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 Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, 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 and ...

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

Harun Erdenay Hakkı Harun Erdenay (born 27 May 1968 in Ankara) (nickname: "Pegasus") is a Turkish former professional basketball player, and former President of the Turkish Basketball Federation. As a player, he was famous for his spectacular 3-point shooti ...

, İbrahim Kutluay, 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 All ...

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, ...

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 team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

(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 Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. 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 Kupası ...

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 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, following the 2007–08 season.

Notable players

; *

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

1 season: '05–'06 * İbrahim Kutluay 2 seasons: '03–'04, '05–'06 *

Ufuk Sarıca Ufuk Sarıca (born June 13, 1972) is a Turkish former professional basketball player and current head coach of Pınar Karşıyaka of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). Playing career Sarıca began his career at the age of 16 at Efes Pilsen's Youth ...

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 3 seasons: '96–'98, '01–'02 *

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 Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, T ...

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 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 ...

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 i ...

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 basketball coach and former player who is the nineteenth and current head coach of Brigham Young University's (BYU) men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the Kentucky ...

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, Mississip ...

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 coac ...

2 seasons: '02–'04 * Ashraf Amaya 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 EuroBa ...

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 1 season: '04–'05 *

Virginijus Praškevičius Virginijus Praškevičius (born 4 March 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. At a height of 2.06 m (6'9") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Praškevičius started playing wit ...

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 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

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