Group A of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup Regular Season features two former champions and eight teams hoping to make this season the year they win their first. Here’s an early look at the 10 teams in Group A.
2024-25 BKT EuroCup: Group A at a glance
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Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv
Hapoel enters its third EuroCup season looking to build on quarterfinals appearances in each of the first two. To date, the club has gone on a spending spree in which it’s signed six players with EuroLeague experience, including Johnathan Motley and Noam Yaacov who played there last year. With a loaded roster, the goal is to compete for the EuroCup crown.
Dreamland Gran Canaria
With 165 victories, Gran Canaria has won the second-most games in competition history. This season will mark the club’s fifth in a row in the EuroCup and it won it all in 2023. Already this summer Gran Canaria has inked a former All-EuroCup player in Caleb Homesley, while extending several key players. That gives Coach Jaka Lakovic plenty of weapons to make a run at another crown.
Joventut Badalona
A mainstay of the EuroCup, Joventut will play its sixth straight season in the competition and it has advanced at least one stage in all of them, including reaching the semifinals in 2023. Now with young and energetic head coach Dani Miret on the sidelines, Joventut will look to continue its winning tradition while incorporating rising talents alongside grizzled vets for a mix that is worthy of being called a championship contender.
ratiopharm Ulm
Ulm seems to reinvent itself almost every year and led by new head coach Ty Harrelson, the plan is for 2024-25 to be no different. Teenage talents Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue should get their chances to shine and the club scouts will surely try to unearth a star, as it has produced four All-EuroCup selections in the past three seasons. In what will be Ulm’s 10th straight season in the EuroCup, it is surely a club to watch out for.
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Buducnost heads into its sixth consecutive season in the EuroCup and it has reached the knockout stages in three of the previous four. Club stars Yogi Ferrell, McKinley Wright and Fletcher Magee are among those back from last season and under Coach Andrej Zakelj, another deep run in the EuroCup Playoffs could be right around the corner.
Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul
Last season Besiktas marked its return to the EuroCup after seven seasons and reached the semifinals. With 2021-22 EuroCup Coach of the Year Dusan Alimpijevic at the helm, several veteran signings already added to the mix and the tried-and-true home-court advantage the Besiktas loyals give, this team will have its sights set high.
Bahcesehir College Istanbul
This season will mark Bahcesehir’s second in the EuroCup with the first coming in 2020-21. Eager to retain its core and make a run at the knockout stages, Bahcesehir was active early in the market by bringing back four players from last season, including former EuroCup finalists Axel Bouteille and Tony Talyor. Together with several young and hungry players, Bahcesehir has a bright future.
Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius
Wolves head into their second-ever EuroCup campaign after adjusting well to the first. Even though Wolves narrowly missed out on the knockout stages last season, it did finish the season on a three-game winning streak. New head coach Alessandro Magro will look to build on that with a host of talented local players in key roles.
Dolomiti Energia Trento
Trento embarks on its eighth season in the EuroCup. A semifinalist in its debut season in 2015-16, Trento has not matched that achievement since. Coach Paolo Galbiati will try to change that with EuroCup Rising Star candidate Quinn Ellis playing a key role. The roster is still a work in progress and the rest of Group A will be on the lookout to see the final product.
Trefl Sopot
Polish champion Trefl returns to the EuroCup for the first time since the 2012-13 season. Head coach Zan Tabak has overseen the club’s rise with two trophies in his two seasons in Sopot. Now they take a step up in competition and will take the summer months to build a team that can make some noise in the 2024-25 EuroCup.