KK Vršac explained

Vršac
Leagues:Basketball League of Serbia
Arena:Millennium Centar
Capacity:5000
Location:Vršac, Serbia
Colors:Maroon, White
President:Kristian Serman
Coach:Lazar Spasić
Championships:1 Adriatic League

Košarkaški klub Vršac Meridianbet (Serbian: Кошаркашки клуб Вршац Меридианбет), commonly referred to as KK Vršac Meridianbet, is a men's professional basketball club based in Vršac, Serbia. They are currently competing in the Basketball League of Serbia. Their home arena is the Millennium Centar, with a capacity of 4,400.

Over the years, the club competed under different names, mostly after sponsor companies, carrying for an extended period of time the name of pharmaceutical company Hemofarm.

History

The club was founded in 1946 under the name KK Jedinstvo. From 1959 to 1967, the club competed under the name KK Mladost, when the name got changed to KK Inex Brixol due to sponsorship reasons. In the 1968–69 season, they won first place in the Vojvodina lower-league. In 1977, the club changed its name again, this time to KK Agropanonija. Four years later, in 1981, they again became champions of Vojvodina, which has won them the right to participate in the First B League, where they competed under the name KK Vršac. In 1989, Inex Hemofarm became principal sponsor and club changed its name to KK Inex.

The Hemofarm years: 1992–2012

Under the sponsorship of the Hemofarm Group since 1992, the club went from average participants of the lower leagues in Vojvodina to one of the leading clubs in the country. In the first season under the name of KK Hemofarm, they competed in the First League of Vojvodina and from year to year, went a step forward. In the 1995–96 season, team was led by Marin Sedlaček, a young and ambitious professional, who led the team to the higher league.

Hemofarm's top league status was achieved in the 1997–98 season, under the guidance of coach Slobodan Lukić. The first season among the elite kept their survival, but the following season, 1999–2000, they finished fourth in the standings, providing a first participation in Europe – in the Korać Cup. As newcomers to the competition, the 2000–01 season, led by coach Željko Lukajić, they reached the finals, where they were stopped by Spain's Unicaja Málaga, which was headed by Božidar Maljković. That same year, the team's quality was confirmed with placement at the National Cup final tournament, which was organized in Vršac for the first time, at the opening of the Millennium Centar.

In the 2001–02 season, they played the playoff semifinal of the national championship, where they were, this time, stopped by Budućnost after five dramatic games. In the next season, they played in the final of the National Cup, where they were defeated by FMP, and in the 2003–04 season, were also close to the title, playing National League finals against Partizan. The "Black and Whites" celebrated series victory in the fourth game of the playoffs, with the uncertain final basket by Vlado Šćepanović scored with the sound of sirens for the overall final series 3–1 win.

The 2004–05 season was the most successful in the club's history. As rookies, they won the regional Adriatic League. Hemofarm finished the regular season in first place in the standings, and at the Final Eight in Belgrade, they eliminated Bosna, FMP and Partizan in the final. That same season, Vršac was again hosting the final tournament of the National Cup, but Hemofarm lost to Budućnost in the first game. In the ULEB Cup, they reached the semifinals, where they were stopped by the Greek team Makedonikos.

In the 2005–06 season, they played once again in the ULEB Cup semifinals and took part in the Adriatic League Final Eight. In 2006–07, they played in the semifinals of the National Cup and the Adriatic League semifinals.

In the 2008–09 season, the team was taken over by Stevan Karadžić who led them to the semifinals in all competitions – Radivoj Korać Cup, Basketball League of Serbia, ABA League and Eurocup. Reaching the Eurocup Final Eight in Turin was a great success for Serbian basketball, especially as Hemofarm had the youngest team in the whole competition. In the first match of the tournament in Italy the "Pharmacists" have made another surprise, defeating favored Dynamo Moscow, but are uncertain in the semifinals in a precarious lost to Lietuvos rytas, which went on to win the competition.

In the middle of the 2011–12 season, Hemofarm Group stopped to finance the club after 20 years because of the financial crisis in the company. All of the players were informed that they are free to leave the club.[1] [2]

KK Vršac (2012–present)

In the summer of 2012, the club changed its name back to KK Vršac.

A few days after the end of the 2023/2024 season, on April 16, the club announced that it had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Meridianbet.

