CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca (men's basketball)

CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca is a Romanian professional basketball club based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The club, for sponsorship reason under the name U-Banca Transilvania Cluj-Napoca, competes in the Liga Națională. As other sports teams that were initially part of the parent sports club, U Cluj, for historical reasons, the club keeps the name U (short form of Universitatea) in its name.

Timeout at a 2021–22 Champions League game.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca
NicknameȘepcile roșii
(The Red Caps)
Studenții
(The Students)
Alb-Negrii
(The White and Blacks)
LeaguesLiga Națională
Founded1947 (1947)
HistoryCS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
(1947–present)
ArenaBT Arena
Horia Demian
Capacity10,000[1]
2,525
LocationCluj-Napoca, Romania
Team colorsWhite, Black
   
PresidentMarius Bojiță
Vice-president(s)Nicolae Tarcea
Mircea Cristescu
Head coachMihai Silvășan
Championships6 Romanian Leagues
5 Romanian Cup
3 Romanian Supercup
Websitewww.u-bt.ro
Active departments of CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
Football Women's
Football		 Men's
Basketball
Women's
Basketball		 Men's
Handball		 Women's
Handball
Men's
Rugby		 Women's
Rugby		 Men's
Volleyball
Women's
Volleyball		 Water polo Athletics
Bodybuilding Boxing Chess
Fencing Figure skating Horse riding
Judo Scrabble Speed skating
Skiing Swimming Tennis
Weightlifting Wrestling

History

Whilst the parent sports club, U Cluj was founded in 1919, the basketball team was founded in 1947 and played for the first time in the Romanian Championship in 1966. Since then, U Cluj was a constant presence in the Romanian First Division, with their best performances being recorded in the 1990s, when they won three Romanian Championships.

During its history, the team had different names. Since 1990, the main sponsor is usually added to the name of the parent sports club, U Cluj. This resulted in a change of name every time the main sponsor was changed. Previous names of the team were U Ştiinţa, Ştiinţa IMF, U Metalul Rosu, U Fimaro, U SM Invest, U Sanex, and U Carbochim.

In the 2012–2013 season, U Mobitelco Cluj Napoca finished on 7th place (20 wins – 10 losses) and qualify for the play-off. Here the team played the first round against CSM Oradea but lost with 3–1. Also the team played the Romanian Cup final but lost against CS Gaz Metan Medias with the score 62–76. At the end of that season the coach and all the foreign players left the team.

The most famous player who played for U Cluj was Gheorghe Mureșan, who signed in 1993 with the Washington Bullets, becoming the tallest player ever in the NBA. He played 6 successful seasons with the Bullets and the New Jersey Nets, averaging a career 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists. Mureșan obtained the title of NBA Most Improved Player following the 1995–96 NBA season. He began his career playing two years for Universitatea Cluj-Napoca.

Arena
Sala Polivalentă

U-BT Cluj plays its home games in the main Sports hall from Cluj-Napoca, BT Arena, which accommodates 10,000 spectators[2] or in Horia Demian Sports Hall, with a capacity of 2,525 spectators.

Sponsorship names

Due to sponsorship reasons, the team has been known as:

  • CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca (1947–1996)
  • U Invest Cluj-Napoca (1996–1997)
  • U Sanex Cluj-Napoca (1997–1998)
  • U Carbochim Cluj-Napoca (1998–2002)
  • Policarbochim Cluj-Napoca (2002–2005)
  • U Poli-Mobitelco-Carbochim (2005–2006)
  • U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (2006–2014)
  • U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2014–present)

Logos
  • The team's logo used until the 2015–16 season
  • U-Banca Transilvania logo (2016–2017)

Honours
  • Liga Națională
    • Winners (6): 1992, 1993, 1996, 2011,[3] 2017, 2021
    • Runners-up (7): 1959, 1962, 1991, 1994, 2006, 2008, 2010
    • Third place (13): 1960, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2019

Current roster

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

U-Banca Transilvania Cluj-Napoca roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
G/F 0 Guzmán, Karel 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 27 – (1995-02-07)7 February 1995
PG 1 Pașca, Alexandru 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 19 – (2003-03-25)25 March 2003
PG 2 Watson, Giordan 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 36 – (1985-10-24)24 October 1985
PG 3 Brown, Brandon 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 32 – (1989-08-14)14 August 1989
PG 5 Lăpuște, David Călin 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 17 – (2004-11-08)8 November 2004
SG 8 Kuti, Nandor (C) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 25 – (1997-01-10)10 January 1997
PF 11 Grasu, Ștefan 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 19 – (2003-02-16)16 February 2003
C 13 Stipanović, Andrija 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 35 – (1986-12-18)18 December 1986
PF 14 Birčević, Stefan 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 32 – (1989-12-13)13 December 1989
F/C 22 Hogue, Dustin 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 29 – (1992-06-30)30 June 1992
SF 30 Stewart, Elijah 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 26 – (1995-11-14)14 November 1995
SG 35 Richard, Patrick 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 32 – (1990-01-25)25 January 1990
SF 77 Colceag, Luca 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 18 – (2003-07-22)22 July 2003
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Milorad Perović
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: October 5, 2021

Notable players

- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.

Head coaches

References
  1. 10 000 de locuri la Sala Polivalentă în 2017 (in Romanian).
  2. 10 000 de locuri la Sala Polivalentă în 2017 (in Romanian).
  3. "Publicul a invadat Sala Sporturilor, strigând".
  4. Karel Guzmán, ¡bienvenido a Rumania! Javier Rodríguez Perera (Juventud Rebelde), 5 September 2020. Accessed 9 February 2021.(in Spanish)
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