Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, 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

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abo ...

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 ...

. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season.

History

1970s

Pallacanestro Reggiana was founded on 3 September 1974 by eight friends who wanted to establish a club that would unite the basketball community of

. They started to play in the regional Promozione in a white and blue jersey sponsored by Magazzini Jolly, with the season ending with a promotion to the Serie D, in which they stayed a couple of seasons before again moving up, to the Serie C. The 1977–78 preseason saw the club merge with Cestistica Tricolore and come under the ownership of Cantine Riunite who also started sponsoring the club and changed its colours to white and red in the process. During the season itself, a team composed mainly by young local players led by Gianni Codeluppi earned a promotion to the third division

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. The summer again saw an organisational change as the club amalgamanated Pallacanestro Correggio, which led to the arrival of future great Orazio Rustichelli in the squad. On the court, the team struggled, finishing the season at the last place which would have seen it relegated if not for an off-the-court reprieve. Over the next seasons the team established itself in the Serie B without managing to reach the next level, debuting promising youngster Piero Montecchi in the process.

1980s

Players such as Rustichelli (now captain), Montecchi, Fuss and Zonta helped Pallacanestro Reggiana reach the professional ranks with a win in a promotion play-off played in

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

over Necchi Pavia that opened the gates of the second division Serie A2 at the end of the 1981–82 with thousands of young supporters invading the basketball court to celebrate. President Enrico Prandi kept Gianni Zappi as coach and recruited Americans

Roosevelt Bouie Roosevelt Bouie (born January 21, 1958) is a retired American basketball player. He is known both for his All-American college years at Syracuse University and his storied career in Italy's top league. Bouie played for coach Jim Boeheim at Syra ...

and

Rudy Hackett Rudolph "Rudy" Hackett (born May 10, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player. A and power forward, he played college basketball at Syracuse University. College playing career Hackett played college basketball at Syracuse U ...

, father of future Italian national team player Daniel Hackett. These players, along with Pino Brumatti among others under new coach

Gianfranco Lombardi Gianfranco "Franco" Lombardi (20 March 1941 – 22 January 2021) was an Italian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, his nickname was "Dado". In 2006, he was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame. Pr ...

, would help reach the Serie A anew. They would stay three seasons in the league, reaching the title playoffs in 1985–86 but going down the next season, with Montecchi leaving for Olimpia Milano at the end of the season. Coach Piero Pasini ensured Reggio Emilia only stayed one year away and the team stayed in the Serie A over the following seasons which saw club great Joe Bryant arrive (along with his future superstar son

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whi ...

, who played with the youth side).

1990s

In 1990 the holding company was brought by Coopsette, with Sidis becoming the team sponsor, the ambitious club reached the

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

Final Four but struggled in the second part of the league season and was relegated. The 1992–93 preseason saw the arrival of a Pallacanestro Reggiana legend in Mike Mitchell, who helped the club return to the elite. Two seasons later the club was back in the second division, following which it decided to bank on its young academy players such as Alessandro Davoli and Gianluca Basile. Returning to the Serie A in 1997, Reggio Emilia rehired Lombardi as coach, with a young Max Menetti as assistant to guide a team containing players of the caliber of

Chris Jent Christopher Matthew Jent (born January 11, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was formerly the head coach of the Bakersfie ...

, Diego Pastori,

Marcelo Damiao Marcelo Dilglay Damiao (born 19 March 1975 in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian-Italian basketball player. A member of the Italian men's national team, Damiao competed with the squad at the 1998 FIBA World Championship and the 2 ...

, Gianluca Basile and the evergreen Mike Mitchell. Thereafter came a successful season that saw them reach the title playoffs, downing first

Milano Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ha ...

(2–0) then in turn

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 Vene ...

(3–2) winning Game 4 at the buzzer and Game 5 at PalaVerde without Mitchell to reach the semifinals where they exited at the hands of local rivals

Teamsystem 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. Hist ...

. The result was nevertheless enough to send the Italian outfit to a European competition for the first time, in the 1998–99 Korać Cup. Losing Mitchell (now 41) to retirement and Basile to a transfer towards Fortitudo Bologna, they reached the Round of 32 in Europe and stalled at the playoff eight finals, losing against Pepsi Rimini.

