BC Avtodor (russian: БК «Автодор» Саратов), commonly known as simply Avtodor and internationally as Avtodor Saratov, is a Russian professional
basketball club based in
Saratov
Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...
. It plays in the
FIBA Europe Cup and in the
VTB United League, the highest level of Russian basketball. In early 2022, after the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, Americans
D. J. Funderburk
Derek Funderburk Jr. (born April 12, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Anwil Włocławek of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). He played college basketball for the Northwest Florida State Raiders and the NC State Wolfpa ...
and
Grant Jerrett
Grant Alexander Jerrett (born July 8, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Utsunomiya Brex of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona.
Early life
Jerrett was born to Lamont and Bar ...
and Canadians
Kenny Chery and
Philip Scrubb left the team.
History
Establishment and growth (1960–1992)
Founded in 1960 as Spartak Saratov, former player
Vladimir Rodionov became its head coach in the 1982. The club was later renamed into Avtodorozhnik (road engineer) - shortened to Avtodor in 1996 - in reference to a late benefactor.
Scaling the heights (1992–2004)
Joining the
Russian League at its creation in 1992, the club competed with
CSKA Moscow (being the first club to defeat them in the league) for national supremacy during the rest of the decade, finishing in second place four times between 1994 and 1999.
It would win the regular season in both 1997 and 1998, but lost both finals series against CSKA 2–3,
and 1–3 respectively.
The Russian outfit regularly took part in European competitions during that period, reaching the semifinals of the
1998 second-tier EuroCup and playing in the
1999 top-tier EuroLeague (exiting at the first group stage).
Avtodor defeated CSKA in the 2001–02 playoff quarterfinals,
the only team to have prevented the Army men from reaching the top four in Russian basketball history to this day.
Demise and rebuilding (2004–2014)
After threatening to do so for years because of disputes with the local administration, especially regarding the lack of a convenient arena,
Rodionov moved the organisation to
Saint Petersburg during the 2004 summer. He would form
Dynamo Saint Petersburg, transferring some of Avtodor's best players such as
Vladimir Veremeenko, and
its place in the Super League.
Meanwhile, a cash-strapped Avtodor voluntarily relegated itself to the second division for 2004–05, fielding an noncompetitive side made of youngsters,
before moving down to the third division in 2005.
Avtodor would win the second division in 2009 but did not have the financial means to return to the Super League. It did return to the Super League in 2012 but by that time the league had become the domestic second division. Winning that league in 2014, in large part thanks to the play of league MVP
Courtney Fortson and promising youngster
Artem Klimenko
Artem Anatolevich Klimenko (russian: Артём Анатольевич Клименко; born January 10, 1994) is a Russian professional basketball player for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League.
Professional career
In 2011, Klimenko ...
, the club received an invitation to play in the top-tier
VTB United League and the European third-tier
EuroChallenge for 2014-15.
The club was able to fund its participation thanks to increased support from the local administration, who reduced the funding of the city's
ice hockey club
Kristall Saratov
Kristall Saratov is an ice hockey team in Saratov
Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (nort ...
to compensate.
Back at the top (2014–2019)
After losing seven of its first nine VTB League games, Avtodor regrouped with the help of November acquisition
Kyrylo Fesenko and the play of December league MVP Fortson (who had no problem adapting to the league) to contend for a playoffs place.
Despite three coaching changes, with Vladimir Antsiferov replaced by his assistant Sergey Mokin in late October before Rodionov fired Mokin and took the coaching reins himself on 3 March 2015, the club reached the
EuroChallenge quarterfinals where they lost to
Trabzonspor.
In the league, Avtodor beat major sides CSKA Moscow, Khimki Moscow Region, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Unics Kazan to reach the
playoffs,
though they lost three contested games against Khimki to exit at the quarterfinal stage.
2020-present
In early 2022, after the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, Americans
D. J. Funderburk
Derek Funderburk Jr. (born April 12, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Anwil Włocławek of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). He played college basketball for the Northwest Florida State Raiders and the NC State Wolfpa ...
and
Grant Jerrett
Grant Alexander Jerrett (born July 8, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Utsunomiya Brex of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona.
Early life
Jerrett was born to Lamont and Bar ...
and Canadians
Kenny Chery and
Philip Scrubb left the team.
Arena
Avtodor formerly played in the Yunost arena, seating only a few hundred and unable to accommodate television broadcasts,
which meant the side had to play its European games in Moscow.
During the 1997–98 season, the club played its regular-season games in the Yunost arena before moving for its playoffs games to an indoor-football arena whilst a new arena was being refurbished.
It moved to the newly reopened 1,500 seat Zvezdny Sports Palace in May of that year, though this arena also proved too small as 2,000 fans packed the venue during a 21 May 1998 game against CSKA (albeit the league title decisive game), with some hanging from the balcony.
