Pallacanestro Varese

History

Basketball was introduced in Varese in 1945, with the creation of the historical club, Pallacanestro Varese. The first sponsors were introduced 8 years later in 1954, including Storm and Ignis, followed by Emerson, Turisanda, Cagiva, Star, Ciaocrem, Divarese, Ranger, Metis, Whirlpool, and the most recent, Cimberio. Varese is also famous due to the lack of its having a main sponsor in the mid-1990s (something unusual in the Italian basketball league), and the choice of its franchise name, the Varese Roosters.

Since their creation, Pallancanestro Varese has won 10 Italian first-tier level LBA titles, in the years 1961, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, and their last Italian League title, won 21 years after the previous title, in 1999. With 10 titles, Pallacanestro Varese is the third most winning team ever in the Italian League, after Olimpia Milano and Virtus Bologna.

As it is shown by its roll of honors, Varese was extremely competitive in the 1970s, when the club played in the European-wide first-tier level FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague), and played in ten finals in a row, winning 5 of them, in the years 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1976. Between 1956 and 1975, the club was named Ignis Varese. What was the club's golden age had begun some years before, as Varese conquered the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 1966, and repeated the same title 4 and 7 years later, in the middle of the club's greatest decade in 1970 and 1973. Varese accomplished the great feat of winning the Triple Crown, winning all the trophies available in 1973, with the legendary Professor Aca Nikolić as the team's head coach. Varese also won two championships of the European-wide first-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, in 1967 and 1980, and four Italian Cups, in 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1973.

Varese's great age ended in the early nineties, when the team dropped down to the Italian second division. Soon, the club took its revenge, coming up once again to the Italian top-tier level league, and after 5 years time became the real team to watch in the Italian League's playoffs, as it succeeded in winning its historical 10th Italian League title in 1999, with Carlo Recalcati (who later coached the Italian national team), leading the way as the club's head coach. Varese has never repeated that triumph so far, but that success is still remembered to this day. Varese has been trying to return to the top of the Italian League and European-wide competitions in the years since.

Players

Current roster

• GRE Ioannis Kastritis
• ITA Matteo Jemoli
• ITA Federico Renzetti

Season by season

Honours

Total titles: 25

Domestic competitions

• Italian League : Winners (10): 1960–61, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1998–99 : Runners-up (10): 1948–49, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1989–90
• Italian Cup : Winners (4): 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73 : Runners-up (5): 1971–72, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1998–99, 2012–13
• Italian Supercup : Winners (1): 1999 : Runners-up (1): 2013

European competitions

• EuroLeague : Winners (5): 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76 : Runners-up (5): 1970–71, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79 : Semifinalists (1): 1964–65
• FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct) : Winners (2): 1966–67, 1979–80 : Semifinalists (2): 1967–68, 1980–81
• FIBA Korać Cup (defunct) : Runners-up (1): 1984–85 : Semifinalists (1): 1985–86
• FIBA Europe Cup : Runners-up (1): 2015–16

Worldwide competitions

• FIBA Intercontinental Cup : Winners (3): 1966, 1970, 1973 : Runners-up (4): 1967, 1974, 1976, 1977 : 3rd place (1): 1979 : 4th place (1): 1978
• McDonald's Championship : 4th place (1): 1999