2000s

Two new presidents (Elio Monducci and Chiarino Cimurri) and three different coaches could not prevent the side from falling to the second division at the end of the 1999–00 season with a 7–23 record. A nearly completely re-hauled squad coached by Franco Marcelletti reached the promotion playoffs finishing third the next season, reached the promotion finals after a 3–2 win over Pallacanestro Ragusa, but lost a heartbreaking game five to

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 ...

on a last second basket (81–79) at home. Staying in the second division but now playing in the newly created LegaDue, Reggio Emilia also made changes, with Stefano Landi becoming president whilst Cimurri was named head of the LegaDue, a reorganization that also saw Alessandro Dalla Salda, the young former local press officer arising through the ranks, becoming general manager of the first team. Still coach, Marcelletti recruited

Alvin Young Alvin Jerome Young (born November 12, 1975) is an American professional basketball player. Early life Young was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He learned to play basketball at the church whe ...

during the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

, with the American turning into an instant success along with compatriot

Kris Clack Kristopher George Clack (born July 6, 1977) is a retired American professional basketball player, formerly for the University of Texas. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1999 and later went on to play in the Lega Basket Serie A with Pallac ...

, as the team reached the playoff finals again, after eliminating

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

and Scafati, but lost to Napoli, coached by a young Piero Bucchi, after five games, losing again at home (93–82). A policy change in 2002–03, with

Luca Dalmonte Luca Dalmonte (born 3 October 1963) is an Italian professional basketball coach, currently serving as the head coach of Fortitudo Bologna in Lega Serie A2. From 2013-2015 he was head coach of Virtus Roma in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A and has a ...

brought in as coach and veteran Stefano Rusconi as player, didn't yield better results, on the contrary as the team exited the promotion playoffs in the first round against Sicc Jesi, the first episode of a five years rivalry. Dalmonte lost his place to

Fabrizio Frates Fabrizio Frates (Milan, July 16, 1959) is an Italian basketball coach. Career Cantù & Treviso Frates become head coach of Clear Cantù just over in his thirty years, in the 1990-91 season and won the FIBA Korać Cup that year (1990–91 FIBA ...

(with Menetti assisting him), who proceeded to sign Kiwane Garris,

Marco Mordente Marco Mordente (born January 7, 1979) is an Italian former professional basketball player. He also represented the Italian national basketball team. He played at the point guard position. Career In 1998 while he was playing for Olimpia Milano ...

Angelo Gigli Angelo Gigli (born June 4, 1983) is an Italian professional basketball player who plays for Basket Ferentino of the Italian Serie A2 Basket. He has also represented the Italian national team internationally. Standing at , he is a left-handed p ...

and re-sign Alvin Young and Marcelo Damiao, with side avoiding the playoffs altogether as it finished the regular season in first place to grab the promotion race, sending Carife Ferrara and

Jesi Jesi, also spelled Iesi (), is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Ancona in Marche, Italy. It is an important industrial and artistic center in the floodplain on the left (north) bank of the Esino river before its mouth on the Adriatic ...

to the playoffs. With a similar squad, the team readapted well to the first division finishing the first round in the second place in order to qualify for the Italian Cup Final Eight, where it made a shocking path to the final beating giants

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, but eventually lost the cup 74–64 to a Benetton Treviso led by

Andrea Bargnani Andrea Bargnani (; born 26 October 1985) is an Italian former professional basketball player. The 7 ft 0 in (213 cm) power forward- center played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA and the EuroLeague before being selected firs ...

, Marcus Goree and

David Blu David Blu (born David Bluthenthal; July 18, 1980) is an American–Israeli former professional basketball player, who spent 10 seasons playing in the EuroLeague. Standing at , he played at the small forward and power forward positions. He is c ...

. An anonymous domestic season in 2005–06 (finishing eleventh) was highlighted by good results in the side's ULEB Cup campaign (eligible to Europe's second competition thanks to their cup final) where they survived the regular season and downed

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

in the top 16 to reach the quarterfinals, with Hemofarm Vršac led by Milenko Topić ending their run. However, the next season ended in tears as Reggio Emilia were again relegated due to worst points difference than Air Avellino; despite Legabasket found irregularities in

's Erazem Lorbek acquisition, the club was not readmitted in the First Division after a Tribunal court process only penalized Treviso record. They languished in the LegaDue in the subsequent years, exiting often in the playoffs.

