KK Budućnost

1949–1979: Formation and early years

The club was founded in 1949 when Budućnost sports society decided to form the men's basketball club. Budućnost 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 from Kragujevac should play in the First League, without any matches being played.

In the 1959–60 season, Budućnost 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 Pančevo eventually 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 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 Budućnost 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 Montenegro national basketball team were: Blažević, Begović, Pavićević and Popović. The team managed to qualify for the Second League group South this year.

Because there was no suitable basketball arena in Titograd, Budućnost was forced to play its games in the Second League (season 1974–75) outside its hometown. Budućnost 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 Budućnost 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 1975–76 season, 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 Budućnost 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.

1979–1986: Yugoslav First League promotion and successes

The 1979–80 season is very significant in club's history. Budućnost took the first place in the Second League and automatically qualified for the Yugoslav First Federal League. The players were: Nikola Antić, Dragan Ivanović, Duško Ivanović, Vukićević, Sutulović, Vukosavljević, Petrović, Borislav Đurović, Bojanić, Garić, Slavenko Rakočević, Nesević and Dragović. The team was coached by Rusmir Halilović. As hosts, the team had to play its games in Danilovgrad.

Budućnost's promotion to the First League brought a resurgence of popularity for the game of basketball in Titograd in the summer of 1980. The First League had a representative from Montenegro again after 15 years. Shortly before the debut in the First League, Morača Sports Center was opened and the team played all of its official matches there.

In its First League debut season, the team achieved a significant success finishing eight with a 9-13 record. Team roster for this year was: Dragan and Duško Ivanović, Nikola Antić, Žarko Knežević, Kovačević, Slavenko Rakočević, Goran and Milorad Bojanić, Borislav Đurović, Petrović, Milatović. The coaches were Čedomir Đurašković, with assistants Vukićević, Garić.

In the following season, the team managed to qualify for the play-off quarter-finals after beating Jugoplastika Split in three games. In the quarter-finals the team met with Crvena zvezda, who won twice in Belgrade, while Budućnost triumphed in Titograd.

Over its five top-tier seasons Budućnost fought hard to remain a First League participant, finding itself several times in relegation danger, but managing to overcome it. The big breakthrough would unexpectedly come in the 1985-86 season, its sixth in the top flight, despite the fact that in the summer 1985 off-season it looked like Buducnost is in for another season of desperate struggle to stay up. Head coach Vlade Đurović left, taking an offer from KK Zadar and the player situation wasn't much better — club mainstays 26-year-old Goran Bojanić, 24-year-old Žarko Đurišić, and veteran Goran Rakočević left while even talented youth players joined the exodus as 18-year-old Zdravko Radulović transferred to KK Bosna, 21-year-old Saša Radunović took an offer from Wichita State University, and 17-year-old Luka Pavićević did the same with University of Utah.

Still despite all hardship, the incoming young head coach Milutin Petrović with a roster consisting of the Ivanović brothers, Nikola Antić, supreme young talent Žarko Paspalj, Milatović, Jadran Vujačić and Veselin Šćepanović, managed to lead the team to a 13–9 record and 3rd place in the league thus qualifying for the next season's Korać Cup, the club's first ever participation in the European competition.

1986–1998: European debut and domestic permanence

In its European debut Budućnost had three wins and five losses, overall. It began the competition in the first round, played over two legs, against Karşıyaka S.K., winning both games and qualifying for the round robin group where it got drawn with JuveCaserta, Estudiantes, and Challans. Out of six round robin games, Budućnost managed only a single win, which meant elimination from the Korać Cup.

Following a few years of historic success for the club, Budućnost got relegated at the end of the 1987–88 season finishing dead last with a 6-16 record. However, the very next year Budućnost was promoted and never lost its place in the First League again.

In the 1995–96 season, Budućnost won the Yugoslav Cup for the first time. In the final tournament, held in Nikšić, Budućnost defeated BFC Beočin and Partizan. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Tomović, Đaletić, Mudreša, P. Popović, A. Ivanović, Đikanović, Darko Ivanović, Simović, Vukčević and Mugoša. Head coach was Živko Brajović.

The Yugoslav Cup was won for the second time in the 1997–98 season, also in Nikšić. In the final tournament Budućnost was better than Partizan and Beobanka. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Krivokapić, Vukčević, Ostojić, A. Ivanović, M. Ivanović, Ćeranić, S. Peković, Radunović and Dragutinović. The team was coached by Goran Bojanić.

1998–2003: Prominent years

After wins in the Yugoslav Cup, Budućnost won three successive Yugoslav Basketball League championship titles. The first came in the 1998–99 season, in which the club had significant success in European competition. Budućnost qualified for the Saporta Cup semifinals. Roster: Vlado Šćepanović, Gavrilo Pajović, Goran Bošković, Dejan Radonjić, Đuro Ostojić, Blagota Sekulić, Dragan Vukčević, Saša Radunović, Dragan Ćeranić, 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 1999–2000 season, Budućnost participated in the Euroleague for the first time. Due to the UN sanctions on FR Yugoslavia, 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. Head coach was Miroslav Nikolić.

Budućnost won its first "double" in the 2000–01 season. The Final 8 tournament of the Yugoslav Cup was held in Vršac. In the quarterfinals Budućnost defeated Hemofarm, in the semifinals it defeated Lovćen, and in the finals Budućnost outplayed Partizan, whom Budućnost also played in the play-off finals. In the modern Euroleague the team qualified for the Top 16 stage. Roster: Bojan Bakić, Haris Brkić (went to Partizan 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).

2003–2006: Quieter years

A quieter period followed during which Budućnost took part in the ULEB Cup, though it missed the elimination rounds in 2004 and 2005. Budućnost reached the Serbia and Montenegro League semifinals in its last appearance in that competition.

