TalTech Basketball is the

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 of

Tallinn University of Technology Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; et, Tallinna Tehnikaülikool) is the only technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administratio ...

based in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia. The team plays in the

Latvian–Estonian Basketball League The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League is the highest professional men's club basketball league in Latvia and Estonia; it has been organised since 2018, run by the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association. History ...

. Their home arena is the

TalTech Sports Hall The TalTech Sports Hall ( et, TalTech Spordihoone) is a multi-purpose indoor arena complex in Mustamäe, Tallinn. It was opened in 1975 and renovated in 2001. It is the current home arena of the TalTech Basketball TalTech Basketball is the bas ...

. The team has won eight Estonian Championships and seven Estonian Cups.

History

The game of basketball was first introduced to the Tallinn Tehnikum (predecessor of the

) in 1928. The team's first game was played on 4 February 1928, in the NMKÜ Sports Hall, with Tallinn Tehnikum beating the visiting

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

team 21–19. Tallinn University of Technology basketball team first played in the top tier Estonian Championship in 1951. Coached by Jaroslav Dudkin, the team emerged as a major force in Estonian basketball in the 1960s. Led by

Tõnno Lepmets Tõnno Lepmets (March 31, 1938 in Tallinn, Estonia – June 26, 2005) was an Estonian professional basketball player, who competed for the Soviet Union. He won gold with the Soviet basketball team at the 1963 and 1967 EuroBasket. Elected t ...

and

Priit Tomson Priit Tomson (November 3, 1942, Tallinn, 193 cm) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player, who competed for the Soviet Union. He is the only Estonian basketball player who has won two gold medals at the World Championsh ...

, the team won 6 consecutive Estonian Championships from 1961 to 1966. In 1982, Dudkin retired and was replaced as head coach by August Sokk. In 1984 and 1985, the team led by

Tiit Sokk Tiit Sokk (born 15 November 1964) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player and current coach. Often cited as one of the very best European point guards of his generation, he is widely recognized as the greatest Estonian basketball p ...

and

Margus Metstak Margus Metstak (born June 16, 1961) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player who played mostly at the center position. Club career Early career Margus Metstak started his career at the age of 18 with Tallinn Pedagogical Institute fo ...

won two more Estonian Championship titles. TTÜ began to struggle in the early 1990s as new professional basketball clubs joined the league and following the 1993–94 season, the university team was relegated from the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). From 1999 to 2002, TTÜ sponsored the KML team TTÜ-A. Le Coq (former BC Tallinn) and from 2002 to 2004, TTÜ/A. Le Coq (former BC Hotronic). TTÜ/A. Le Coq won the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

in 2003. In 2004, TTÜ/A. Le Coq folded and TTÜ continued in the I Liiga. TTÜ returned to the KML in 2006 and finished the 2006–07 season in ninth place. In 2008, TTÜ reached the Estonian Cup final, but were defeated by Kalev/Cramo 90–61. The team finished the 2008–09 regular season in third place. In the playoffs, TTÜ swept Rakvere Tarvas in the quarterfinals and faced Kalev/Cramo in the semifinals, losing the series 0–3. TTÜ defeated Valga in the third place games. In 2011, the team merged with Tallinna Kalev and became TTÜ/Kalev. TTÜ/Kalev finished the 2010–11 season in third place, being eliminated by

in the semifinals and beating Rakvere Tarvas in the third place games. The unified team dissolved after the 2010–11 season and both clubs continued separately. TTÜ have won the International Students Basketball League three times, in 2013, 2016 and 2017. In September 2018, the university adopted TalTech as the new short name.

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Coaches

* Jaroslav Dudkin 1951–1982 * August Sokk 1982–1986 * Andres Liinat 1986–1987 * Märt Kermon 1987–1989 * Alar Sõnajalg 1989–1992 * Mihkel Reinsalu 1992–1993 * Alar Sõnajalg 1993–1994 * Viktor Viktorov 2002–2005 * Priit Vene 2005–2007 *

Aivar Kuusmaa Aivar Kuusmaa (born 12 June 1967) is an Estonian basketball coach and former professional basketball player who played mostly at the shooting guard position. He won the USSR Premier Basketball League in 1991 as a member of the Tallinn Kalev ba ...

2007–2010 *

Üllar Kerde Üllar Kerde (born April 1, 1954)Eesti Entsüklopeedia.
Retrieved 8 December 2016. is an Estonian < ...

2010–2011 *

Heino Lill Heino Lill (born on 13 February 1944 in Tartu) is an Estonian basketball coach and former basketballer. 1963-1972 he played for Estonian national basketball team and for BC Tallinna Kalev Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ is a professional basketball club ...

2011–2012 *

2012–2014 *

2014–2015 * Rait Käbin 2015–2019 *

Gert Kullamäe Gert Kullamäe (born 3 June 1971) is an Estonian basketball coach and a former professional basketball player who currently coaches Estonian team BC Pärnu Sadam. Kullamäe mostly played at the shooting guard position and was a great 3-point sh ...

2019 *

Kris Killing The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...

2019–2021 *

Alar Varrak Alar Varrak (born 20 April 1982) is an Estonian basketball coach and a former point guard. He is the assistant coach of Kalev/Cramo of in the VTB United League. Career Varrak was born in Jõgeva, and spent his short playing career in the Esto ...

2021–present

Season by season

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Estonian Championship *Winners (8): 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1983–84, 1984–85

*Winners (7): 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970

Individual awards

KML Best Young Player * Matthias Tass – 2018 *

Ralf Küttis Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

– 2022

All-KML Team All-KML Team ( et, Korvpalli Meistriliiga tähtede viisik) is an award for the top-tier professional basketball league in Estonia, the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). It is the yearly selection of the league's top five basketball players, by positio ...

* Bambale Osby – 2011 *

Kristjan Kitsing Kristjan Kitsing (born December 11, 1990) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Kalev/Cramo of VTB United League. Kitsing is also a member of the Estonia national basketball team. Club career Kitsing started his career with the junio ...

– 2016 *

Toomas Raadik Toomas Raadik (born 15 August 1990) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Bærum Basket of the Norwegian BLNO. He is a 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) tall small forward and power forward. He also represents the Estonian national basketball ...

– 2019

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:TTU KK Tallinn University of Technology Basketball teams in Estonia Sport in Tallinn