2010s

The club flirted with relegation during the 2010–11 season, saving their skin with a last game win over

Veroli Veroli ( la, Verulae) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, central Italy, in the Latin Valley. History Veroli (''Verulae'') became a Roman municipium in 90 BC. It became the seat of a bishopric in 743 AD, and was occupied ...

combined with other results that saw Scafati beating

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. In a complete turnaround in the 2011–12 season, the team led by

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 ...

(who had previously become head coach) romped to a promotion that they confirmed with a game to spare against Imola, with a 20–8 record . The good run of form continued in the Serie A, with Reggio Emilia grabbing a sixth place before taking

Luigi Datome Luigi "Gigi" Datome (born 27 November 1987) is an Italian professional basketball player for Olimpia Milano of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the small forward and power forward positions. Datome was ...

to seven games in their quarterfinals series, losing game 7 in the Eternal City in front of 600 away fans. Qualified for another European competition, the third-tier EuroChallenge, a team spearheaded by

EuroChallenge Final Four MVP The FIBA EuroChallenge Final Four MVP, or FIBA EuroChallenge Finals MVP, was the most valuable player award that was presented to the basketball player who most exhibited exceptional play during the FIBA EuroChallenge's Final Four stage, which was ...

Andrea Cinciarini Andrea Cinciarini (born 21 June 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Professional career In 2012 he signed with Pallacanestro Reggiana. On 27 April 2014 Cinciarin ...

- helped by James White among others - recorded an emphatic 79–65 victory over Triumph Lyubertsy in a packed PalaDozza Bologna arena to win their first even international title on 27 April 2014 in front of 4,000 enthusiastic fans. On the domestic front they again reached the playoffs but were edged 2–3 by holders

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, t ...

in their quarterfinal series, after a controversial defeat in a game 4 played at home with Reggio Emilia 2–1 at the time marked by bad refereeing. The next season saw the stages switched around, with Reggio Emilia jinxed by injuries underperforming in the 2014–15 EuroCup to exit the competition at the group stage with two wins in ten games. However, their league form proved more resilient as they regrouped from a March 68–118 demolition by Milano, finishing third at the end of the regular season. They would make their home advantage count in the quarterfinal series against

Enel Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well- ...

, winning game five at home to go through. The semifinals against Umana Reyer Venezia had the team with their backs to the wall after a 67–89 defeat in game 5, but they won the next two games to progress to a first ever final. Against Italian Cup and

Supercup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the pre ...

holders

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island ...

, the first five games were split between respective home victories with Reggio Emilia favoured. They forced the sixth game in Sassari to three overtimes, with Cinciarini missing two title-winning shots in the dying moments of the fourth quarter, a three from

Achille Polonara Achille Polonara (born November 23, 1991) is an Italian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He primarily plays at the power forward position. Professional career Teramo ...

followed by a steal and layup from Rimantas Kaukėnas put them 5 ahead with seconds left in the first overtime but Sassari came back to force a second overtime, it went back and forth to finish tied and bring another overtime, in which Sassari pulled away for a win. Despite playing game 7 at home and racing into a 21–4 lead early on, Reggio Emilia could not find a response as Sassari gradually clawed back the lead before using a 12–0 fourth-quarter run to first tie then win a closely contested 73–75 game, denying the local fans the capture of a historic Serie A title. The next season Reggio Emilia won its first

Italian Supercup The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, beating rivals

in the semifinals and

led by former captain

in the final 80–68. The team managed also to reach the EuroCup Last 32, finishing third in its group with memorable victories over

ALBA Berlin Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Merced ...

, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg and Le Mans Sarthe Basket; with an 11–4 record Grissin Bon finished the first round at the top of the table for the first time in its history. With the adds of Vladimir Golubović (January) and

Derek Needham Derek Needham (born October 20, 1990) is an American- Montenegrin professional basketball player for Frutti Extra Bursaspor of the Basketbol Süper Ligi. Standing at , he plays the point guard position. Needham played college basketball for Fairf ...

(May), the team finished the Regular Season ranked 2nd for the first time in its history, determining a rematch of the previous season Finals with 7th place

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

with the likes of David Logan, Josh Akognon and former NBA prospect

Joe Alexander Joe Alexander (ג'ו אלכסנדר; born December 26, 1986) is a Taiwanese-born American-Israeli professional basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Liga Leumit. Alexander, who at plays both forward positions, was selected for the ...