Sponsorship naming

The club has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:

Players

Current roster

Players on the NBA draft

Coaches

Hemofarm (1992–2012)
Vršac (2012–present)

Season-by-season

SeasonTierDivisionPos.PostseasonNational CupAdriatic competitionsEuropean competitions
Hemofarm
1996–972 YUBA B League5—20–14N/A—
1997–982 YUBA B Leaguebgcolor=gold —N/AN/A—
1998–991 YUBA League10Not held7–15N/A—
1999–001 YUBA League4bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist15–12N/A—
2000–011 YUBA League6bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist12–15align=left bgcolor=#D0F0C0 Quarterfinalistbgcolor=silver 11–5
2001–021 YUBA League4bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist17–13N/A—5–5
2002–031 YUBA League5Quarterfinalist15–10align=left bgcolor=silverRunners up—bgcolor=cc9966 4th 14–5
2003–041 BLSM First League2bgcolor=silver Runners up31–11align=left bgcolor=#D0F0C0Quarterfinalist—11–6
2004–051 BLSM Super League2bgcolor=silver Runners up14–6align=left bgcolor=#D0F0C0Quarterfinalistbgcolor=gold 25–8bgcolor=cc9966 9–7
2005–061 BLSM Super LeagueB3—6–4align=left bgcolor=silverRunners upbgcolor=cc9966 17–11bgcolor=cc9966 12–4
2006–071 BLS Super Leaguebgcolor=#D0F0C0 1bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist12–4align=left bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalistbgcolor=cc9966 18–106–6
2007–081 BLS Super Leaguebgcolor=#D0F0C0 3bgcolor=silverRunners up12–9align=left bgcolor=silverRunners upbgcolor=silver 19–127–7
2008–091 BLS Super Leaguebgcolor=#D0F0C0 B2bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist6–4align=left bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalistbgcolor=cc9966 19–8bgcolor=cc9966 5–3
2009–101 BLS Super Leaguebgcolor=#D0F0C0 2bgcolor=silverRunners up14–5align=left bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalistbgcolor=cc9966 17–101–5
2010–111 BLS Super Leaguebgcolor=#D0F0C0 2bgcolor=silverRunners up12–8align=left bgcolor=#D0F0C0Quarterfinalist6 14–125–7
2011–121 BLS Super League8—4–10align=left bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist12 7–19—
Vršac
2012–13 1 BLS First League6—14–12align=left bgcolor=#D0F0C0 Quarterfinalist——
2013–141 BLS First League7—13–13———
2014–151 BLS First League5—13–9align=left bgcolor=#cc9966 Semifinalist——
2015–161 BLS First League10—11–15———
2016–171 BLS First Leaguealign=center bgcolor=#D0F0C01 7th25–15align=left bgcolor=#D0F0C0 Quarterfinalist——
2017–181 BLS First Leaguealign=center bgcolor=#D0F0C03align=center bgcolor=#D0F0C0Quarterfinalist20–18—bgcolor=cc9966 18–8—
2018–191 BLS First League9—11–15—12 1–21—
2019–201 BLS First League129–17———
2020–211 BLS First League6—15–15———
2021–221 BLS First League11—14–16———

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Notable players

International record

SeasonAchievementNotes
EuroCup
2008–09SemifinalsEliminated by Lietuvos rytas, 68–73
2005–06SemifinalsEliminated by Aris TT Bank, 151–153 (1–1)
2004–05SemifinalsEliminated by Makedonikos, 172–180 (1–1)
2007–08Top 16Eliminated by Akasvayu Girona, 133–156 (0–2)
2006–07Top 16Eliminated by UNICS, 137–185 (0–2)
2010–11Top 164th in Group K with Asefa Estudiantes, Pepsi Caserta, Galatasaray Café Crown, and ČEZ Nymburk (2–4)
2009–10Regular season4th in Group B with Power Electronics Valencia, Le Mans, and Triumph Lyubertsy (1–5)
FIBA EuroChallenge
2003–04Quarter-finalsEliminated by UNICS, 1–2
FIBA Korać Cup
2000–01Runners-upEliminated by Unicaja, 116–148 (0–2)
2001–02Round of 16Eliminated by Maroussi Telestet, 140–156 (0–2)
FIBA EuroCup Challenge
2002–033rd place gameEliminated by Ventspils, 90–91

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: All the players are free to leave Hemofarm Vrsac . sportando.net . January 25, 2012 . September 12, 2012.
  2. News: Crisis at KK Hemofarm Vrsac: Coach resigns, sponsor pulls out, six players declared free agents . ballineurope.com . January 25, 2012 . September 12, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130719071053/http://www.ballineurope.com/countries/serbia/financial-crisis-hemofarm-vrsac-adriatic-league-zeljko-lukjic-4649/ . July 19, 2013 . dead .

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