Andrea Costa Imola is an Italian 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, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

. The side is playing in the second division Serie A2 as of the 2015-16 season.

History

Andrea Costa Basket was founded on 4 October 1967, with the name an hommage to a former Imola of the same name. The club started playing in the amateur Prima divisione before moving up to the Promozione after one season, staying there until 1980-81. Playing one season in Serie D, the side then was promoted to the Serie C2 where it would play from 1982 to 1986 after which it joined the Serie B2. It won the league on its first try, moving up to the highest amateur division, the Serie B1, where it would stay for eight years. At the end of the 1994-95 season, Andrea Costa won a promotion to the professional Serie A2. The 1996-97 would see Imola beat favourites

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

in the promotion playoffs and reach the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. Under the leadership of

Vincenzo Esposito Vincenzo Esposito (; born March 1, 1969) is an Italian former professional basketball player and coach, he lastly worked for Germani Basket Brescia of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), in Italy. During his playing career, he played at the shooting g ...

, the side reached the playoffs in 1998-99, losing in the quarterfinals to rivals

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histor ...

. The club managed to qualify for European competitions in 1999-2000 (Korać Cup) and 2000-01 (Saporta Cup) but would be relegated at the end of 2001. The next decade was more difficult for Imola, with the club relegated thrice on the court (2004, 2007, 2009) before being saved by other club's bankruptcies.

Arena

Andrea Costa played in the PalaRuggi until 1995, with the promotion to the Serie A2 meaning the side had to find a suitable arena, moving to the Palatenda. Another promotion to the Serie A in 1998, meant the side had to move again, this time to the PalaCattani in neighbouring

Faenza Faenza (, , ; rgn, Fènza or ; la, Faventia) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed eart ...

. Later returning to the PalaRuggi, the side plays there as of the 2015-16 season.

2015–16 roster

Notable former players

2000's *

Pietro Aradori Pietro Aradori (born 9 December 1988) is an Italian professional basketball player for Fortitudo Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Standing at , he plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Professional career The Brescia n ...

1 season: '06-'07 *

Darren Kelly Darren Kelly (born 30 June 1979) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He is the sporting director of club Newport County A.F.C., Newpor ...

1 season: '06-'07 * Nicholas James George 1 season: '06-'07 * Donte Mathis 1 season: '06-'07 *

BJ McKie Bjorn "BJ" McKie (born April 7, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach at Wake Forest. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, McKie went to high school at Irmo High School and played for the University of Sou ...

1 season: '05-'06 * David Brkic 1 season: '05-'06 * Bingo Merriex 1 season: '04-'05 *

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the s ...

1 season: '04-'05 *

Jobey Thomas Jobey Wayne Thomas (born March 24, 1980) is an American retired basketball player who competed for a number of professional clubs, mostly in Italy, with a short but successful spell in Portuguese basketball. In his college basketball career, Thom ...

1 season: '03-'04 *

Elton Tyler Elton may refer to: Places England * Elton, Cambridgeshire (formerly Huntingdonshire), a village ** Elton Hall, a baronial hall * Elton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish * Elton, County Durham, a village and civil parish * Elton, Derbyshire, ...

1 season: '03-'04 * Gerrod Abram 1 season: '03-'04 * Michael Hicks 2 seasons: '02-'03, '05-'06 *

Brian Shorter Brian William Shorter (born November 28, 1968) is an American-Italian former professional basketball player. He spent two decades playing in European leagues. High school career Shorter, a Philadelphia native, grew up in a low-income neighborh ...

1 season: '02-'03 *

Harper Williams Harper Terry Williams (born May 25, 1971) is a retired American basketball player and a former administrative assistant on the Auburn Tigers coaching staff. He played professionally for 17 years, including ten in Spain's Liga ACB. College and e ...

1 season: '01-'02 *

Sylvester Gray Sylvester Gray (born July 8, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (35th overall) of the 1988 NBA draft. A 6'6" small forward from Memphis State University, Gray played in ...

1 season: '01-'02 *

Juan Manuel Moltedo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

2 seasons: '00-'02 *

Marques Bragg Marques Bragg (born March 24, 1970) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bragg was a Providence Friar in college, and co-led the Big East Conference in Field goal percentage ...

1 season: '00-'01 * Kevin Thompson 1 season: '00-'01 1990's * Brian Evans 1 season: '99-'00 *

Ian Lockhart Ian DeWitt Lockhart (born June 25, 1967 in Nassau, Bahamas) is a Bahamian former professional basketball player. Listed at 6 ft 8 in (203 cm) and 240 lb (109 kg) he played as a small forward. College career Lockhart played college ...

1 season: '99-'00 *

5 seasons: '98-'01, '02-'03, '04-'05 *

Yamen Sanders A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of govern ...

2 seasons: '98-'99, '00-'01 * Christopher Jent 1 season: '98-'99 * Steve Burtt Sr. 1 season: '97-'98 * Matthew Alosa 1 season: '96-'97 * Gianluca Lulli 1 season: '96-'97 * Paolo Bortolon 4 seasons: '95-'99 * Francesco Foiera 4 seasons: '95-'99 * Bill Jones 3 seasons: '95-'98

Sponsorship names

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as: * Benati Imola (1990–91) * Leonardo Imola (1991–93) * Fanti Imola (1993–95) * Casetti Imola (1995–98) * Termal Imola (1998–99) * Lineltex Imola (1999-2001) * Fillattice Imola (2001–02) *Esse.Ti Imola (2002–03) *Zarotti Imola (2005–07)

References

External links

* Retrieved 23 August 2015
Serie A historical results
Retrieved 23 August 2015 {{Serie A2 Basket 1967 establishments in Italy Basketball teams established in 1967 Basketball teams in Emilia-Romagna Imola