. After easily winning the first two home games led by

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 ...

and

Amedeo Della Valle Amedeo Della Valle (born April 11, 1993) is an Italian professional basketball player for Basket Brescia Leonessa of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A. He attended Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada before spending two seasons playing college baske ...

, Reggio completed the sweep by winning Game 3 in Sardinia, reaching the semifinals for the second consecutive season to meet with 3rd placed

Scandone Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

. During the season, the Under–20 youth team had an unbeaten run at the Under–20 National Championship Finals, only to lose the Championship game 70–64 against underdogs

Pallacanestro Ferrara Basket Club Ferrara was an Italian professional basketball team based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna. For past club sponsorship names, see sponsorship names. History Basket Club Ferrara was founded on 16 June 1999 and started playing in the third di ...

. In the Playoff semifinals, Grissin Bon won the first two home games, but Avellino came back winning Game 3 and Game 4 with a 43 points margin, tying the series 2–2. After Reggio won Game 5 and Avellino Game 6, Grissin Bon won the decisive Game 7 in front of a sold out PalaBigi 85–80, reaching the second Playoffs final of its history. The series was marked by a disrespectful behaviour by both sets of fans: in Avellino

and

were attacked with eggs by local fans, while in Game 5 Reggio's crowd repeatedly threw hygienic paper and match programmes into the court. Menetti's side lost Game 1 and Game 2 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

against Olimpia Milano, but managed to tied to series 2–2 by winning Game 3 and Game 4 at home. Milano eventually won Game 5 and Game 6 to win the title on Reggio's home court, where former captain Cinciarini was heavily booed. The 2016–17 season started with the retirement of Kaukenas and the departures of Lavrinovič, Siliņš and Veremeenko.

Delroy James Delroy James (born June 4, 1987) is a Guyanese-born, naturalized American professional basketball player who plays for Real Estelí Baloncesto of the BCL Americas. At a height of 2.03 m (6'8") tall, and a weight of 105 kg (232 lbs.), he ...

and Sava Lešić were the first signings in the summer, while center

Riccardo Cervi Riccardo Cervi (born 19 June 1991) is an Italian professional basketball player who last played for Virtus Roma of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Youth career The Reggio Emilia native joined local side Pallacanestro Reggiana from Basket ...

decided to return to the club after a season away with Avellino. Grissin Bon participated as title holders in the Italian Supercup Final Four, in Milan, but they were eliminated 74–72 in the semifinal by Avellino with a 3-point winning buzzer beater by

Joe Ragland Joseph Alexander Ragland (born November 11, 1989) is an American-Liberian professional basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for North Platte Community College and Wichita State ...

. The campaign in the league started well, with a winning streak of 7 games from the 2nd to the 7th round, ended by a loss away to Varese in the 8th round, which opened a negative record of 2–6, ended by a home win over Brindisi the 6th of February 2017. However, the team managed to beat league favourites EA7 Milan in Bologna on the Boxing Day. Poor form of James and Lešić brought the management to wave them and acquire American rookie

Jalen Reynolds Jalen Reynolds (born December 30, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Xavier University before playing professionally in Italy, Spain, Russia, China and I ...

and former 2005 NCAA champion

Jawad Williams Jawad Hason Williams (born February 19, 1983) is a former American professional basketball player. At 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in), he plays as a small forward- power forward. He played high school basketball at St. Edward High School of Lakewood, Ohi ...

, while Rimantas Kaukenas decided to come out of retirement. Reggio beat 4th seed Capo d'Orlando in the Quarter Finals of the Italian Cup Final Eight, held in Rimini, but were knocked out in the semis by Milan. The poor form of the team continued with three consecutive losses against Trento, Cantù and Avellino that led the management to take the team to a close training camp in Cesenatico for two consecutive weeks. However the team struggled to find chemistry and, despite the arrival of

Julian Wright Julian Emil-Jamaal Wright (born May 20, 1987) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas. In 2014–15, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. High school ...

from Trabzonspor for the Playoffs, Grissin Bon were knocked out 3-0 in the first round by Avellino. The 2017 offseason saw captain

leaving for Virtus Bologna with

and Andrea De Nicolao leaving the club too. The management decided to start a new project called #REstart, planning to rebuild the roster with young Italian players like

Federico Mussini Federico Mussini (born March 12, 1996) is an Italian basketball player for Pallalcesto Amatori Udine of the Italian Serie A2 Basket, second tier national championship. Career Federico Mussini made his debut for Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in Ma ...

