Ülker Gençlik ve Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Ülker or Ülkerspor, was a Turkish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club that was based in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. The club competed in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

. They played their home games at the

Abdi İpekçi Arena Abdi İpekçi Arena, formerly known as Abdi İpekçi Sports Complex, was a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkey, situated just outside the ancient city walls, in Yedikule. History Designed in 197 ...

History

Ülkerspor was founded in 1975, but its basketball department was created in 1993, by buying a

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

spot from Nasaş. The club have won four Turkish League titles in 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2006, with greats including Harun Erdenay,

İbrahim Kutluay İbrahim Kutluay (born 7 January 1974) is a former Turkish people, Turkish professional basketball player who has been a manager and pundit since his retirement. He played the shooting guard position, and in his prime, was one of the most prolif ...

, Michael Anderson, Orhun Ene, Kevin Rankin, and more recently,

Mirsad Türkcan Mirsad Türkcan (born Mirsad Jahović, sr-cyr, Мирсад Јаховић; on June 7, 1976) is a Turkish former professional basketball player of Bosniak origin. Standing at a height of , he played at the power forward position. A three-time Al ...

and

Serkan Erdoğan Serkan Erdoğan (born 30 August 1978) is a Turkish retired professional basketball player. Erdoğan tested positive for the banned substance Nandrolone, and was thus immediately suspended from the FIBA SuproLeague's 2000–01 season competition. ...

. The first major success for the club was in the

1995–96 FIBA European League The 1995–96 FIBA European League, also shortened to 1995–96 FIBA EuroLeague, was the 39th installment of the European top-tier level professional club competition for basketball clubs (now called EuroLeague). It began on September 7, 1995, an ...

when Ülker managed to reach the Quarterfinal Playoffs and was eliminated by

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

(the subsequent competition's finalist). Ülker also made the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

Top 16 for five consecutive seasons between 2002 and 2006, beating all the best European teams in the process, and showing it was an important team in the competition. Ülkerspor had its best finish when surviving a tough Top 16 group to make the Euroleague 2004–05 season Quarterfinal Playoffs, where it lost against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. Ülkerspor also won five Turkish Presidential Cup titles and three

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

titles between 2001 and 2005. Things got serious again in the 2005–06 season, as Ülkerspor conquered its fourth Turkish League title. In 2006, the

Ülker Ülker is a Turkish multinational food and beverage manufacturer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Its products are exported internationally, to 110 countries. Ülker's core products are biscuits, cookies, crackers, and chocolates, although it has ex ...

corporation, which owned and sponsored the club, decided to abolish the team, converting it into the humble

Alpella Alpella Spor Kulübü, or Alpella B.K., is a defunct professional basketball club that was based in Turkey. The club was founded as a humble successor to the Turkish Basketball League club Ülker G.S.K., after the Ülker corporation, which owned and ...

club, and to instead sponsor the Turkish club Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe then became known as Fenerbahçe Ülker. Alpella played for two seasons in the

, in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons. Finally, its league rights were bought by

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

, after the club was

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

down to the

TB2L The Turkish Basketball Second League, also called TB2L, is the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a ...

, following the 2007–08 season.

Notable players

; * Harun Erdenay 9 seasons: '94–'03 * Orhun Ene 4 seasons: '93–'97 *

1 season: '05–'06 *

2 seasons: '03–'04, '05–'06 *

Ufuk Sarıca Ufuk Sarıca (born June 13, 1972) is a Turkish professional basketball coach and former player who played at the shooting guard position. Playing career Sarıca began his career at the age of 16 at Efes Pilsen's Youth Team, and played for Efes fo ...

2 seasons: '99–'01 *

5 seasons: '00–'05 *

Ömer Onan Ömer Onan (born February 4, 1978) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. Standing 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ½ in) and weighing 95.4 kg (210 lbs.), he played at the shooting guard position. Playing career Pro clubs During h ...

1 season: '05–'06 *

Asım Pars Asım Pars (born Asim Paščanović; 1 April 1976 – 23 September 2024) was a Turkish professional basketball player. He stood 2.13 m tall and played as a center. He had a dual citizenship, Turkish and Bosnian. Personal life and death Durin ...

3 seasons: '96–'98, '01–'02 *

Haluk Yıldırım Haluk Yıldırım (born 25 June 1972 in Bursa, Turkey) is a retired Turkish professional basketball player. He is currently the general manager of Karşıyaka Basket of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi. Honors * 3 times Turkish Championship * 1 ...

