KK Budućnost Podgorica

Infobox Basketball club
color1 = #000000
color2 = #00BFFF
name = KK Budućnost Podgorica
nickname =
logo =
imagesize = 170px
leagues = Opportunity League
ULEB Cup
Adriatic League
founded = 1952
history = 1952 - present
arena = Morača Sports Center
(capacity: 4,570)
location = Podgorica, Montenegro
colors = blue and white
president = Branko Vujošević
coach = Dejan Radonjić
championships = 3 Yugoslav First League
1 Montenegrin League
3 Yugoslav Cup
1 Montenegrin Cup
website = [http://www.kkbuducnost.cg.yu/ www.kkbuducnost.cg.yu]

KK Budućnost Podgorica is a basketball club from Podgorica, Montenegro. It is a part of Budućnost Podgorica sport society. The team currently competes in First Montenegrin Opportunity League and regional Adriatic League.

Being founded in 1949 in Titograd (today’s Podgorica), it took the club more than 30 years to make it to the top tier basketball league in SFR Yugoslavia. The 1980/81 season was the club's first ever in the elite "First Federal League". Following seven straight top league seasons, Budućnost got relegated to the league below at the conclusion of 1987/88 season. However, they wouldn't wait long for the return to top flight as in 1989/90 season, they managed to gain promotion again.

In the period between 1992 and 2006, Budućnost was a steady participant in the FR Yugoslavia/Serbia-Montenegro top basketball league, and the club's most significant results were achieved in this period. First the 1995/96 and 1997/98 seasons saw the team win the back-to-back Yugoslav Cup trophies. And short time later, in the 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 seasons, Budućnost won three straight Yugoslav league titles.

A school for all ages and categories has been organized within the club.

By far the best known player to come through KK Budućnost ranks is Žarko Paspalj, Yugoslav national basketball team stalwart who had a great basketball career that included successful stops all over Europe as well as a brief NBA stint in the late 1980s. Other notable players include Dejan Tomašević, Igor Rakočević, Saša Obradović, Milenko Topić, Haris Brkić, Duško Ivanović (team's best ever scorer), Luka Pavićević, Goran "Poli" Bojanić (spent his entire playing career with Budućnost and appeared in most competitive games for the club), Vlado Šćepanović, Blagota Sekulić, Goran Jeretin, Žarko Čabarkapa, Aleksandar Pavlović, etc.

History

KK Budućnost was founded in 1949 when Budućnost sports society decided to form the men's basketball club. Buducnost participated in its first competition during the first part of June 1949, at the third Montenegrin Championship. The Championships took place in Cetinje, and in addition to Budućnost, three other teams from Montenegro participated. The first success came two years later - in 1951, when Budućnost took the first place in the First Championships of the Cities, which was held in Herceg-Novi.

In 1957, new outdoor basketball court was constructed in the City Park, on the Morača river left bank.

Budućnost became Champion of Montenegro for the first time in 1958. The Championship was played in 3 zones, and a lot more teams took part this time. All credit for this achievement goes to: Martinović, Pavlović, Vujović, Đukić, Golubović, Lekić, Belada, Đurišić, Tamindžić and Vukčević. Because of this result, Buducnost got the chance to play in the qualifications for the First League. The qualifications did not took place, because of the decision of Yugoslav Basketball Federation that the team of Zastava Kragujevac should play in the First League, without any matches being played.In the year of 1960 Buducnost became the Montenegrin basketball champion for the second time. The Qualifications for the First League were played in Podgorica, and the teams of Dinamo Pančevo and Rabotnički Skoplje took part. Dinamo qualified for the First League.

Budućnost dominated Montenegrin basketball scene in the year of 1961. Because of the financial problems, the championships were reduced to a tournament played in Podgorica, and the home team easily won all of its matches.

Budućnost had to wait until 1969 for the new success. That year the team managed to win two trophies. In the Republic League, Budućnost won the first place and again became the Montenegrin basketball champion. Budućnost played the qualifications for the Second League group East once more, but in the very strong competition from clubs from Serbia and Macedonia they failed to qualify. The team also won the Championships of the Cities, for the third time in its history.

The year of 1970 was the turning point for the Montenegrin basketball. The championships were played in the united league for the first time in history, without any zones. Budućnost became the Montenegrin basketball champion. The club managed to repeat the same success in the next year, and became the Montenegrin basketball champion for the second time in a row (sixth overall). In the same year the team finally managed to qualify for the Second League. Qualifications were held in Podgorica. Unfortunately Budućnost managed to play for only one year in the Second League (1971-72).

In the 1973 Montenegrin Champion was determined in a tie-breaker between Budućnost and KK Jedinstvo from Bijelo Polje, because both teams had the same number of points at the end of the season. The Game was played on the neutral court, and Buducnost proved that it still was the best. Both clubs took part in the qualifications for the Second League, but neither managed to qualify. The tournament was played in Skopje. Next year Budućnost had only one loss in the Montenegrin League, and became the Montenegrin basketball champion once again. In the same year, the tournament of the Republics took place. The Budućnost players who played for Montenegrin national team were: Blažević, Begović, Pavićević and Popović. The team managed to qualify for the Second League group South this year.

Because there was no appropriate basketball arena in Podgorica, Budućnost was forced to play its games in the Second League (season 1974-75) outside its hometown. Buducnost was by far the best team in group South - it had 11 wins and only 3 losses. That year the fusion of the clubs Akademik and Buducnost took place, so the team now had the best players from Akademik. Team roster for this year was: Begović, Brajović, Blažević, Šćepanović, Latković, Đurašković, I. Popović, M. Popović, Vukićević, Leković, Šarkić, Pavićević, Kazić and Martinović, and the head coach was Petar Blažević. The team achieved its first bigger success in Yugoslav Cup, qualifying for the Last 16 stage.

