UCAM Murcia CB

UCAM Murcia
UCAM Murcia
Nickname	Universitarios
Leagues	Liga ACB; Champions League
Founded	1985
History	Agrupacion Deportiva Juver; (1985–1993); CB Murcia ; (1993–2013); UCAM Murcia CB ; (2013–present)
Arena	Palacio de Deportes
Capacity	7,454
Location	Murcia, Spain
Team colors	Blue, golden, red;
President	María Dolores García Mascarell
Head coach	Sito Alonso
Ownership	UCAM
Championships	4 2nd division championship; 1 Copa Príncipe de Asturias
Website	ucamdeportes.com

UCAM Murcia Club Baloncesto, S.A.D.,^[1] more commonly referred to as UCAM Murcia, is a professional basketball club based in Murcia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the Champions League. Their home venue is Palacio de Deportes. The team is sponsored by the Spanish university Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM).

History

Founded in 1985 under the name Agrupación Deportiva Júver, Murcia agreed with a Madrid-based club, Logos de Madrid, to buy out its rights to play in the Spanish second division. Murcia would play at that level for four consecutive seasons and its first superstar was do-it-all big man Randy Owens.^[2]

In 1990, Murcia, led by veteran center Mike Phillips, beat Obradoiro in a playoffs series to gain promotion to the Spanish League. The club would stay in the Spanish elite for the next seven seasons, with stars likes Ralph McPherson, Clarence Kea, Michael Anderson and Johnny Rogers and head coaches like Felipe Coello, José María Oleart and Moncho Monsalve. In December 1991, Kea pulled down 29 rebounds, which remains a Spanish League record, in a win against Breogán Lugo.^[2]

The club became CB Murcia in 1993 and moved to its current arena, Palacio de Deportes, the following season. Murcia organized the Copa del Rey tournament in the 1995–96 season and made it to the semifinals. Murcia went down to the Spanish second division at the end of the 1996–97 season, but reached the Spanish elite a couple of times, including in 2006, when it downed CAI Zaragoza in overtime in a do-or-die game to advance. Led by Jimmie Hunter and Juanjo Triguero, Murcia ranked 12th in the 2007–08 season, but went back to the second division two years later. Murcia bounced back to score promotion directly with a 30–4 record, and has been in the Spanish elite even since.^[2]

In 2013, the club switched hands and UCAM Murcia took control. That moved helped Murcia shine in the last couple of seasons for its best results ever. With Diego Ocampo as head coach and Scott Bamforth, Raulzinho Neto and Carlos Cabezas as its top newcomers, Murcia finished the Spanish regular season with a 17–17 record, which was just one win from the playoffs. Last season Murcia found a new coach in Fotios Katsikaris and added more experienced players like Facundo Campazzo, Serhiy Lishchuk and Vítor Faverani. That led to a seventh-place finish with an 18–16 record and a ticket to the quarterfinals for the first time in the club's history, where it lost 2–1 to Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, but earned the right to make its debut in European competitions in the 2016–17 EuroCup.^[2] In its European debut, UCAM Murcia reached the Top 16 round.

In the next season, the club joined the Basketball Champions League, reaching the Final Four in its first participation. Murcia lost to AEK in the semifinals and won the third place game over MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg.

In the 2023–24 ACB season Murcia reached the finals in the first time after beating Valencia Basket in the quarterfinals and Unicaja in the semifinals, but they lost to Real Madrid in three games in 2024 ACB Finals

Sponsorship naming

CB Murcia has received diverse sponsorship names along the years:

Juver Murcia: 1985–1992
CB Murcia Artel: 1997–1998
Recreativos Orenes CB Murcia: 1998–1999
CB Etosa/Etosa Murcia: 2000–2003
Polaris World CB Murcia: 2003–2008
UCAM Murcia: 2011–present

Logos

CB Murcia logos
1993–2009	2009–2013	2013–present

Home arenas

Pabellón Príncipe de Asturias: (1985–94)
Palacio de Deportes: (1994–present)

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

UCAM Murcia roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Age
SF	00	Kurucs, Rodions	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	26 – (1998-02-05)5 February 1998
PG	6	García, Dani	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	26 – (1998-01-30)30 January 1998
G/F	8	Sant-Roos, Howard	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	33 – (1991-02-13)13 February 1991
PG	10	Caupain, Troy	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	28 – (1995-11-29)29 November 1995
PF	11	Radović, Nemanja (C)	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	33 – (1991-11-11)11 November 1991
SG	12	Radebaugh, Jonah	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	27 – (1997-06-17)17 June 1997
G/F	13	Falk, Wilhelm (Y)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	21 – (2003-06-25)25 June 2003
F/C	19	Todorović, Marko	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	32 – (1992-04-19)19 April 1992
PF	20	Brodziansky, Vladimír	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	30 – (1994-05-08)8 May 1994
C	21	Diagne, Moussa	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)	30 – (1994-03-06)6 March 1994
PG	22	Håkanson, Ludvig	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	28 – (1996-03-22)22 March 1996
G	25	Kurucs, Artūrs	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	24 – (2000-01-19)19 January 2000
G	31	Ennis, Dylan	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	32 – (1991-12-26)26 December 1991
C	35	Birgander, Simon	2.09 m (6 ft 10 in)	27 – (1997-10-23)23 October 1997

Head coach

Sito Alonso

Assistant coach(es)

