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 ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlantic ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlantic ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Yugoslav League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

Ivo Daneu Ivo Daneu (born 6 October 1937) is a retired Slovenian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, at a height of 1.91 m (6'3") tall, he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He represented the Yugoslavi ...

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA ...

Arriel McDonald Ariel Rene McDonald (born January 5, 1972) is an American-Slovenian retired professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position. A high quality floor general who was the 2000 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, FIBA SuproLeague ...

1997 Euroleague Final Four The 1997 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four was the 1996–97 season's FIBA EuroLeague Final Four tournament, organized by FIBA Europe. Olympiacos won its first title, after defeating FC Barcelona Banca Catalana. Bracket Semifinals Smelt Ol ...

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

Atlantic Grupa Atlantic Grupa d.d. is a Croatian multinational company whose business operations include the production, development, sales and distribution of consumer goods with simultaneous market presence in over 40 countries around the world.2011 EuroCup Final Four;

Dontaye Draper Dontaye Dominic Draper (born August 10, 1984) is an American-Croatian former professional basketball player who last played for Real Betis Energía Plus of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he played at the point guard position. High school Draped pla ...

was named EuroCup MVP, and Aleksandar Petrović EuroCup Coach of the Year. A year later, Cedevita won its first title, the Croatian Cup, led by veteran forward

Matjaž Smodiš Matjaž Smodiš (born December 13, 1979) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. Standing at a height of 2.05 m (6'8 ") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. During his pro club playing career, he played in seve ...

. Cedevita made its EuroLeague debut in the 2012–13 season, which it finished with a 2–8 record. That turned out to be a title-less season, but the last such for Cedevita, which celebrated a Croatian double in each of the next five years. In the

2015–16 EuroLeague The 2015–16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague was the 16th season of the modern era of Euroleague Basketball and the sixth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Cham ...

, Cedevita reached the Top 16. The club also won the inaugural Adriatic Supercup in 2018. In 2019, Cedevita won the Croatian Cup for the sixth season in a row.

Establishment

On 4 June 2019, it was announced that Cedevita and Petrol Olimpija plan to merge and form Cedevita Olimpija, a new men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. On 13 June, the management boards of Cedevita and Olimpija have confirmed the appointment of Davor Užbinec as a

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and

Sani Bečirovič Sani Bečirovič ( sh, Sani Bečirović, born 19 May 1981) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach, executive and former player, who is currently a sporting director for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League, ABA League and the EuroCup ...

as a sports director. On 25 June, the EuroCup Board confirmed the club's participation in the 2019–20 EuroCup season. On 8 July, the club was officially established with

Slaven Rimac Slaven Rimac (born 19 December 1974) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Bayern Munich. His mother Ružica Meglaj-Rimac, brother Davor Rimac, Davor and aunt Kornelija Meglaj were all profes ...

being confirmed as the first team head coach, as well as Tomaž Berločnik named the president of the club. KK Cedevita continued to compete under the name Cedevita Junior, and reached the top division of Croatian basketball in 2020–21.

Inaugural season and first titles

Slovenian forward

Edo Murić Edo Murić (born November 27, 1991) is a Slovenian professional basketball player who last played for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League and the ABA League. He also represents the Slovenian national team. Standing at 2.02 m (6 ft 8 ...

became the first-ever player who signed for the club. Next to players added from Cedevita and Petrol Olimpija rosters, the club signed veterans Mirko Mulalić,

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 ...

, and Marko Simonović, as well as Martin Krampelj, Mikael Hopkins,

Jaka Blažič Jaka Blažič (born June 30, 1990) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for Bahçeşehir Koleji of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and Basketball Champions League. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team. Standing at , ...

,

Codi Miller-McIntyre Codi Tyree Miller-McIntyre (born June 1, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Gaziantep Basketbol of the Basketbol Süper Ligi and the FIBA Europe Cup. Miller-McIntyre played four years of college basketball for Wake Forest Univ ...

, and

Ryan Boatright Ryan Jamar Boatright (born December 27, 1992) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for BC Avtodor, Avtodor Saratov of the VTB United League. He also represents the Armenian national basketball team. He completed ...