Individual club awards

• Triple Crown : Winners (2): 1969–70, 1972–73

International record

Main article: Pallacanestro Varese in European and worldwide competitions

Notable players

• ITA Ivan Bisson
• ITA Paolo Conti
• ITA Marcelo Damiao
• ITA Andrea De Nicolao
• ITA Giancarlo Ferrero
• ITA Fabrizio Della Fiori
• ITA Giacomo Galanda
• ITA Andrea Meneghin
• ITA Dino Meneghin
• ITA Aldo Ossola
• ITA Achille Polonara
• ITA Gianmarco Pozzecco
• ITA Stefano Rusconi
• ITA Romeo Sacchetti
• ITA Paolo Vittori
• ITA Marino Zanatta
• USA Anthony Bowie
• USA Frank Brickowski
• USA Tyler Cain
• USA Bill Campion
• USA Geno Carlisle
• USA Tim Bassett
• USA Toney Douglas
• USAARM Bryant Dunston
• USA Derek Hamilton
• USA Delonte Holland
• USA Frank Johnson
• USA Jalen Jones
• USA Anthony Gennari
• USA Kevin Magee
• USAITA Nico Mannion
• USA Stan McKenzie
• USA Billy Keys
• USA Rusty LaRue
• USA Pat Cummings
• USA Bill Edwards
• USA Wes Matthews
• USA Jerry McCullough
• USA Larry Micheaux
• USA Miles Simon
• USA Ron Slay
• USAISR Alex Tyus
• USA Corny Thompson
• USA Eddie Lee Wilkins
• USA Leon Wood
• USA Charlie Yelverton
• USA Reggie Theus
• USA Tyrone Nesby
• USA Charles Pittman
• USA Bob Morse
• USA DeJuan Collins
• ARG Daniel Farabello
• ARG Gabriel Fernández
• ARG Luis Scola
• BIH Marko Šćekić
• CAN Thomas Scrubb
• HRV Arijan Komazec
• HRV Mate Skelin
• HRV Veljko Mršić
• HRV Roko Ukić
• HRV Rok Stipčević
• SVN Boris Gorenc
• SVN Sani Bečirović
• SVN Aleksandar Ćapin
• FRA Alain Digbeu
• FIN Antero Lehto
• FIN Teemu Rannikko
• EST Kristjan Kangur
• EST Janar Talts
• EST Siim-Sander Vene
• PUR Daniel Santiago
• SVK Richard Petruška
• RUS Pavel Podkolzin
• MEX Manuel Raga
• SER Nikola Lončar
• SER Aleksa Avramović
• GRE Fedon Matheou
• BEL D. J. Mbenga
• NGA Stan Okoye

Head coaches

• ITA Vittorio Tracuzzi (1948–54)
• ITA Valerio Giobbi (1954–55)
• USA Yogi Bough (1955–56)
• ITA Enrico Garbosi (1956–62)
• ITA Vittorio Tracuzzi (1954–55 & 1966–68)
• ITA Nico Messina (1968–69 & 1977–78)
• YUG Aleksandar Nikolić (1969–73)
• ITA Sandro Gamba (1973–77)
• ITA Edoardo Rusconi (1978–80, 1993–97 & 2003–04)
• USA Joe Isaac (1986–89 & 1992–93)
• ITA Carlo Recalcati (1997–99 & 2010–12)
• ITA Valerio Bianchini (1999 & 2007–08)
• ITA Gianfranco Lombardi (2000–01)
• FRA Grégor Beugnot (2001–03)
• ARG Ruben Magnano (2004–07)
• HRV Veljko Mršić (2007–08)
• ITA Stefano Pillastrini (2008–10)
• ITA Francesco Vitucci (2012–13)
• ITA Fabrizio Frates (2013–14)
• ITA Stefano Bizzozi (2014)
• ITA Gianmarco Pozzecco (2014–15)
• ITA Attilio Caja (2015 & 2016–20)
• ITA Paolo Moretti (2015–16)
• ITA Massimo Bulleri (2020–21)
• ITA Adriano Vertemati (2021–22)
• NED Johan Roijakkers (2022)
• ITA Alberto Seravalli (2022)
• USA Matt Brase (2022–2023)
• USA Tom Bialaszewski (2023–2024)
• ARG Herman Mandole (2024–2025)
• GRE Ioannis Kastritis (2025–present)

Sponsorship names

Through the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been also known as:

• Storm (1954–56)
• Ignis (1956–75)
• Mobilgirgi (1975–78)
• Emerson (1978–80)
• Turisanda (1980–81)
• Cagiva (1981–83)
• Star (1983–84)
• Ciao Crem (1984–85)
• Divarese (1985–89)
• Ranger (1989–92)
• Cagiva (1992–97)
• No name sponsorship (1997–99)
• Varese Roosters (1999–01)
• Metis (2001–04)
• Casti Group (2004–05)
• Whirlpool (2005–07)
• Cimberio (2007–2014)
• OpenjobMetis (2014–present)

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Colors and badge

Image:Varese-Stemma.png|City crest (1997–99) Image:Varese Roosters Logo.jpg|Roosters crest (1999–01) Image:Logo Varese.JPG|Casti Group crest (2004–05) File:Logo Cimberio Varese.png|Cimberio Varese crest (2010–14) File:Scudetto_Openjobmetis.jpg|Openjobmetis Varese crest (2014–present)

References

References

1. it] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-22)
2. (20 Jul 2010). "Varese, Macron nuovo sponsor tecnico ufficiale". [[Lega Basket]].