UCAM Murcia CB

History

Founded in 1985 under the name Agrupación Deportiva Júver Murcia, the owners 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.

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.

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.

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. 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:

• Júver 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

Home arenas

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

Players

Current roster

• Sito Alonso
• Lucas Pérez
• Dimitris Tsesmetzis | access-date=

Depth chart

Head coaches

• Felipe Coello: 1985–1991, 1991–1992, 1992, 1998, 2002–2004
• Ary Ventura Vidal: 1988–1989
• 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

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

Spain

• ESP José Ángel Antelo
• ESP Tomás Bellas
• ESP Carlos Cabezas
• ESP Berni Rodríguez
• ESP Rodrigo San Miguel Europe
• CRO Vladan Alanović
• CRO Bojan Bogdanović
• FIN Gerald Lee
• FRA Stéphane Risacher
• FRA Kim Tillie
• GBR Ovie Soko
• GRE Kostas Antetokounmpo
• GRE Giannoulis Larentzakis
• GRE Dušan Šakota
• GRE Kostas Vasileiadis
• LAT Rodions Kurucs
• LTU Donatas Slanina
• LTU Tomas Delininkaitis
• LTU Martynas Pocius
• MNE Nemanja Radović
• MNE Vlado Šćepanović
• MNE Blagota Sekulić
• POL Thomas Kelati
• SRB Miloš Vujanić
• SVK Anton Gavel
• SLO Goran Dragić
• UKR Serhiy Lishchuk USA
• USA James Anderson (basketball)
• USA Michael Anderson (basketball)
• USA James Augustine
• USA Billy Baron
• USA Askia Booker
• USA Chris Chiozza
• USA Marty Conlon
• USA Corey Crowder
• USA Quincy Douby
• USA Jarrell Eddie
• USA Marcus Fizer
• USA Curtis Jerrells
• USA Clarence Kea
• USA Mark McNamara
• USA Pete Mickeal
• USA Matt Nover
• USA Randy Owens
• USA Mike Phillips (basketball)
• USA Brian Quinnett
• USA Joe Ragland
• USA Lou Roe
• USA Johnny Rogers
• USA Dustin Sleva
• USA Isaiah Taylor
• USA Travis Trice
• USA Andre Turner
• USA Duane Washington
• USA James Webb III
• USA Mike Williams (basketball)
• USA Shammond Williams
• USA David Wood (basketball)
• USA Howard Wright (basketball) Rest of Americas
• ARG Facundo Campazzo
• ARG Federico Kammerichs
• ARG Esteban Pérez
• ARG Federico Van Lacke
• BRA Vítor Benite
• BRA Vítor Faverani
• BRA Augusto Lima
• BRA Rafa Luz
• BRA Raulzinho Neto
• BRA Paulão Prestes
• CAN Tony Simms Africa
• ANG Yanick Moreira
• NGA Ime Udoka Oceania
• AUS David Barlow
• AUS Mark Bradtke

Notes

References

References

1. "Directiva {{!}} UCAM Deportes".
2. (18 August 2016). "2016-17 Team Profile: UCAM Murcia". EuroCup Basketball.