, Leonardo Candi and Niccoló De Vico with the add ons of Garrett Nevels, Mike Moser (later waived for physical problems), Siim-Sander Vene (never played a game due to injury, left for Varese in January) and

Manuchar Markoishvili Manuchar "Manu" Markoishvili ( ka, მანუჩარ მარკოიშვილი, born 17 November 1986) is a former Georgian professional basketball player. Early career Markoishvili as a young basketball player was very talented, and ...

. However Grissin Bon had a negative 0-6 start, which had a huge impact in the missed qualification for the Final Eight despite the arrivals of Chris Wright, Pedro Llompart and James White. The club's fortune appeared to be the EuroCup, a competition where Reggio advanced to the Top16 and won its group, advancing for the first time to the quarter finals where they clashed with BC Zenit St. Petersburg

In European competitions

The club has participated in various European tournaments, winning the

FIBA EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

in 2014.

Arena

Pallacanestro Reggiana has played its home games in the PalaBigi (capacity: 4,530) since 1980. Built in 1968, it is named after the city's Secretary of Sports, Giulio Bigi, and seated 3,800 until a 2007 redesign. Because it was not originally up to standard for some European-wide competitions, Reggio Emilia has had to play some of its home games in European-wide competitions, at the PalaDozza (capacity: 5,721), in Bologna. Construction was undertaken over the summer of 2015, to modernise the arena, in order for it to be able to host EuroCup games. New locker rooms and new bath fixtures were built at PalaBigi. Then, in October 2015, Luca Vecchi, Mayor of Reggio Emilia, announced a plan to further modernise PalaBigi, increasing the arena's capacity to 4,600 seats. An option to build a new arena near Stadio Città del Tricolore, is still under consideration. During the 2015 and 2016 Italian League Playoffs, the old structure of the arena couldn't accommodate the large amount of ticket requests from the local fans, leading the club to install viewing screens in the cities' biggest squares, "Piazza Martiri del 7 Luglio", and "Piazza San Prospero".

Academy

Pallacanestro Reggiana has always invested in the youth programme in order to develop new young prospects: in fact the team that won promotion to "Serie A2" in 1982 was almost composed of players born in the town and trained in the club academy, such as Gianni Codeluppi, Piero Montecchi and Orazio Rustichelli. From 1989 to 1991 a very young

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

played in the Academy teams while his father Joe was playing for Pallacanestro Reggiana.

Notable graduates

* 1995: Gianluca Basile * 2002:

* 2004: Nicolò Melli * 2008: Luca Campani * 2009:

* 2010: Giovanni Pini * 2012: Ojārs Siliņš * 2013:

* 2016: Artūrs Strautiņš * 2016: Alessandro Lever

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

First Team staff

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Staff , - , Head Coach, ,

Dragan Šakota Dragan Šakota (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Шакота, Greek: Ντράγκαν Σάκοτα; born June 16, 1952) is a Serbian professional basketball coach, currently with LBa basketball club, Pallacanestro Reggiana. Playing career Šakot ...

, - , Assistant Coach, , Federico Fucà , - , Assistant Coach, , Marco Esposito , - , Assistant Coach, , Giuseppe Mangone , - , Physical Trainer, , Salvatore Poma , - , Team Manager, , Michele Talamazzi

Personnel

Season by season

{, class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%" !rowspan=2 , Season !colspan=4 , Domestic competitions !colspan=2 , Domestic cup !colspan=3 , European competitions , - ! Tier !League ! !Postseason !Tier !Result !Tier !League !Result , - , style="background:#efefef;", 1996–97 , align="center", 2 , Serie A2 , style="background:gold;" align=center , 3 , bgcolor=#cfc , Winner , align=center , 1 , Quarterfinalist , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 1997–98 , align="center", 1 , Serie A1 , align=center , 11 , bgcolor=#cfc , Semifinalist , align=center , 1 , Round of 16 , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 1998–99 , align="center", 1 , Serie A1 , align=center , 7 , bgcolor=#D0F0C0 , Round of 16 , align=center , 1 , Quarterfinalist , , ,

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

, , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 1999–00 , align="center", 1 , Serie A1 , align=center , 16 , style="background:#fcc;" , Relegated , colspan=2; align=center , – , , ,

, , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2000–01 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 3 , style="background:silver;", Finalist , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2001–02 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 1 , style="background:silver;", Finalist , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2002–03 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 5 , bgcolor=#D0F0C0 , Quarterfinalist , colspan=2; align=center , – , , , FIBA Europe Champions Cup , , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2003–04 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , style="background:gold;" align=center , 1 , , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2004–05 , align="center", 1 ,

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 ...

