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BC Academic Metropol Region ( bg, БК "Академик" Метропол-Рийджън) is a reestablished Bulgarian 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 based in the capital
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. ...
. In April 2022, Academic has been reborn and rebranded by the new owners, the german-bulgarian Ex-professional basketball player Viktor Vladov and Georgi Petrov. Founded in 1947 as part of the Academic Sofia sports club, they have won the championship of Bulgaria 26 times, won the Bulgarian Cup 11 times and won the Bulgarian Super Cup 1 time. Among their international honours are two FIBA European Champions Cup finals (both lost to
Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...
) in 1958 and 1959 and an International Students' Cup in 1957. In 2000, the team were renamed Lukoil Academic as a sponsorship deal was signed with
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
n oil giant
Lukoil The PJSC Lukoil Oil Company ( stylized as LUKOIL or ЛУКОЙЛ in Cyrillic script) is a Russian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, specializing in the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of petrol ...
, and quickly established themselves as dominant in the Bulgarian Championship. Since then they have been a regular ULEB Cup participant, and won the FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup Conference South in 2003. In September 2020, Academic withdrew from the NBL and announced that it will no longer maintain a professional team. They played their home games at the Universiade Hall. After the rebranding and reestablishing to "BC Academic Metropol Region" in April 2022, the club will compete in the Bulgarian A-Grupa in season 2022/23. The club colours have been changed to dark blue and yellow, as of being more applieable to the traditional colours of Academic.


Manager Board and Sponsors

The main owner of the club is the former professional basketball player Viktor Vladov (profession: banker). Followed up by the manager board members Georgi Petrov, Emmanuel Tady and Mario Yurukov. Additional founding members are: Plamen Martinov, Nikolay Petkov and Stanislav Michev. The sponsors are also visible on the jersey and up to date are only minority sponsors with small amounts: "Porto Greco" Restaurant (Plovdiv, BUL), "Bryagovo Milk", "FruitCorrect", "bling Entertainment", "bikecity", "HCPKS" and "Idea Dent". The team has also a non-profit with 2K to be implemented in NBA 2K22 and NBA 2K23 PlayStation 5 exclusive Add-Ons, which add various clubs from Europe to the videogame.


History

Basketball club Academic Sofia was founded in 1947 as a part of the students' sports association Academic and during its history of more than half a century it has won a just place among the best teams in the country. Under the guidance of ones of the most experienced coaches in Bulgarian basketball - Bozhidar Takev, Veselin Temkov, Neycho Neychev, Tzvetan Zheliazkov, Petko Marinov, etc., BC Academic is 20 times republic champion and nine times winner of the Bulgarian Cup. Along with the titles in the domestic championships and tournaments, naturally comes the international recognition. The basketball players of Academic have successfully played in the tournaments for the Cup of the European champions. With the coach Bozhidar Takev they were twice finalists against
Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...
in 1958 and
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. In 1957 in Paris the team of Academic became the world's students champion. During its entire existence basketball club Academic has always been a school for the professional improvement and constructive contribution of some of the best Bulgarian basketball players. Stars like Liubomir Panov, Georgi Panov, Viktor Radev, Nikola Ilov, Mihail Semov. Petar Lazarov, Dimitar Sahanikov, Georgi Barzakov, Nikola Atanasov, Atanas Golomeev, Temelaki Dimitrov, Stefan Filipov, Slavei Raychev, Vladimir Boyanov have left their permanent marks in the history of the Bulgarian basketball. The excellent training of the Academic players and their complete devotion to the game have always been highly evaluated by our national basketball selectionists. Direct participants in the glorious moments of the Bulgarian basketball - the fifth place at the Olympic Games in Melbourne - 1956 and the vice-champion's title at the European Championship - Sofia'57 are the national players Liubomir Panov, Georgi Panov, Viktor Radev, Nikola Ilov, Mihail Semov, Petar Lazarov. The glorious tradition of the club was revived again in 2000 when Lukoil Bulgaria became the main sponsor of the team. The selection of Lukoil Academic was oriented towards young and talented players, who under the clever guidance of the senior coach Petko Marinov and his assistants built the youngest team in the republican basketball. Renewed was also the work at the adolescents school of the club, from which some players have already shown considerable success at the home championships. The long-term strategy of Lukoil Academic has shown its first results already in season 2001–02. The talented players of Petko Marinov won the cup of the country and played the most attractive final in the play-offs in the championship for the last ten years. Today the name of Lukoil Academic is again a symbol of good basketball. The ambitions of the club are the republican champion's title and the good performance at the European club tournaments. In 2018,
Lukoil The PJSC Lukoil Oil Company ( stylized as LUKOIL or ЛУКОЙЛ in Cyrillic script) is a Russian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, specializing in the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of petrol ...
announced its sponsor deal with
Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...
, while leaving Academic with a smaller budget. Consequently, Academic sent its top players to Levski. In 2022, Viktor Vladov and Georgi Petrov helped Academic to reborn its basketball team. The record champion of Bulgaria will restart from the season 2022/23 in the Bulgarian A Grupa.


