32
Jasmin Repeša Miro Bilan, Goran Suton, Marino Baždarić, Marko Tomas, Karlo Lebo, Luka Babić, Jusuf Nurkić, Ivan Ramljak, Lovro Mazalin, Tomislav Zubčić, Ante Delaš, Nolan Smith, Ivo Baltić, Josh Selby, Allan Ray, Filip Bundović, Dorian Jelenek, Jakov Mustapić
2014–15 Finalist Champion Champion Euroleague
Regular season Eurocup 1/8 Finals
Jasmin Repeša Miro Bilan, Mario Delaš, Roko Ukić, Marko Tomas, Nemanja Gordić, Luka Babić, Marko Arapović, Ivan Ramljak, Lovro Mazalin, Tomislav Zubčić, Ante Delaš, Karlo Žganec, Fran Pilepić, Ivan Vučić, Markus Lončar, Stanko Barać
2015–16 Semifinalist Champion Champion Euroleague
Top 16
Veljko Mršić Miro Bilan, Jacob Pullen, Nemanja Gordić, Luka Babić, Marko Arapović, Henry Walker, Lovro Mazalin, Tomislav Zubčić, Karlo Žganec, Fran Pilepić, James White, Luka Žorić, Toni Katić, Džanan Musa
2016–17 Finalist Champion Champion EuroCup
Top 16
Veljko Mršić Miro Bilan, Luka Babić, Marko Arapović, Karlo Žganec, Toni Katić, Džanan Musa, Marko Tomas, Ra'Shad James, Markus Lončar, Scotty Hopson, Karlo Mikšić, Luka Barišić, Filip Krušlin, Ivan Vučić, Mirza Begić, Ivan Zebić, Darko Bajo, Toni Perković, Antonio Jordano, Roko Rogić, Lovro Buljević, Filip Bundović, Marko Ramljak, John Shurna, Ryan Boatright, David Stockton, Duje Dukan, Pierre Jackson
2017–18 Semifinalist Champion Champion Champion EuroCup
Top 16
Jure Zdovc Roko Ukić, Demetris Nichols, Damir Markota, Andrija Stipanović, Filip Krušlin, Chris Johnson, Will Cherry, Džanan Musa, Ivan Ramljak, Toni Katić, Darko Bajo, Karlo Žganec, Nik Slavica, Lovro Buljević, Antonio Jordano, Toni Perković, Marko Arapović, Kevin Murphy
2018–19 Semifinalist Finalist Champion Semifinalist EuroCup
Top 16
Sito Alonso, Slaven Rimac
(B team: Slaven Rimac, Ivan Kapov, Dražen Orešković)
Andrija Stipanović, Justin Cobbs, Filip Krušlin, Toni Katić, Vítor Benite, Josh Magette, Karlo Žganec, Augusto Lima, Domagoj Bošnjak, Elgin Cook, Ivan Ramljak, James Bell, Pablo Aguilar, Tyler Wideman, Toni Perković, Mateo Vidović, Toni Katić, Darko Bajo, Andrija Ćorić, Domagoj Bošnjak, Toni Vitali, Lovro Buljević, Antonio Jordano, Rok Radović, Karlo Matković, Josip Popić, Fran Jacović, Jakov Mustapić, Jacob Pullen, Marko Banić, Edo Murić, Jakov Vladović

Head coaches

Management

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-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 official NBA match at any time.

See also

References

  1. ^ "VIDEO: SADA JE I SLUŽBENO: ODRŽAN POVIJESNI SASTANAK U LJUBLJANI! SPAJAJU SE CEDEVITA I KK OLIMPIJA 'Ovo nikada nitko nije napravio u nijednom sportu'". sportske.jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Spajaju se Cedevita i Olimpija: 'Ovo je avangarda, neviđeno...'". 24sata.hr. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Udružuju se KK Cedevita i KK Petrol Olimpija i nastaje KK Cedevita Olimpija". kkcedevita.hr. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. ^ "KK Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana: announce Davor Užbinec and Sani Bečirović". kkcedevita.hr. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  5. ^ R. K. (8 July 2019). "Rimac trener Cedevite Olimpije, prva okrepitev Edo Murić" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  6. ^ "REGIONALNA KOŠARKA PREŽIVJELA Klubovi postaju vlasnici nove ABA lige". sportske.jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Zvanično: FMP dobio vlasnički udeo u ABA ligi". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. ^ "HKS: Cedevita Junior ne može igrati Premijer ligu, bio bi to neprihvatljiv presedan". sportnet.rtl.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Priopćenje Hrvatskog košarkaškog saveza". hks-cbf.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Cedevita junior: Krećemo ozbiljno i ambiciozno". basketball.hr. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Dođe li do preslagivanja Cedevita Junior je spremna odmah uskočiti u HT Premijer ligu". Basketball.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  12. ^ "Direktor Cedevite: Spremni smo uskočiti u Premijer ligu | Germanijak". www.germanijak.hr. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  13. ^ Cedevita – A Fresh Dose of Vitamins; A Fresh Dose of Energy!