Lucas Pérez
Blagota Sekulić

Legend

(C) Team captain
(Y) Youth player
Injured

Updated: July 13, 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Simon Birgander	Marko Todorović †	Moussa Diagne †
PF	Vladimír Brodziansky	Nemanja Radović
SF	Howard Sant-Roos	Rodions Kurucs †
SG	Dylan Ennis	Jonah Radebaugh	Artūrs Kurucs †	Wilhelm Falk ‡
PG	Ludvig Håkanson †	Troy Caupain *	Dani García †

Notes: Blue † – homegrown player^[a]; Red * – overseas player^[b]; Green ‡ – youth player^[c]

Head coaches

Felipe Coello: 1985–1991, 1991–1992, 1992, 1998, 2002–2004
Moncho Monsalve: 1991, 1993
Clifford Luyk: 1991
Fernando Sánchez Luengo: 1991
Iñaki Iriarte: 1992
José María Oleart: 1993–1996, 2002
Ricardo Hevia: 1996
Alberto Sanz: 1996–1997
Manolo Flores: 1998–2000
Pepe Rodríguez: 2000–2002
Miguel Ángel Martín: 2004
Iván Déniz: 2004–2005
Chete Pazo: 2005
Manel Comas: 2005–2006
Manolo Hussein: 2006–2009
Moncho Fernández: 2009
Edu Torres: 2009–2010
Luis Guil: 2010–2012
Óscar Quintana: 2012–2014, 2016–2017
Marcelo Nicola: 2014
Diego Ocampo: 2014–2015
Fotios Katsikaris: 2015–2016, 2017
Ibon Navarro: 2017–2018
Javier Juárez: 2018–2019
Sito Alonso: 2019–present

Season by season

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	W–L	Copa del Rey	Other cups		European competitions
1986–87	2	1ª División B	20th	14–20
1987–88	2	1ª División B	14th	24–18
1988–89	2	1ª División	6th	20–13
1989–90	2	1ª División B	1st	27–8
1990–91	1	Liga ACB	17th	18–19	First round
1991–92	1	Liga ACB	12th	16–20	Third round
1992–93	1	Liga ACB	22nd^[d]	8–27	First round
1993–94	1	Liga ACB	18th	11–22	First round
1994–95	1	Liga ACB	12th	18–20
1995–96	1	Liga ACB	15th	15–23	Fourth position
1996–97	1	Liga ACB	17th	6–32
1997–98	2	LEB	1st	26–6		Copa Príncipe	SF
1998–99	1	Liga ACB	18th	4–30
1999–00	2	LEB	7th	20–19
2000–01	2	LEB	9th	15–15
2001–02	2	LEB	8th	15–19
2002–03	2	LEB	1st	27–13
2003–04	1	Liga ACB	18th	7–27
2004–05	2	LEB	5th	21–17
2005–06	2	LEB	2nd	28–15		Copa Príncipe	C
2006–07	1	Liga ACB	14th	13–21
2007–08	1	Liga ACB	12th	13–21
2008–09	1	Liga ACB	15th	9–23
2009–10	1	Liga ACB	18th	5–29
2010–11	2	LEB Oro	1st	30–4		Copa Príncipe	RU
2011–12	1	Liga ACB	15th	13–21
2012–13	1	Liga ACB	13th	13–21
2013–14	1	Liga ACB	13th	12–22
2014–15	1	Liga ACB	10th	17–17
2015–16	1	Liga ACB	7th	19–18
2016–17	1	Liga ACB	9th	14–18				2 EuroCup	T16	5–9
2017–18	1	Liga ACB	10th	17–17				3 Champions League	3rd	11–9
2018–19	1	Liga ACB	14th	12–22				3 Champions League	R16	15–3
2019–20	1	Liga ACB	16th^[e]	7–15
2020–21	1	Liga ACB	12th	16–20
2021–22	1	Liga ACB	10th	16–18	Semifinalist
2022–23	1	Liga ACB	9th	16–18				3 Champions League	QF	10–6
2023–24	1	Liga ACB	2nd	26–19	Quarterfinalist	Supercopa	SF	3 Champions League	3rd	12–4
2024–25	1	Liga ACB				Supercopa	SF	3 Champions League

Trophies and awards

Domestic competitions

Liga ACB
- Runners-up (1): 2023–24
2nd division championships: (4)
- 1ª División B: (1) 1990
- LEB Oro: (3) 1998, 2003, 2011
Copa Príncipe de Asturias: (1)
- 2006

European competitions

Basketball Champions League
- Third place (2): 2017–18, 2023–24

Other competitions

Yecla, Spain Invitational Game: (1)
- 2014

Individual awards

ACB Three Point Shootout Champion

Pedro Robles – 2009

All-ACB Second Team

Facundo Campazzo – 2017

LEB Oro MVP

Tony Smith – 1998

All LEB Oro First Team

Pedro Rivero – 2011

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Notes

^ A homegrown player is a player that played for at least three years before the age of 20 on a Spanish team. In Liga ACB, the team must register at least four homegrown players in rosters of 10–12 players or at least three homegrown players in rosters of 8–9 players. In Champions League, the team must register at least five homegrown players in rosters of 11–12 players or at least four homegrown players in rosters of 10 players.
^ A overseas player is a player from outside EEA, FIBA Europe or ACP states. In Liga ACB, the team may register at most two overseas players. In Champions League, the team did not have any limitations regarding the number of overseas players.
^ In Liga ACB, the team may register under-22 players linked to the youth system.
^ Remained in the league due to the dissolution of BFI Granollers.
^ League ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

References

^ "Directiva | UCAM Deportes". www.ucamdeportes.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "2016-17 Team Profile: UCAM Murcia". EuroCup Basketball. 18 August 2016. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.