U.S. Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro

Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian Vuelle), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professional basketball league, the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). It was commonly known across Europe as Scavolini Pesaro, from the name of its historical main sponsor Scavolini (from 1975 to 2014), an Italian kitchen and bathroom products designer and manufacturer, whose co-founder Valter Scavolini was formerly club president. Now, it is known as Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro after its title sponsor.[1] For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.

Consultinvest Pesaro
2019–20 Victoria Libertas Pesaro season
NicknameVL
Vuelle
LeaguesLBA
Founded1 July 1946 (1946-07-01)
HistoryVictoria Pesaro
(1946–1965)
U.S. Victoria Libertas Pesaro
(1965–2006)
U.S. Vuelle Pallacanestro
(2006–2007)
U.S. Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro
(2007–present)
ArenaAdriatic Arena
Capacity10,323
LocationPesaro, Marche, Italy
Team colorsRed and White
         
PresidentArio Costa
Head coachJasmin Repeša
Championships2 Italian Leagues
2 Italian Cups
1 Saporta Cup
WebsiteOfficial Site

History

Victoria Libertas was officially founded in 1946 and had its best seasons during the 1980s. After being among the top teams in Italy for decades, Victoria Libertas under the name Scavolini Pesaro, won its first important trophy the 1982–83 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, rival the historic French club of ASVEL. Also Scavolini, participated in consecutive lost finals in 1985–86 against the title holder FC Barcelona and in 1986–87 against Cibona. Since then, Italian League was won twice (in 1988 and 1990), and the Italian Cup was also won twice (in 1985 and 1992). Scavolini participated in 1990–91 FIBA European Champions Cup, and managed to play in the semi-final of the Final Four in Paris where the club eliminated by the legendary Pop 84 (the former Jugoplastika) and ranked 4th after one more defeat in the third place game by Maccabi Elite. The two lost finals in the FIBA Korać Cup in 1990 (against Ram Joventut) and in 1992 (against il Messaggero Roma) show the dynamic of the club and at the beginning of the new decade.
In recent years, Victoria Libertas was among the best European teams, having played the Euroleague in 2001–02 and 2004–05 seasons. In 2004–05 it unexpectedly got to the Euroleague Top-8, being defeated in the quarter finals by eventual champion Maccabi Elite. Furthermore, Victoria Libertas shooting guard, Charles Smith, was honored with the first-ever Euroleague's Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy,[2] named after the late Euroleague scoring champ who died in 2004 and who was replaced in Victoria Libertas by Smith himself.

Recent history

In July 2005, as a consequence of the poor administration of the previous two seasons, Victoria Libertas failed to remain within the parameters required to join the Italian Basketball League and wound up. Pesaro's second team, Falco Spar, agreed with former Victoria Libertas president Valter Scavolini to join forces to invest in a team to bring back Victoria Libertas to Italian First Division (Lega Basket Serie A).

The new team, named Scavolini Gruppo Spar (or simply Scavolini-Spar), played the 2005–06 season in the Italian Third Division (B1). Owners' target resulted in Scavolini-Spar having large amounts of money at its disposal compared with the other teams of the league. Players from the upper divisions were enrolled, star Carlton Myers among them, which lead the team to win the league and gain promotion to the Second Division (LegaDue).

In 2006–07 Scavolini-Spar won the LegaDue playoff series, lining up players such as Carlton Myers, Rodney White (9th overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft), Mindaugas Žukauskas (captain of the Lithuanian national basketball team) and Michael Hicks (Panamian national team star). The team was therefore promoted, for the second straight year, to play the Lega Basket Serie A 2007–08 league.

Following the 2009–10 season, Spar's secondary sponsorship contract expired. The club picked up a new secondary sponsor in Italian clothing company Siviglia, thereby changing its full sponsored name to Scavolini Siviglia Style Pesaro (more simply Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro). The club changed its secondary sponsorship again with the expiration of Siviglia's contract at the end of the 2011–12 season, becoming Scavolini Banca Marche Pesaro.

From the 2014–15 season the historical sponsor Scavolini was replaced (for the first time since 1975) by the new main sponsor Consultinvest, whereby the name of the team became Consultinvest Pesaro.

