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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

club that was based in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey. The club competed in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

. 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 1979 ...

History

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

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities an ...

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 January 7, 1974) is a former 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 prolific 3-point sh ...

, Michael Anderson,

Orhun Ene Orhun Ene (born 1 February 1967 in Erzurum, Turkey) is a Turkish former professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, at a height of 1.88 m (6'2") tall, he played at the point guard position. Professional playing career Du ...

, 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. 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 referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

(the subsequent competition's finalist). Ülker also made the EuroLeague 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 (russian: ЦСКА Москва) 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 era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

. Ülkerspor also won five Turkish Presidential Cup titles and three

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') 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 Kupas� ...

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 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 a ...

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 sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

, after the club was

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

down to the

TB2L The Turkish Basketball Second League, also called TB2L, is the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously called the Turkish Basketball Third League (TB3L). Format and promotion and relegation T ...

, following the 2007–08 season.

Notable players

; * Harun Erdenay 9 seasons: '94–'03 *

4 seasons: '93–'97 *

1 season: '05–'06 *

2 seasons: '03–'04, '05–'06 * Ufuk Sarıca 2 seasons: '99–'01 * Serkan Erdoğan 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 ...

1 season: '05–'06 *

Asım Pars Asım Pars (born Asim Paščanović;Haluk Yıldırım Haluk Yıldırım (born June 25, 1972, in Bursa, Turkey) is a retired Turkish professional basketball player. He is currently the general manager of Beşiktaş men's basketball team. Honors * 3 times Turkish Championship * 1 times Turkish Cup * ...

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. Na ...

1 season: '04–'05 *

Kerem Gönlüm Kerem Gönlüm (born November 22, 1977) is a Turkish former professional basketball player for Sigortam.net İTÜ Basket of the Turkish Basketball League. In 2019 January, he started punditry on a local radio station. Gonlum served a one-year ba ...

6 seasons: '99–'05 *

Ersan İlyasova Ersan İlyasova (born 15 May 1987) is a Turkish professional basketball player who last played for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously played in Turkey, Spain and the NBA Development League. Professional ...

1 season: '04–'05 ; *

Tanoka Beard Tanoka Dwight Beard (born September 29, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. During his career, he was able to play both the power forward and center positions. He earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in ...

1 season: '94–'95 *

Charles Shackleford Charles Edward Shackleford (April 22, 1966 – January 27, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. He played center and power forward, he was renowned for his rebounding – regularly leading leagues in Europe. He played 6 seasons in ...

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 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, and current assistant coach for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was formerly the Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach. ...

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 to ...

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

Marcus Haislip Marcus Deshon Haislip (born December 22, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other top leagues. Haislip attended Marshall County High School in Lewisburg, Tennesse ...

1 season: '05–'06 ; *

Zaza Pachulia Zaza Pachulia ( ka, ზაზა ფაჩულია; born Zaur Pachulia; February 10, 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, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Petar Naumoski Petar "Pece" Naumoski ( mk, Петар "Пеце" Наумоски; 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 th ...

1 season: '03–'04 ; *

Roberts Štelmahers Roberts Štelmahers (born November 19, 1974) is a Latvian retired professional basketball player, who played the point guard position. Štelmahers was a member of the Latvia national basketball team from 1992 to 2005 participating in four EuroB ...

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 one of the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and he was also considered to be ...

1 season: '04–'05 *

Eurelijus Žukauskas Eurelijus Žukauskas (, born August 22, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian 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, ...

1 season: '04–'05 * Virginijus Praškevičius 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

References

External links

Ülkerspor WebsiteEurobasket.com Team page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulkerspor Turkish Basketball Super League teams Defunct basketball teams in Turkey Basketball teams established in 1993 Basketball teams disestablished in 2006