BC UNICS (Russian: БК УНИКС) is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Their home arena is Basket-Hall Kazan.
Contents
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 to KSU's college team Burevestnik, which participated in the USSR student 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 the Russian Basketball Super League A, which was at the time the top-tier level Russian league. A year later, Yevgeny Bogachev, the chairman of the National Bank of the Tatarstan, became the president of the club.
2000-2019
The team placed second to CSKA in the Russian Basketball Super League in 2001 and 2002, a year in which it also reached the Saporta Cup semifinals, losing against the Greek club Maroussi in the semifinals. UNICS' first title was the Russian Cup in March 2003, with an 81–82 overtime victory over CSKA. Kazan hosted the FIBA Europe League final four, which was eventually named the FIBA 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. The MVP of the tournament's final four. By the 2005–06 season, UNICS went one level up, and made its ULEB Cup (later named EuroCup) debut. However, things turned south quickly, as UNICS lost at home against Roma in the tournament's eighth finals’ second leg, and crashed out. The team the next season made it to the ULEB Cup semifinals, before losing to the eventual league champs Real Madrid. It also returned to the Russian League finals, losing against CSKA.
In the 2007–08 season, UNICS made it to the ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) Final Eight, but fell to Akasvayu Girona in 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 against Pepsi Caserta. UNICS beat KK Cedevita 87–66, in the semifinals, behind 27 points from Terrell Lyday, and registered a 92–77 win against Cajasol Sevilla, in the title game. Marko Popović had a EuroCup Finals record of 11 assists, 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 against BC Khimki. The club then competed in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in the following season. It made its EuroLeague debut 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 Brantley left the team in early 2022 due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team is suing him for $250,000, and trying to prevent him from signing with a G League team. Similarly, Americans Isaiah Canaan, John Brown, and John Holland left the team after the invasion.
On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Lorenzo Brown and Marco Spissu decided not to break their contracts and stayed with the team until the end of VTB League.
Honours
Domestic competitions
VTB United League
Champions (1): 2023
Russian Championship
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
Players
Notable players
bold – FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists
Foreign
bold – former NBA players; Olympics, FIBA World and FIBA Europe champions and medalists
Milan Gurović (2004) and Hüseyin 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–