In the season of 1975-76 the Second League was once again dominated by Budućnost. At the end of the regular season Budućnost was tied with the team of Budućnost Peć, with 13 wins and 5 losses. In the tie-breaker that took place in Belgrade, the team from Podgorica was much better and won. The new players this season were Garić and Begović. Next year the team was tied for the first place with the team of Kumanovo, but this Budućnost lost in the deciding tie-breaker. In the season of 1977-78 Buducnost qualified for the quarter-finals of the Yugoslav Cup, where it was beaten by Bosna. In the same year the team won the Montenegrin Cup.

The 1979-80 season is very significant in Club's history. Buducnost took the first place in the Second League and automatically qualified for the First National League. After 15 years, the First League had a representative from Montenegro again. The players were: Antić, Dragan Ivanović, Dusko Ivanović, Vukićević, Sutulović, Vukosavljević, Petrović, Đurović, Bojanić, Garić, Rakočević, Nesević and Dragović. The team was coached by Rusmir Halilović. As hosts, the team had to play its games in Danilovgrad. Shortly before the debut in the First League, sports center Morača was opened and Team played all of its official matches there.

In its debut season (1980-81) in the First League, the team achieved a significant success finishing 8th. Team roster for this year was: Dragan and Duško Ivanović, Antić, Knežević, Kovačević, Rakočević, Goran and Milorad Bojanić, Garić, Petrović, Milatović. The coach was Čedomir Đurašković.

Next year the team managed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the play-off after beating the team of Jugoplastika Split in three games. In the quarter-finals the team met with Red Star Belgrade, who won twice in Belgrade, while Budućnost triumphed in Titograd.

Budućnost constantly played in the First League, and in the season of 1985-86 it finished third. Even tough Saša Radunović, Žarko Đurišić, Zdravko Radulović, Luka Pavićević, Goran Bojanić and Goran Rakočević had left the team, the young coach Milutin Petrović with players like the Ivanović brothers, Antić, Paspalj, Milatović, Vujačić and Šćepanović, managed to qualify for the Radivoje Korac Cup. In its European debut Budućnost had three wins and five losses.

After years of success, Budućnost was relegated in the season of 1987-88. But, the very next year Buducnost was promoted and never lost its place in the First League again.In the season of 1995-96 Budućnost won the Yugoslav Cup for the first time. In the final tournament, held in Nikšić, Budućnost defeated BFC Beocin and Partizan Belgrade. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Tomović, Đaletić, Mudresa, P. Popović, A. Ivanović, Đikanović, Darko Ivanović, Simović, Vukčević and Mugoša. Headcoach was Živko Brajović.
Yugoslav Cup was won for the second time in the season of 1997-98, also in Niksic. In the final tournament Budućnost was better than Partizan Belgrade and Beobanka Belgrade. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Krivokapić, Vukčević, Ostojić, A. Ivanović, M. Ivanović, Ceranić, S. Peković, Radunović and Dragutinović. The team was coached by Goran Bojanić.

After wins in the National Cup, Buducnost won three successive Yugoslav League Champion Titles. The first came in the season of 1998-99, in which club had significant success in European competition. Buducnost qualified for the Raymondo Saporta Cup semifinals. Roster: Vlado Šćepanović, Gavrilo Pajović, Goran Bošković, Dejan Radonjić, Đuro Ostojić, Blagota Sekulić, Dragan Vukčević, Saša Radunović, Dragan Ceranić, Nikola Bulatović, Balša Radunović and Željko Topalović. The team was coached by Miroslav Nikolić.

Budućnost won its second straight title without a loss (both in the regular season and in the play-offs) - total of 27 wins. In the season of 1999-2000 Budućnost participated in the Euroleague for the first time. Due to the UN sanctions on FRY, Budućnost had to play its home game away from Podgorica (in Sarajevo and Budapest), but still managed to qualify for the Last 16 stage. Roster: Vlado Šćepanović, Gavrilo Pajović, Haris Brkić, Dejan Radonjić, Blagota Sekulić, Dragan Vukčević, Balša Radunović, Vladimir Kuzmanović, Nikola Bulatović, Dejan Tomašević and Milenko Topić. Headcoach was Miroslav Nikolić.

Budućnost won its first "double" in the season of 2000-01. The Final 8 tournament of the Yugoslav Cup was held in Vršac. In the quarterfinals Buducnost defeated Hemofarm Vršac, in the semifinals it defeated Lovćen Cetinje, and in the finals Budućnost outplayed Partizan Belgrade, whom Budućnost also played in the play-off finals. In the ULEB Euroleague the team qualified for the Top 16 stage. Roster: Bojan Bakić, Haris Brkić (went to Partizan Belgrade at the half of the season), Saša Obradović, Dejan Radonjić, Igor Rakočević, Blagota Sekulić, Dragan Vukčević, Balša Radunović, Vladimir Kuzmanović, Dejan Milojević, Dejan Tomašević, Milenko Topić and Jerome James. Head coach of the team was Bogdan Tanjević (the team was coached by Miroslav Nikolić for three months in the first half of the season).

Notable players

*Duško Ivanović
*Žarko Paspalj
*Vlado Šćepanović
*Nikola Bulatović
*Dejan Tomašević
*Igor Rakočević
*Aleksandar "Sasha" Pavlović

Current Roster

External links

* [http://www.kkbuducnost.cg.yu/ Official Website]