2006–2011: Domestic dominanc

Following the Montenegrin independence from Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, Budućnost naturally became the new team to beat in the reborn Montenegrin Basketball League and has won five consecutive titles since 2007 with a combined 89–1 record – which says plenty about its dominance. It still participated in the ABA League, with solid successes. Budućnost was close to making the Adriatic League Final Four in 2009–10 and missed out on the Eurocup after falling to Brose Baskets by a single point at the end of a home-and-away Qualifying Round series.

2011–present: Rise to regional prominence

In the 2010–11 season, Budućnost came up short in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Round and the Eurocup Regular Season, but once again won the Montenegrin League and the Montenegrin Cup titles. It also reached the Adriatic League Final Four, where it lost 62–58 against Partizan in the semifinals.

Since 2011, a Montenegrin retail company VOLI has been the general sponsor of the club, with company's CEO Dragan Bokan becoming the club's president. In domestic competitions, Budućnost continued its dominance by capturing its 11th consecutive Montenegrin Basketball League championship in 2016–17 season. Except being the runner-up to KK Sutjeska in 2013 Montenegrin Basketball Cup, it clinched all trophies from 2011 to 2017. Also, it became a standard EuroCup participant and one of top five teams of the ABA League in period from 2011 to 2017, reaching to the semifinal for five times.

In June 2017, Aleksandar Džikić was named as the head coach of Budućnost.^[2] In February 2018, Budućnost won its 5th consecutive and 11th in total Montenegrin Basketball Cup, after beating KK Mornar Bar with 87–83 in the final game.^[3] In the ABA League, it secured second place of the regular season with 17–5 score. In the semifinal series of ABA League, it eliminated the Croatian team Cedevita with 2–1 score.^[4] In April 2018, Budućnost with 3–1 score won in the final series of the ABA League against the reigning champions Crvena zvezda.^[5] Thus, they were crowned champions of the ABA League for the first time in history and also secured a spot in 2018–19 EuroLeague, that would become its first appearance in the elite European competition after 16 seasons.^[5]

Domestic competitions

International success

• EuroLeague:
  • Top 16 (2): 1999–00, 2000–01
• EuroCup
  • 1/4 Finals (3): 2011–12, 2012-13, 2017-18

Regional competitions

• Adriatic League

• • Winners (1): 2018

Final Four (6): 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Current roster

KK Budućnost Podgorica roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age SG 7000100000000000000♠1 Jackson, Edwin 7000191000000000000♠1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 7001910000000000000♠91 kg (201 lb) 29 – (1989-09-18)18 September 1989 PG 7000200000000000000♠2 Ivanović, Nikola 7000190000000000000♠1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 7001850000000000000♠85 kg (187 lb) 24 – (1994-02-19)19 February 1994 G/F 7000400000000000000♠4 Šehović, Suad (C) 7000197000000000000♠1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 7002100000000000000♠100 kg (220 lb) 31 – (1987-02-19)19 February 1987 PF 7000500000000000000♠5 Clark, Earl 7000208000000000000♠2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 7002106000000000000♠106 kg (234 lb) 30 – (1988-01-17)17 January 1988 F/C 7000600000000000000♠6 Barović, Filip 7000206999999999999♠2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 7002114000000000000♠114 kg (251 lb) 28 – (1990-07-29)29 July 1990 SF 7000700000000000000♠7 Clarke, Coty 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 7002102000000000000♠102 kg (225 lb) 26 – (1992-07-04)4 July 1992 G/F 7000800000000000000♠8 Šehović, Sead 7000196000000000000♠1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 7001950000000000000♠95 kg (209 lb) 29 – (1989-08-22)22 August 1989 SG 7000900000000000000♠9 Starovlah, Milić 7000196000000000000♠1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 7001890000000000000♠89 kg (196 lb) 20 – (1998-01-28)28 January 1998 PG 7001100000000000000♠10 Gordić, Nemanja 7000193000000000000♠1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 7001900000000000000♠90 kg (198 lb) 30 – (1988-09-25)25 September 1988 SF 7001120000000000000♠12 Bojić, Bogdan 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 7001850000000000000♠85 kg (187 lb) 19 – (1999-03-03)3 March 1999 PF 7001130000000000000♠13 Ilić, Aleksa 7000204000000000000♠2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 7001850000000000000♠85 kg (187 lb) 22 – (1996-09-17)17 September 1996 PG 7001140000000000000♠14 Craft, Aaron 7000186000000000000♠1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 7001880000000000000♠88 kg (194 lb) 27 – (1991-02-12)12 February 1991 C 7001190000000000000♠19 Nikolić, Zoran 7000212000000000000♠2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) 7002107000000000000♠107 kg (236 lb) 22 – (1996-04-01)1 April 1996 C 7001230000000000000♠23 Omić, Alen 7000216000000000000♠2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) 7002110000000000000♠110 kg (243 lb) 26 – (1992-05-06)6 May 1992 SF 7001240000000000000♠24 Kočić, Srđan 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 7001850000000000000♠85 kg (187 lb) 18 – (1999-11-27)27 November 1999 G 7001300000000000000♠30 Popović, Petar 7000192000000000000♠1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 7001870000000000000♠87 kg (192 lb) 22 – (1996-09-13)13 September 1996 PF 7001340000000000000♠34 Nikolić, Danilo 7000206000000000000♠2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 7001930000000000000♠93 kg (205 lb) 25 – (1993-04-08)8 April 1993	Head coach Aleksandar Džikić Assistant coach(es) Srđan Flajs Strength & conditioning coach(es) Filip Mihajlović Physiotherapist(s) Periša Čagorović Team manager Gavrilo Pajović Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: August 13, 2018

Depth chart

Notable former players

Players who played in the NBA