, align=center , 13 , – , align=center , 1 , style="background:silver" , Runners-up , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2005–06 , align="center", 1 ,

, align=center , 11 , – , colspan=2; align=center , – , , , ULEB Cup , , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2006–07 , align="center", 1 ,

, align=center , 17 , style="background:#fcc;" , Relegated , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2007–08 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 4 , bgcolor=#cfc , Semifinalist , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2008–09 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 14 , – , align=center , 2 , Semifinalist , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2009–10 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 5 , bgcolor=#cfc , Semifinalist , align=center , 2 , Semifinalist , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2010–11 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , align=center , 13 , – , align=center , 2 , Qualifying Round , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2011–12 , align="center", 2 , LegaDue , style="background:gold;" align=center , 1 , , align=center , 2 , Quarterfinalist , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2012–13 , align="center", 1 ,

, align=center , 6 , bgcolor=#D0F0C0 , Quarterfinalist , align=center , 1 , Quarterfinalist , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2013–14 , align="center", 1 ,

, align=center , 7 , bgcolor=#D0F0C0 , Quarterfinalist , align=center , 1 , Semifinalist , , , EuroChallenge , , style="background:gold;" , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2014–15 , align="center", 1 ,

, align=center , 3 , style="background:silver;", Runners-up , align=center , 1 , Semifinalist , , , EuroCup , , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2015–16 , align="center", 1 ,

, align=center , 2 , style="background:silver;", Runners-up , align=center , 1 , Quarterfinalist , , , Eurocup , , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2016–17 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , 6 , bgcolor=#D0F0C0 , Quarterfinalist , align=center , 1 , Semifinalist , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2017–18 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , 12 , - , colspan=2; align=center , – , , , EuroCup , , bgcolor=#cfc , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2018–19 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , 13 , - , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2019–20 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , 12 , - , colspan=2; align=center , – , colspan=3; align=center , – , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2020–21 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , 11 , - , align=center , 1 , Quarterfinalist , , ,

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in natio ...

, , , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2021–22 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , 7 , bgcolor=#D0F0C0 , Quarterfinalist , colspan=2; align=center , – , , ,

, , bgcolor=silver align=center, , - , style="background:#efefef;", 2022–23 , align="center", 1 , LBA , align=center , , bgcolor=, , colspan=2; align=center , , , ,

BCL BCL may stand for: Law & Politics * Bachelor of Civil Law, the term used to describe a variety of legal degrees offered by universities in English-speaking countries (as distinct from Canon Law and Common Law) * Bangladesh Chhatra League, the stud ...

, ,

Honours

Domestic competitions

* LegaDue **Champions: 2004, 2012 *

**''Runners-up:''

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

**Winners:

**''Runners-up:''

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

*Under 20 Italian Championship **Winners: 2003 **''Runners-up:'' 2016 *Under 21 Italian Championship **Winners: 2007

European competitions

* EuroChallenge **Winners:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

**''Runners-up:''

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Individual awards

Awards earned by members of Pallacanestro Reggiana whilst at the club: *

** Season Top Scorer: Mike Mitchell (1997-98) Scoring Average 24.08 ** Season Top Scorer:

Donell Taylor Quence Donell Taylor II (born July 26, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. He is 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) tall. He can play as a point guard or as a swingman, but his primary position is shooting guard. Early life and ...

( 2012–13) Scoring Average 19.10 ** Best Executive: Alessandro Dalla Salda ( 2012–13) * LegaDue **Best Coach (2):

(2003–04),

(2011–12) * EuroChallenge ** Final Four MVP:

(

)

Notable players

Hall of Fame

The following players were inducted into the club's hall of fame: * Piero Montecchi 5 seasons: '82–'87 * Gianluca Basile 4 seasons: '95–'99 * Joe Bryant 2 seasons: '89–'91 * Mike Mitchell 7 seasons: '92–'99 *

Bob Morse Robert Duncan Morse (born January 4, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. In 2008, Morse was chosen as one of the 50 most influential personalities in European club ba ...