Calls for the club to move in the larger
Kristall Arena (an ice hockey arena built in 1969),
were finally heeded in 2014. Avtodor remodeled the arena for basketball play, which also raised the capacity from 5,450 to 6,100 seats,
playing their first game there on November 11.
Honours
Domestic competitions
*
Russian First Division
The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...
**''Runners-up (4):'' 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999
**''Regular season champions (2):'' 1997, 1998
*
Russian Second Division
The Russian Second League (russian: Первенство России II дивизиона ФНЛ), formerly Russian Professional Football League is the third level of Russian professional football (soccer), football.
History
In 1998–2010, it ...
**Champions (2): 2009, 2014
Season by season
Current roster
Notable players
2020s
*
Evgeny Kolesnikov
Evgeny Sergeyevich Kolesnikov (russian: Евгений Сергеевич Колесников; born December 26, 1985) is a Russian professional basketball player for Avtodor Saratov of the VTB United League. He is 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ¾ in) in h ...
4 seasons: '15–'17, '21–
*
Nikita Mikhailovskii
Nikita Aleksandrovich Mikhailovskii (russian: Никита Александрович Михайловский; born 10 September 2000) is a Russian professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League.
Professional caree ...
5 seasons: '17–'21, '22–
*
Kenny Chery 1 season: '21–'22
*
Jaron Johnson 1 season: '21–'22
2010s
*
Justin Robinson 1 season: '17–'18
*
Coty Clarke 1 season: '17–'18
*
Nick Minnerath 1 season: '16–'17
*
Artem Zabelin
Artëm Vladimirovič Zabelin (russian: Артём Владимирович Забелин; born January 15, 1988) is a Russian professional basketball player for UNICS of the VTB United League. He is a forward-center.
Professional career
Zabel ...
4 seasons: '15–19
*
Kyrylo Fesenko 1 season: '14–'15
*
Courtney Fortson 2 seasons: '13–'15
*
Ivan Strebkov
Ivan Vitalevich Strebkov (russian: Иван Витальевич Стребков, born July 27, 1991) is a Russian professional basketball player for Nizhny Novgorod of the VTB United League. Standing at , he plays the point guard position.
Prof ...
seasons: '13–'14
*
Artem Klimenko
Artem Anatolevich Klimenko (russian: Артём Анатольевич Клименко; born January 10, 1994) is a Russian professional basketball player for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League.
Professional career
In 2011, Klimenko ...
3 seasons: '12–18
2000s
*
Semyon Antonov 3 seasons: '06–'09
*
Artem Zabelin
Artëm Vladimirovič Zabelin (russian: Артём Владимирович Забелин; born January 15, 1988) is a Russian professional basketball player for UNICS of the VTB United League. He is a forward-center.
Professional career
Zabel ...
3 seasons: '03–'07, '15-present
*
Yaroslav Korolev 1 season: '03–'04
*
Beno Udrih 1 season: '03–'04
*
Vladimir Veremeenko 2 seasons: '02–'04
*
Nikita Morgunov season: '02
*
Kebu Stewart 1 season: '01–'02
*
Victor Khryapa 2 seasons: '00–'02
*
Sergei Monia 2 seasons: '00–'02
1990s
*
Andrei Fetisov
Andrei Sergeyevich Fetisov (alternate spelling: Andrey) (russian: Андрей Сергеевич Фетисов; born 19 January 1972) is a Russian former professional basketball player.
Professional career
Fetisov was a second round pick of th ...
1 season: '98–'99
*
Sergei Chikalkin 1 season: '98–'99
*
Grigorij Khizhnyak
Grigorij Khizhnyak (alternate spelling: Grygorii Khizhniak, uk, Григорій Хижняк; July 16, 1974 – October 5, 2018) was a Ukrainian professional basketball player. Standing at a height of , he played at the center position. He was ...
1 season: '98–'99
*
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 ...
season: '98
*
Julius Nwosu
Obinna Julius Nwosu (born May 1, 1971), is a Nigerian former professional basketball player. He played briefly for the American National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs during the 1994–95 NBA season. He also had a career in the Lebane ...
season: '98
*
Darius Lukminas 2 seasons: '96–'98
*
Evgeniy Pashutin
Evgeniy Yuryevich Pashutin (russian: Евгений Юрьевич Пашутин; born February 6, 1969) is a Russian professional basketball coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Parma Basket of the VTB United League.
Club pl ...
4 seasons: '95–'99
*
Zakhar Pashutin 4 seasons: '95–'99
*
Gintaras Einikis 4 seasons: '95–'99
*
Vitaly Nosov 1 season: '92–'93
Notes
References
External links
*
VTB United League profileRetrieved 25 August 2015
Eurocup profileRetrieved 25 August 2015
Eurobasket.com profileRetrieved 25 August 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avtodor Saratov
1960 establishments in Russia
Basketball teams established in 1960
Basketball teams in Russia
Basketball teams in the Soviet Union
Sport in Saratov