11 seasons: '93–'04 *

Kerem Tunçeri Mehmet Kerem Tunçeri (born 14 April 1979) is a Turkish former professional basketball player who played at the point guard and shooting guard positions.He is 194 cm (6 ft 4 in) in height and 86 kg (190 lbs.) in weight. Nati ...

1 season: '04–'05 * Kerem Gönlüm 6 seasons: '99–'05 *

Ersan İlyasova Ersan İlyasova (born 15 May 1987) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), including 9 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks. He also played in Turkey, Spain and the NBA Dev ...

1 season: '04–'05 ; *

Tanoka Beard Tanoka Dwight Beard (born September 29, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach. During his career, he was able to play both the Power forward (basketball), power forward and Center (basketball), cen ...

1 season: '94–'95 *

Charles Shackleford Charles Edward Shackleford (April 22, 1966 – January 27, 2017) was an American professional basketball player who played several seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played center and power forward, he was renowned for hi ...

1 season: '95–'96 * Thomas Jordan 1 season: '95–'96 * Sean Higgins 1 season: '96–'97 * Kevin Rankin 4 seasons: '96–'00 * Michael Anderson 2 seasons: '97–'99 * Jerome Allen 2 seasons: '99–'00 *

Mark Pope Mark Edward Pope (born September 11, 1972) is an American collegiate basketball coach and former player who is head men's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, his alma matter. As a player, Pope played power forward and small forward ...

1 season: '99–'00 *

Melvin Booker Melvin Jermaine Booker (born August 20, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. A , point guard, he played for the University of Missouri. Amateur career Booker was a standout high school player in Moss Point, Mississippi. ...

2 seasons: '02–'04 *

Joseph Blair Joseph Blair (born June 12, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. Standing 2.10m (6 ft 10.75 in) tall, and weighing 120 kg (265 ...

2 seasons: '02–'04 *

Ashraf Amaya Ashraf Omar Amaya (born November 23, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Amaya attended Oak Park and River Forest High School for his freshman year, but he transferred to Walther Lutheran High School t ...

1 season: '03–'04 * Jeff Trepagnier 1 season: '05–'06 * Marcus Haislip 1 season: '05–'06 ; *

Zaza Pachulia Zaza Pachulia ( ka, ზაზა ფაჩულია; born Zaur Pachulia; 10 February 1984) is a Georgian professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the Nati ...

4 seasons: '99–'03 ; *

Efthimios Rentzias Efthimios "Efthimis" Rentzias (alternate spellings: Efthymios, Efthymis; Greek: Ευθύμιος "Ευθύμης" Ρεντζιάς; born January 11, 1976) is a retired Greek professional basketball player. During his pro club career, he was most ...

1 season: '03–'04 ;

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Petar Naumoski Petar "Pece" Naumoski (; born 27 August 1968) is a former Macedonian professional basketball player. At a height of 1.95 m (6'4 ") tall, and a weight of 95 kg (210 lbs.). He played mainly at the point guard position during his career, b ...

1 season: '03–'04 ; *

Roberts Štelmahers Roberts Štelmahers (born November 19, 1974) is a Latvian professional basketball coach and former player who played the point guard position. He is the current head coach for Czarni Słupsk of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). Štelmahers w ...

1 season: '01–'02 ; *

Saulius Štombergas Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is widely considered to be among the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, known fo ...

1 season: '04–'05 * Eurelijus Žukauskas 1 season: '04–'05 *

Virginijus Praškevičius Virginijus Praškevičius (born 4 March 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Praškevičius started playing with Banga Kaunas ...

2 seasons: '02–'03, '04–'05

Honours

Men's Turkish Presidential Cup Champions
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Domestic competitions

: Winners (4): 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2005–06 : Runners-up (5): 1993–94, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 *

: Winners (3): 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 : Runners-up (2): 1999–00, 2005–06 * Presidential Cup : Winners (6): 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 : Runners-up (2): 1998, 2000

Other competitions

FIBA International Christmas Tournament FIBA International Christmas Tournament also known as the Christmas Tournament (''Torneo de Navidad'') was a men's basketball international friendly competition at the club level (and in some editions with national teams), organized by FIBA at its ...

(defunct) : Runners-up (1):

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

External links

Ülkerspor WebsiteEurobasket.com Team pageTBLStat.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulkerspor Basketbol Süper Ligi teams Defunct basketball teams in Turkey Basketball teams established in 1993 Basketball teams disestablished in 2006