Honours


Domestic competitions

* Bulgarian League : Winners (26): 1957, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
, 2016,
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
*
Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tourname ...
: Winners (11): 1952, 1954, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 *
Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup The Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup is an annual cup competition, organized by the Bulgarian Basketball Federation since 2016. BC Levski Sofia Basketball Club Levski Sofia ( bg, Баскетболен клуб Левски София), simply kno ...
: Winners (1): 2016 : ''Runners-up (1)'': 2017


European competitions

* EuroLeague : ''Runners-up (2)'': 1958, 1958–59 *
FIBA Europe Conference South FIBA Europe South Conference was a basketball tournament of FIBA Europe Conference South held from 2002 to 2005. It was part of FIBA Europe Cup tournament. In tournament includes teams from Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia Mac ...
: Winners(1): 2003


Worldwide competitions

* International Students' Cup : Winners (1): 1957


Season by season


Current roster


Notable players

*
Lyubomir Panov Lyubomir Ivanov Panov ( bg, Любомир Иванов Панов, born 16 February 1933) is a Bulgarian former basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer ...
* Chavdar Kostov *
Georgi Panov Georgi Marinov Panov ( bg, Георги Маринов Панов, born 14 February 1933) is a Bulgarian former basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1956 Summer Olympics, and the 1960 Summer Olympi ...
*
Viktor Radev Viktor Bonev Radev ( Bulgarian: Виктор Бонев Радев) (November 19, 1936 – August 31, 2014) was a Bulgarian basketball player. He was born in Maritsa Municipality, Bulgaria. He was a 1.96 m (6'5") tall forward. Club career Ra ...
* Nikola Ilov * Hristo Nikolov * Mihail Semov * Petar Lazarov *
Dimitar Sahanikov Dimitar ( bg, Димитър; Macedonian: Димитар) is a South Slavic masculine given name. It is widely found in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Dimitar is derived from Saint Demetrius (280–306), alternate form of Demetrius. Containing the ...
*
Georgi Barzakov Georgi may refer to: * Georgi (given name) * Georgi (surname) See also *Georgy (disambiguation) Georgy may refer to: *Georgy (given name) *Diminituve for Georgina *Georgy, the protagonist in ''Georgy Girl'' novel, film, and song * ''Georgy'' (mus ...
* Nikola Atanasov *
Atanas Golomeev Atanas Golomeev ( bg, Атанас Голомеев) is a retired Bulgarian professional basketball player and coach. At a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, he played at the center position. He is the most decorated Bulgarian basketball player of ...
* Temelaki Dimitrov *
Stefan Filipov Stefan Filipov ( bg, Стефан Филипов, born 8 January 1943) is a former Bulgarian basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 196 ...
* Slavey Raychev *
Vladimir Boyanov Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
* Charles Jones * Lamont Jones *
Donta Smith Donta Lamont Smith (born November 27, 1983) is an American-Venezuelan professional basketball player for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. Playing for Maccabi Haifa, he was named the 2014 Israeli Basketball Premier Leag ...
*
Lamont Mack Lamont Mack (born March 16, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dinamo Tbilisi. College career At Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas, he was a Junior College all-American and ranked as the 21st best player ...
* Dominic James * Travis Peterson *
Antonio Burks Antonio Burks may refer to: * Antonio Burks (basketball, born 1980), American former NBA player * Antonio Burks (basketball, born 1982) Antonio Burks (born 30 May 1982) is an American professional basketball player who played for the Saint John ...
*
Willie Deane Willie Deane (born February 23, 1980) is an American-Bulgarian former professional basketball player. Deane has won three Bulgarian championships, one Bulgarian Cup, a French championship, a French Super Cup and an Italian championship. College ...
*
Priest Lauderdale Priest Lauderdale (born August 31, 1973) is an American-Bulgarian former professional basketball player. College career Lauderdale attended high school at Carver Military Academy, in Chicago, Illinois. After high school, Lauderdale played coll ...
* Bryant Smith *
Larry O'Bannon Larry O'Bannon (born August 15, 1983) is an American professional basketball player for Hispano Americano of the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB). He played college basketball for the University of Louisville. Early life O'Bannon attended Jeff ...
* Dee Brown *
Taliek Brown Taliek Brown (born June 23, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Brown played high school basketball at St. John's Preparatory School in Astoria, Queens, New York. He averaged 22.5 points and 6.6 assi ...
*
Brandon Heath Brandon Heath Knell (born July 21, 1978) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer, and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released six studio albums: ''Don't Get Comfortable'' (2006), ''What If We'' (2008), ''Leaving Ede ...
*
Killian Larson Killian Larson (born February 21, 1991) is an American retired basketball player. He competed at the collegiate level with the Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball team and finished his senior season averaging the most rebounds per game in a ...
*