. On 11 September 2019, guard Jaka Blažič was named the first

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. In September 2019, Cedevita Olimpija lost to

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

in the 2019 ABA Supercup final. The team also finished as runners-up of the Slovenian Cup. In EuroCup, Olimpija participated in Group C and finished in sixth place, before the competition was cancelled in the playoffs due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The Slovenian League and the ABA League were also cancelled. In mid season, former Olimpija player

Jurica Golemac Jurica Golemac (born May 29, 1977) is a Croatian-born Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League, ABA League and the EuroCup. He is 2.09 m ...

replaced Slaven Rimac as head coach. In the 2020–21 season, Cedevita Olimpija signed two Slovenian international players,

Žiga Dimec Žiga Dimec (born February 20, 1993) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for Anwil Włocławek of the PLK. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team. Professional career Dimec played in youth categories with Zlatorog L ...

and Luka Rupnik, and the top scorer of the 2019–20 ABA League season,

Kendrick Perry Kendrick Perry (born December 23, 1992) is an American- Montenegrin professional basketball player for Unicaja of the Spanish Liga ACB and the Basketball Champions League. He played college basketball at Youngstown State University. High school c ...

. At the beginning of the season, the club won its first trophy since the merger as they beat Krka in the

Slovenian Supercup The Slovenian Supercup ( sl, Superpokal Slovenije) was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected in ...

. In the EuroCup and the ABA League, Cedevita Olimpija was only one win away from advancing to the playoffs. However, the team won the national league for the first time in three years after sweeping Krka 3–0 in the final. At the beginning of the 2021–22 season, Cedevita Olimpija won its tenth Supercup title after beating Krka, which was followed by their first Slovenian Cup title in five years after defeating

Helios Suns The Helios Suns are a men's professional basketball club based in Domžale, Slovenia. The club competes in the Slovenian First League and the ABA League Second Division. They have won the national league in the 2006–07 and 2015–16 seasons. Sin ...

in the final, their second trophy of the season.

Identity

The main colours of Cedevita Olimpija are green and orange. Green has been used by Olimpija, while orange was used by Cedevita. The crest consists of a green dragon, one of the symbols of the city of Ljubljana, and a capital letter 'C' in orange, which stands for

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlantic ...

. In addition, the entire crest is framed in green.

Home arena

Cedevita Olimpija play their home games at the Stožice Arena, often referred to as ''Zmajevo gnezdo'' (Dragon's Nest) in Slovenian media. The arena is located in the

Bežigrad District The Bežigrad District ( sl, Četrtna skupnost Bežigrad), or simply Bežigrad (), is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It encompasses the northern part of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, between the southern rail line to th ...

of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

and owned by the City of Ljubljana. The arena was built in 2010 in fourteen months and is a part of the Stožice sports complex. It has a seating capacity of 12,480. Occasionally, Cedevita Olimpija play their home games at the

Tivoli Hall Tivoli may refer to: * Tivoli, Lazio, a town in Lazio, Italy, known for historic sites; the inspiration for other places named Tivoli Buildings * Tivoli (Baltimore, Maryland), a mansion built about 1855 * Tivoli Building (Cheyenne, Wyoming), ...

, which has a capacity of 4,500.

Players

20160814 Basketball ÖBV Vier-Nationen-Turnier 3717

Current roster

Depth chart

Out on loan

Retired numbers

;Notes * ^OL Played for KK Olimpija Ljubljana (1946–2019)

Notable former players

*

Jaka Blažič Jaka Blažič (born June 30, 1990) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for Bahçeşehir Koleji of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and Basketball Champions League. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team. Standing at , ...

*

Žiga Dimec Žiga Dimec (born February 20, 1993) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for Anwil Włocławek of the PLK. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team. Professional career Dimec played in youth categories with Zlatorog L ...

*

Alen Hodžić Alen Hodžić (born August 8, 1992 in Koper, Slovenia) is a Slovenian professional basketball player who last played for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League. Professional career Hodžić started playing professional basketball for Luka ...

* Luka Rupnik *

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 ...

*

Ryan Boatright Ryan Jamar Boatright (born December 27, 1992) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for BC Avtodor, Avtodor Saratov of the VTB United League. He also represents the Armenian national basketball team. He completed ...

*

Andrija Stipanović Andrija Stipanović (born 18 December 1986) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian professional basketball player for Cluj of the Romanian Liga Națională. He also represents the Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internationally. Stipanović ...

