Universo Treviso Basket (diminutive TvB), known for sponsorship reasons as NutriBullet Treviso, 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
club based in
Treviso
Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...
. Founded in 2012, it plays in the Italian basketball first division
Lega Basket Serie A
The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...
(LBA) since the 2019–20 season. Despite being a distinct club, Universo Treviso ''de facto'' inherited the fanbase of
Pallacanestro Treviso
Pallacanestro Treviso, named Benetton Basket due to a long running sponsorship by the Benetton Group and widely referred to as Benetton Treviso, is an Italian youth basketball club based in Treviso, Veneto.
The club was previously a successful p ...
, the historic club of the town.
History
2012–2014: Beginnings
Following the
Benetton family
Four members of the Italian Benetton family () founded the Benetton Group S.p.A. fashion company in 1965.Benetton Treviso without backing, the Universo Treviso consortium was launched in March 2012 with the goal to assure the club's continued presence as a professional outfit. Former players, led by
Riccardo Pittis
Riccardo Pittis (born 18 December 1968 in Milan, Italy) is a former Italian professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he played at the small forward position. During his basketball playing career, he was nicknamed Acciughino (English: ...
who served as the consortium's guarantor, were at the basis of the initiative.
After overcoming some economic struggles, thanks to the efforts of Pittis, Claudio Coldebella and Paolo Vazzoler (who was named president), the consortium managed to obtain enough funding to create a new club on 4 July 2012, thanks to five local businessmen and the sixty-seven firms involved in the consortium. The new company, managing the club, Treviso Basket s.r.l., was given Benetton Treviso's sporting rights for free, though the latter had earlier withdrawn from the first division
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 Cop ...
in order to apply for the amateur leagues (as a youth club).
However, the
Italian Basketball Federation
The Italian Basketball Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro; FIP) is the governing body of basketball in Italy. It is based in Rome.
It organises national competitions in Italy and the Italian basketball leagues, which operate th ...
(FIP), who decides which clubs are admitted into the national leagues, refused Treviso Basket's application to join the Serie A, a decision upheld by the Federal Court on 2 August 2012. The explanation by FIP's president
Dino Meneghin
Dino Meneghin (, ; born 18 January 1950) is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is widely considered to be the best Italian player ever, as well as one of Europe's all-time greats. A 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) tall center, Meneghi ...
was that admitting the newly created organisation would go against league rules and create an unsustainable legal precedent. Meneghin also bemoaned the lack of reaction since Benetton announced its withdrawal eighteen months beforehand and the fact that the two entities did not merge.
The club grown up slowly, winning the amateur ''Promozione'' (the seventh division) thanks to support from Benetton Treviso, which transferred them their Under 19 squad and personnel. Treviso Basket earned promotion to the Serie D by winning the 2012–13 championship playoffs.
At the end of the season, the team got a wild card for the National Division B, the fourth level of the Italian championship. Treviso ended the regular season at the 4th place in the group, but it was immediately eliminated in the first round against APU Udine.
2014–2018: Second league's powerhouse
After buying the sporting rights of B.N.B. Corato, Treviso moved to the Serie A2 Silver, the nominal third division, which was soon merged with the second division, Serie A2 Gold. The club also changed its name to "Universo Treviso Basket". Treviso arrived first in the Serie A2 Silver regular season, moving on to the joint Gold/Silver playoffs where they lost in the first round.
In the 2015–16 season, Treviso won the Eastern group of the Serie A2 championship, qualifying for the playoffs where it ousted Junior Casale and Ferentino, but it was eliminated in the semifinals by
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 ...
. In the 2016–17 season, led by coach Stefano Pillastrini, the team qualified for the playoffs as the front-runner in the Eastern group. The team eliminated Trapani in the first round, while in the quarterfinals it faced once again Fortitudo Bologna, being ousted 3–1. In the 2017–18 season, he ranked third in the Eastern group, qualifying for the fourth consecutive year to the second league's playoffs, where it eliminated Trapani 3–1 and Ferrara 3–0. However, it was ousted 3–0 in the semifinals by
Pallacanestro Trieste
Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trieste. They play in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2018–19 season. The Allianz Dome serves as the club's home arena.
History
A number of Trieste teams h ...
.
2018–2022: Menetti era
In June 2018, the club hired a new coach,
Massimiliano Menetti
Massimiliano "Max" Menetti (born 27 January 1973) is an Italian professional basketball coach, who was most recently the head coach of Italian team Pallacanestro Reggiana .
Career
After spending years coaching the youth teams of Pallacanestr ...
. Menetti built up a good team, signing important players like David Logan,
Amedeo Tessitori
Amedeo Vittorio Tessitori (born 7 October 1994) is an Italian professional basketball player for Reyer Venezia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the Italian National Basketball.
Professional career
Tessitori was raised in the youth t ...
and Dominez Burnett, and renewing good Italian players like Matteo Imbrò. At the end of the regular season, Treviso arrived second behind Fortitudo. However, on 17 June 2019, after beating Benfapp Capo d'Orlando in the finals, it achieved the promotion to the
Lega Basket Serie A
The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...
(LBA).
Arena
During the first two years of its existence, Treviso Basket played in the Centro Natatorio and PalaCicogna (in
Ponzano Veneto
Ponzano Veneto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northwest of Treviso.
Ponzano Veneto borders the following municipalities: Paese, Povegliano, Treviso ...
) respectively.
In 2014 it moved into the
PalaVerde
Palaverde is an indoor sporting arena located in Villorba near Treviso, Italy. Opened in September 1983 it has been used mainly for basketball and volleyball.
History
The Palaverde was constructed under the impulsion and with the funding of the ...
(capacity: 5,144), the state of the art former home of Benetton Treviso.
Head coaches
* Goran Bjedov (2012–2014)
* Gennaro Di Carlo (2014)
* Stefano Pillastrini (2014–2018)
*
Massimiliano Menetti
Massimiliano "Max" Menetti (born 27 January 1973) is an Italian professional basketball coach, who was most recently the head coach of Italian team Pallacanestro Reggiana .
Career
After spending years coaching the youth teams of Pallacanestr ...
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Sponsorship names
Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as:
* De' Longhi Treviso (2012–2021)
*Nutribullet Treviso (2021–present)