David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...
*
Anthony Beane Anthony Beane (born May 6, 1994) is an American-born Indonesian professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Indonesian Patriots of the Indonesian Basketball League. College career Beane played college basketball at Southern I ...
*
Danny Gibson Danny Gibson (born January 28, 1984) is an American professional basketball player, who lastly played for Śląsk Wrocław of the PLK. Gibson plays the point guard or shooting guard and has played in multiple leagues in Europe. Professional ca ...
* Stephen Zack *
Melsahn Basabe Melsahn Basabe (born May 29, 1992) is an American-Puerto Rican professional basketball player for the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball at the University of Iowa. Personal life ...
*
Pero Antić Pero Antić ( mk, Перо Антиќ, ; born July 29, 1982), is a North Macedonian basketball executive and former professional player. He currently serves as a president of the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia. Antić was a member a ...
*
Riste Stefanov Riste Stefanov (born August 30, 1983) is a Macedonian former basketball player. Pro career Stefanov began his career with KK Tikveš's juniors. He made his debut with KK Tikveš during the 1999–00 season and was signed for the 2000–01 seaso ...
* Gjorgji Čekovski *
Damjan Stojanovski Damjan Stojanovski ( mk, Дамјан Стојановски; born December 9, 1987) is a Macedonian professional basketball player who currently plays for MZT Skopje Aerodrom. He also represents the Macedonian national basketball team. He is 1.98 ...
*
Thomas Massamba Thomas Kalmeba-Massamba (born March 28, 1985) is a Swedish-Congolese professional basketball player who last played for Tindastóll of the Úrvalsdeild karla. Career Massamba has played for 08 Stockholm, Södertälje Kings, Solna Vikings, Luk ...
* Kenny Adeleke *
Kaspars Kambala Kaspars Kambala (born December 13, 1978) is a Latvian semi-professional basketball player, currently for BK Jūrmala, and a former professional boxer. Standing at , he plays at the position of forward-center. High school A 1997 graduate of Hom ...
* Mohamed Abukar *
Kieron Achara Kieron Robert Nnamdi Achara MBE (born 3 July 1983) is a Scottish professional basketball player who last played for the Glasgow Rocks. He is a 6'10" (2.08 m) forward who played college basketball at Duquesne University and represented Scotland a ...
*
Mate Skelin Don Skelira (born December 13, 1974) and is a Croatian basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League. Post-playing career In 2015, Cedevita head coach Veljko Mrsic named Skelin as ...
* Željko Šakić *
Jure Lalić Jure Lalić (born February 8, 1986) is a Croatian 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 o ...
*
Nenad Čanak Nenad Čanak ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Чанак, ; born 2 November 1959) is a Serbian politician. He is the co-founder and former leader of the centre-left League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina. He was the President of the Assembly of Vojvodina ...
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Nikola Dragović Nikola Dragović (born December 20, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player. He played college basketball at UCLA. Early career Dragović grew up with KK Avala Ada (nowadays Mega Basket) juniors and made his debut with the senior team ...
* Bojan Popović *
Slavko Stefanović Slavko Stefanović (born March 28, 1981) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He played the power forward position. Professional career Stefanović began his professional career with Belgrade clubs Beopetrol and Lavovi 063. In No ...
*
Branislav Ratkovica Branislav Ratkovica ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Ратковица; born 27 July 1985) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for Metalac of the Basketball League of Serbia. Professiona ...
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Saša Zagorac Saša Zagorac (born 1 January 1984) is Slovenian retired professional basketball player. He stands 2.06 m and plays as forward. He is younger brother of Željko Zagorac. He announced his retirement on 18 July 2020. National team career Zagorac w ...
*
Filip Barović Filip Barović (born 29 July 1990) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for Rapid București of the Romanian League. Barović played for Budućnost VOLI. References External links Filip Barovićat aba-liga.com Filip Barovićat ...


Head coaches

* Bozhidar Takev *
Veselin Temkov Veselin (Cyrillic script: Веселин) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: *Veselin Beshevliev (1900–1992), Bulgarian historian and philologist *Veselin Bliznakov (born 1944), Bulgarian politician *Veselin Branimirov ( ...
* Neycho Neychev * Tsvetan Zhelyazkov *
Petko Marinov Petko Marinov (Bulgarian Cyrillic The Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is used to write the Bulgarian language. The Cyrillic alphabet was originally developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th – 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary Sc ...
* Željko Lukajić * Marin Dokuzovski * Eduard Valchev


References

*


External links


Lukoil Academic at Basketball-bg.com

Lukoil Academic at BulgarianBasket.com

Eurobasket.com PBC Academic Lukoil Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:BC Academic Metropol Region Lukoil Academic Basketball teams established in 1947 Sport in Sofia Lukoil 1947 establishments in Bulgaria