2 seasons: '84–'86 * Pino Brumatti 4 seasons: '83–'87

Other notable players

2010's *

Simone Fontecchio Simone Fontecchio (born 9 December 1995) is an Italian professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays at the small forward position. Youth career Fontecchio participated in an array of you ...

1 season: '19–'20 * Gal Mekel 1 season: '19–'20 * Stefano Gentile 2 seasons: '15-'17 * Andrea De Nicolao 2 seasons: '15-'17 *

2 seasons: '15–'17 * Vladimir Veremeenko 1 season: '19–'20 *

3 seasons: '14–'17 * Darjuš Lavrinovič 2 seasons: '14–'16 *

Kšyštof Lavrinovič Kšyštof Lavrinovič ( pl, Krzysztof Ławrynowicz; born November 1, 1979) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the BC Vytis of the National Basketball League. He plays at the power forward and center positions. Professional caree ...

season: '14 *

seasons: '14–'18 * Rimantas Kaukėnas 3 seasons: '13–'16 *

Ariel Filloy Ariel Filloy (born March 11, 1987) is an Argentine-Italian professional basketball player for Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He also plays for the Italian national basketball team. Professional career After a period in ...

1 season: '13–'14 * James White 2 season: '13–'14, '17–'18 *

5 seasons: '12–'15, '21-present * Greg Brunner 2 seasons: '12–'14 *

Michele Antonutti Michele Antonutti (born 19 February 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player who plays for APU Udine of the Italian Serie A2. He plays at the small forward position. Professional career Michele Antonutti's turning point of his player's ...

2 seasons: '12–'14 *

seasons: '11–'13, '14 * Troy Bell seasons: '11, '13–'14 * Dawan Robinson seasons: '11, '12–'13 * Ojārs Siliņš 6 seasons: '10–'16 2000's *

Donatas Slanina Donatas Slanina (born 23 April 1977) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player who plays as a shooting guard in his professional career. He also shortly worked as an assistant coach. After starting his professional career in Šiauliai, he wa ...

4 seasons: '09–'13 * Nicolò Melli 3 seasons: '07–'10 * Ricky Minard 2 seasons: '05–'07 * Terrell McIntyre 1 season: '05–'06 *

seasons: '03–'06, '14 * Kiwane Garris 2 seasons: '03–'05 * Stefano Rusconi 1 season: '02–'03 *

5 seasons: '01–'04, '07–'09 *

4 seasons: '00–'01, '02–'05 *

2 seasons: '00–'02 *

Sandro Dell'Agnello Sandro Dell'Agnello (born 20 October 1961 in Livorno) is a former professional basketball player, and current basketball coach from Italy, who won the silver medal with his national team at the Eurobasket 1991 in Italy. Standing at a height of 2 ...

2 seasons: '00–'02 *

Teemu Rannikko Teemu Rannikko (born September 9, 1980) is a Finnish professional basketball player. He is 1.89 m (6' 2 ") tall, and he weighs 88 kg (195 lbs.). He mainly plays at the point guard position. At his peak, he was known as a good scorer and ...

2 seasons: '00–'02 1990's *

Roberto Chiacig Roberto Chiacig (born 1 December 1974 in Cividale del Friuli, Italy) is an Italian former professional basketball player. Playing as a center, his most notable achievement was the silver medal obtained by the Italian national team, of which he ...

seasons: '99, 11'–12' *

Boris Gorenc Boris Gorenc (born 3 December 1973) is a former Slovenian professional basketball player, and basketball agent. Professional career Gorenc started playing basketball in KK Domžale, before in 1990 he joined KK Olimpija. He had been member Olimp ...

season: '99–'00 * Tracy Moore 2 seasons: '98–'00 *

Yann Bonato Yann Jean Claude Bonato (born March 4, 1972 in Cannes) is a former professional basketball player from France, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics with the senior French Men's National Team. College career Bonato played college ...

1 season: '98–'99 * Marcelo Damião 4 seasons: '97–'98, '99–'00, '03–'05 *

2 seasons: '97–'98, '00–'01 *

Pace Mannion Pace Shewan Mannion (born September 22, 1960) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the Italian league with the team of Cantù (which won the FIBA Korać Cup in 1991 d ...