Players

Current roster
Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
G/F 3 Drell, Henri 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 20 – (2000-04-25)25 April 2000
PG 4 Mussini, Federico 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 24 – (1996-03-12)12 March 1996
PG 9 Calbini, Lorenzo 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 74 kg (163 lb) 17 – (2002-12-20)20 December 2002
SG 11 Miaschi, Federico 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 20 – (2000-04-26)26 April 2000
F 15 Alessandrini, Nicolas 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 19 – (2001-05-08)8 May 2001
F/C 20 Basso, Beniamino 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 101 kg (223 lb) 19 – (2001-02-24)24 February 2001
PF 41 Zanotti, Simone 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 27 – (1992-12-31)31 December 1992
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Paolo Calbini
  • Luca Pentucci
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (*) Left the team after the last match
  • Injured
Updated: June 10, 2020

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

Honours

Total titles: 5

Domestic competitions
Winners (2): 1987–88, 1989–90
Runners-up (4): 1981–82, 1984–85, 1991–92, 1993–94
Winners (2): 1984–85, 1991–92
Runner-up (4): 1985–85, 1986–87, 2000–01, 2003–04
Runners-up (1): 2001

European competitions
4th place (1): 1990–91
Final Four (1): 1991
Winners (1): 1982–83
Runners-up (2): 1985–86, 1986–87
Semifinalists (2): 1983–84, 1987–88
Runners-up (2): 1989–90, 1991–92
4th place (1): 2009–10
Final Four (1): 2010

Worldwide competitions
4th place (2): 1988, 1990

Other competitions
4th place (1): 1996

International record
Season Achievement Notes
EuroLeague
1988–89 Quarter-finals 6th place in a group with Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, FC Barcelona, Jugoplastika, Aris, Limoges, CSKA Moscow and Nashua EBBC
1990–91 Final Four 4th place in Paris, lost to Pop 84 87–93 in the semi-final, lost to Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 81–83 in the 3rd place game
1992–93 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-1 by Benetton Treviso, 94-92 (W) in Pesaro, 94-101 (L) and 58-77 (L) in Treviso
1994–95 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-1 by Limoges, 68-55 (W) in Pesaro, 66-79 (L) and 72-82 (L) in Limoges
2000–01 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-0 by Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, 69-80 (L) in Tel Aviv and 77-84 (L) in Pesaro
2004–05 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-0 by Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, 60-88 (L) in Tel Aviv and 100-103 (L) in Pesaro
FIBA Saporta Cup
1982–83 Champions defeated ASVEL 111–99 in the final of European Cup Winners' Cup in Palma de Mallorca
1983–84 Semi-finals eliminated by Simac Milano, 76–78 (L) in Pesaro and 80-90 (L) in Milan
1985–86 Final lost to FC Barcelona 86–101 in the final (Caserta)
1986–87 Final lost to Cibona 74–89 in the final (Novi Sad)
1987–88 Semi-finals eliminated by Limoges, 86–102 (L) in Limoges and 93-91 (W) in Pesaro
FIBA Korać Cup
1989–90 Final lost to Ram Joventut, 98–99 (L) in Pesaro and 86-96 (L) in Badalona in the double finals of Korać Cup
1991–92 Final lost to il Messaggero Roma, 94–94 (D) in Rome and 86-99 (L) in Pesaro in the double finals of Korać Cup
1993–94 Quarter-finals eliminated by PAOK Bravo, 82-66 (W) in Pesaro and 58-96 (L) in Thessaloniki
1995–96 Quarter-finals eliminated by Teamsystem Bologna, 81-84 (L) in Pesaro and 89-100 (L) in Bologna
FIBA EuroChallenge
2009–10 Final Four 4th place in Göttingen, lost to Krasnye Krylya Samara 70–73 in the semi-final, lost to Chorale Roanne 80–86 in the 3rd place game
McDonald's Championship
1988 4th 4th place in Madrid, lost to Real Madrid 96–108 in the semi-final, lost to Yugoslavia 91–100 in the 3rd place game
1990 4th 4th place in Barcelona, lost to New York Knicks 115–119 in the semi-final, lost to FC Barcelona 105–106 in the 3rd place game

Logos
  • Former logo

Arena and supporters

In 1996 Victoria Libertas moved from the historic "hangar" arena into the new BPA Palas arena (today: ADRIATIC Arena) which now hosts its home games. Drawing large audiences from nearby towns and the whole Marche region, in mid 2000s Victoria Libertas was among the top ten basketball teams in Europe for average attendance.

Notable players

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

Head coaches

Sponsorship names

In the past, due to sponsorship deals, it has also been known as:[3]

  • Benelli Pesaro (1952–58)
  • Lanco Pesaro (1958–61)
  • Algor Pesaro (1961–63)
  • Butangas Pesaro (1966–69)
  • Frizz Pelmo Pesaro (1969–70)
  • Tropicali Pesaro (1970–71)
  • Maxmobili Pesaro (1971–75)
  • Scavolini Pesaro (1975–2014)
  • Consultinvest Pesaro (2014–2017)
  • No Main Sponsor (2017–2019)
  • Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro (2019–present)

References
  1. "Prosciutto di Carpegna è il nuovo main sponsor per la VL Pesaro" [Prosciutto di Carpegna is the new main sponsor of VL Pesaro]. Sportando.basketball (in Italian). 18 July 2019.
  2. Euroleague.net
  3. Lega A Basket page on history of Victoria Libertas. (in Italian) Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
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