*

Melvin Ejim Melvin Obinna Ejim (born March 4, 1991) is a Nigerian-Canadian professional basketball player for Unicaja of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for Iowa State University before playing professionally in Italy, Russia and Spain, as well as ...

* Roko Leni Ukić *

Jacob Pullen Jacob Everse Pullen (born November 10, 1989) is an American-Georgian professional basketball player for Kuwait SC of the Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League. He played for the Kansas State Wildcats. Pullen has both American and Georgian citizens ...

*

Maik Zirbes Maik Zirbes (born 29 January 1990) is a German professional basketball player for Benfica of the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol. He also represents the senior German national basketball team in the international competitions. Standing at , he p ...

*

Zach Auguste Zachary Elias Auguste (Greek: Ζαχαρίας Ηλίας "Ζακ" Όγκαστ; born July 8, 1993) is a Greek-American professional basketball player for Frutti Extra Bursaspor of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroCup. He is ...

* Mikael Hopkins *

Jarrod Jones Jarrod Michael Jones (born May 27, 1990) is an American-born naturalized Hungarian professional basketball player who last played for the Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. College career During the four years he played in NCAA Division I ...

*

Kendrick Perry Kendrick Perry (born December 23, 1992) is an American- Montenegrin professional basketball player for Unicaja of the Spanish Liga ACB and the Basketball Champions League. He played college basketball at Youngstown State University. High school c ...

* Marko Simonović

Head coaches

*

Slaven Rimac Slaven Rimac (born 19 December 1974) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Bayern Munich. His mother Ružica Meglaj-Rimac, brother Davor Rimac, Davor and aunt Kornelija Meglaj were all profes ...

(2019–2020) *

Jurica Golemac Jurica Golemac (born May 29, 1977) is a Croatian-born Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League, ABA League and the EuroCup. He is 2.09 m ...

(2020–present)

Trophies and awards

Trophies won

*

Slovenian Championship The Slovenian Hockey League is the highest level ice hockey league in Slovenia. The championship phase is contested after the regular season to determine the national champion. History The Slovenian Hockey League was firstly contested in the 1 ...

**Winners (2) –

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 *

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

**Winners (1) – 2022 *

Slovenian Supercup The Slovenian Supercup ( sl, Superpokal Slovenije) was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected in ...

**Winners (3) – 2020, 2021, 2022

Inherited trophies

After Olimpija Ljubljana and Cedevita Zagreb merged into Cedevita Olimpija, the newly-formed club obtained the right to the trophies of the two predecessors clubs. ;Notes * ^OL Won by KK Olimpija Ljubljana (1946–2019) * ^CZ Won by

KK Cedevita Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cedevita Junior ( en, Cedevita Junior Basketball Club), also known as Cedevita Junior, is a men's basketball Sports club, club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is named after its main sponsor Cedevita, and competes in the Croa ...

(1991–2019)

Management

* President: Emil Tedeschi * Vice-presidents: Tomaž Berločnik, Damjan Kralj, Andrej Slapar * Members of the Management Board: David Kovačič, Nada Drobne Popović, Blaž Brodnjak, Emil Tedeschi Jr., Zoran Stankovič, Jurij Žurej, Enzo Smrekar *

General manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

: Davor Užbinec *

Technical director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. This person usually has the highest level of skill within a specific technical f ...

: Krešimir Novosel *

Sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

:

Sani Bečirovič Sani Bečirovič ( sh, Sani Bečirović, born 19 May 1981) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach, executive and former player, who is currently a sporting director for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League, ABA League and the EuroCup ...

* Team manager: Matko Jovanović * Head coach:

Jurica Golemac Jurica Golemac (born May 29, 1977) is a Croatian-born Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League, ABA League and the EuroCup. He is 2.09 m ...

Source:

References

External links

Official website

Club profile
at eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Cedevita Olimpija Basketball teams established in 2019 Basketball teams in Slovenia Sports clubs in Ljubljana KK Cedevita KK Olimpija 2019 establishments in Slovenia

History

Background

Establishment

Inaugural season and first titles

Identity

Home arena

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Out on loan

Retired numbers

Notable former players

Head coaches

Trophies and awards

Trophies won

Inherited trophies

Management

References

External links