1 season: '96–'97 * Tony Brown 2 seasons: '92–'94 *

Vincent Askew Vincent Jerome Askew (born February 28, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played for nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight different teams. A 6'6" guard-forward, Askew played college basket ...

season: '92 * Tony Massenburg season: '92 *

Georgi Glouchkov Georgi Nikolov Glouchkov (alternate spelling: Gueorgui) ( bg, Георги Николов Глушков; born January 10, 1960 in Tryavna) is a Bulgarian former professional basketball player and president of Bulgarian Basketball Federation. ...

1 season: '90–'91 1980's * Joe Bryant 2 seasons: 89'–90', 90'–91' *

Kannard Johnson Kannard Johnson (born June 24, 1965) is an American retired college and professional basketball player. He was selected by the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers with the 41st overall pick (second round) of the 1987 NBA draft. ...

1 season: '88–'89 *

7 seasons: '82–'89 *

2 seasons: '82–'84

Head coaches

* 1974-1975: Marzio D’Arrigo * 1975-1978: Giuseppe Ferretti * 1978-1981: Raimondo Vecchi * 1981-1983: Gianni Zappi * 1983-1986: Dado Lombardi * 1986-1987:

Cesare Pancotto Cesare Pancotto (born January 8, 1955) is an Italian professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for Napoli Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Coaching career After a good career spent playing point guard in his native ...

* 1987: Leandro Ergelini * 1987-1988: Piero Pasini * 1988: Massimo Grisanti * 1989-1991:

Joe Isaac Joseph Warren Isaac (born August 8, 1943), commonly known as Warren Isaac in the United States and Joe Isaac in Italy, is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He had a standout college career at Iona before playing and coac ...

* 1991-1992: Massimo Grisanti * 1992-1994: Virginio Bernardi * 1994-1995:

Zare Markovski Zare Markovski ( mk, Заре Марковски; born October 28, 1960, in Skopje) is a Macedonian former professional basketball player and current assistant coach of Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), and head coach of the ...

* 1995-1997: Giordano Consolini * 1997-2000: Dado Lombardi * 2000-2002: Franco Marcelletti * 2002-2003:

* 2003-2006:

* 2006: Renato Pasquali * 2006-07: Max Menetti * 2007-2009: Franco Marcelletti * 2009-2010:

Alessandro Ramagli Alessandro Ramagli (born 1 April 1964) is an Italian professional basketball coach. Ramagli has coached multiple teams in Italy since 1996. He is current head coach of for Scaligera Verona of the LBA. Coaching career Alessandro Ramagli began to ...

* 2010: Piero Coen * 2010-11: Alessandro Finelli * 2011:

* 2011-2018: Max Menetti * 2018–2019: Devis Cagnardi * 2019:

Stefano Pillastrini Stefano is the Italian form of the masculine given name Στέφανος (Stefanos, Stephen). The name is of Greek origin, Στέφανος, meaning a person who made a significant achievement and has been crowned. In Orthodox Christianity the ach ...

* 2019–2020:

Maurizio Buscaglia Maurizio Buscaglia (born 9 April 1969) is an Italian professional basketball coach. He is the current head coach of Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Coaching career After spending years coaching the youth teams of two club ...

* 2020-2021:

Antimo Martino Antimo Martino (born 16 August 1978) is an Italian basketball coach, currently managing Pallacanestro Forlì 2.015 in the Lega Serie A2. He has also served as the head coach for Fortitudo Bologna. Career Antimo Martino started his coach-career ...

* 2021–2022: Attilio Caja * 2022: Max Menetti * 2022–present:

Sponsorship names

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship deals, the club has been known as: *Magazzini Jolly Reggio Emilia: (1974–1977) *Cantine Riunite Reggio Emilia: (1977–1990) *Sidis Reggio Emilia: (1990–1993) *Ceramica Campeginese Reggio Emilia: (1993–1994) *Metasystem Reggio Emilia: (1994–1995) *Pallacanestro Reggiana: (1995–1996) *CFM Reggio Emilia: (1996–1998) *Zucchetti Reggio Emilia: (1998–1999) *Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia: (1999–2007) :*Landi Renzo 'European competition'' (2005–06) *Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia: (2007–2013) *Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia: (2013–2020) *UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia: (2020–current)

Notes

References

External links

*
EuroCup profile
Retrieved 1 September 2015
Serie A profile
Retrieved 1 September 2015

Retrieved 1 September 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Reggio Emilia 1974 establishments in Italy Basketball teams established in 1974 Basketball teams in Emilia-Romagna