Samsunspor (basketball)

Samsunspor, also known as Reeder Samsunspor for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional basketball club based in Samsun. Founded in 1965, the club is the basketball section of the multi-sport club Samsunspor and currently competes in the Basketbol Süper Ligi, the top-tier basketball league in Turkey.

Reeder Samsunspor
NicknameKırmızı Şimşekler (The Red Lightning)
LeaguesBasketbol Süper Ligi
Founded30 June 1965 (1965-06-30)
as 19 Mayıs
ArenaMustafa Dağıstanlı Sports Hall
Capacity2,000
LocationSamsun, Turkey
Team colorsRed, white, black
     
PresidentYüksel Yıldırım
Team managerEmre Ekim
Head coachİlker Salman
2022–23 positionTBL, 2nd of 16
Championships1 Turkish Basketball First League
1 Anatolian Cup
WebsiteLink

History

Samsunspor, which was established in 1927 and became a professional club in 1965, had a basketball branch according to the information provided in its registration document.[1] The professional basketball team was established on December 3, 1966, following the start of the professional league.[2]

In 1967, the basketball team, composed almost entirely of the squad from 19 Mayıs High School, started playing their home matches at Yaşar Doğu Sports Hall, which was opened the same year. They played their first match against the soldiers of the American radar base in Samsun. Within three years, the basketball team showed significant progress and became one of the strong teams in Anatolia.[3]

After winning the local league in 1967 and participating in the 1967 Anatolian Cup, the team became champions in the 1970 Anatolian Cup. They also successfully completed the promotion matches in Bolu, earning a place in the Turkish Basketball First League for the first time. The championship squad of Samsunspor included Osman Şenher, Cudi İmamoğulları, Ferit Bestami, Uğur Pehlivan, Kaya Akal, Ertuğrul Bayraktar, Samet İmamoğulları, Yalçın Gürpınar, and two American players.[3]

Samsunspor finished the 1971–72 season, their first season in the Turkish Basketball First League, as champions by losing only one match in the final week against Yenişehir. This achievement granted them the right to compete in the Turkish National Basketball League, alongside teams from Ankara, İzmir, and Istanbul, making them the first team outside of these cities to earn that opportunity.[4] The starting lineup consisting of Tansev Mıhçıoğlu, İsmet Badem, Cudi İmamoğulları, İren İmre, and Yalçın Gürpınar played a key role in winning this championship. However, the club began to face financial difficulties following this success and couldn't pay the players' salaries. As a result, Samsunspor had to withdraw from the league during the ongoing 1972–73 season and didn't participate in the leagues the following year. During this period, the team disbanded, and the basketball branch was closed.[5]

After the closure of the branch, Samsun DSİ, one of the teams representing Samsun in basketball leagues, achieved promotion to the Turkish Second Division Basketball League in the 1989–90 season. They competed in this league for three seasons. Samsunspor reopened its basketball branch at the beginning of the 1992–93 season under the presidency of İsmail Uyanık, a former basketball player. They acquired the competitive rights of Samsun DSİ and incorporated players from Samsun Yolspor. Due to insufficient infrastructure, the team had to relinquish its right to promotion to the Turkish Basketball First League in the 2001–02 season.[3] However, in the 2004–05 season, thanks to İsmail Uyanık's personal efforts, they managed to regain promotion to the Turkish Basketball First League.[6] Unfortunately, despite participating in the fixture draw and having Panasonic as their name sponsor, the team decided to withdraw from the league due to insufficient support from the new management after İsmail Uyanık stepped down as president.[7]

The revival of the branch occurred once again during İsmail Uyanık's presidency, prior to the 2019–20 season, by taking over the basketball team competing in the Turkish Basketball Second League from Samsun Büyükşehir Belediyesi Anakent.[8] After acquiring the team, an application was made to participate in the Turkish Basketball First League due to the withdrawal of some teams, which resulted in available slots. Samsunspor's application was accepted, and they started the new season competing in this league.[9] The Mustafa Dağıstanlı Sports Hall was designated as the venue for training sessions and home matches.

After the end of the season, a restructuring took place in basketball, where the branch, formerly a part of Samsunspor, was transformed into an independent entity under the name of Samsunspor Basketbol club. In the 2019–20 season, the team, which was in the relegation zone, managed to stay in the league as the leagues were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Subsequently, the club underwent administrative restructuring and was once again made a branch under Samsunspor. Emre Ekim was appointed as the general manager, and the squad was revamped.

In the 2020–21 season, Samsunspor finished in second place in the regular season but was eliminated in the finals of the playoff series, failing to promote to the higher league.[10] In the 2021–22 season, Samsunspor finished the season in second place again, and were eliminated in the playoff finals. In the 2022–23 season, the team competed under the name "Yılyak Samsunspor" due to a sponsorship agreement.[11] They completed the season as the playoff champions and earned promotion to the Basketbol Süper Ligi.[12][13]

Players

Current roster

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

Reeder Samsunspor roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
F/C 1 Turkey Sezgün, Tarık 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 22 – (2001-04-17)17 April 2001
SG 7 United States Pemberton, Elijah 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 26 – (1997-05-31)31 May 1997
PG 9 Turkey Aydoğan, Eray 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 23 – (2000-02-25)25 February 2000
PG 10 Turkey Satır, Bora 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 21 – (2002-03-04)4 March 2002
C 12 Turkey Kalkan, Engin 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 23 – (2000-02-13)13 February 2000
PG 13 United States Crawford, Bryant 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 26 – (1997-03-21)21 March 1997
F 14 Turkey Sert, Mert Ali (C) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 27 – (1996-07-14)14 July 1996
PF 15 Israel Levi, Nimrod 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 28 – (1995-03-24)24 March 1995
G 22 United States Henry, Sek 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 34 – (1989-06-27)27 June 1989
G/F 20 Turkey Kaya, Arda Berk 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 23 – (2000-01-25)25 January 2000
SG 31 United States Mooney, Matt 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1995-02-07)7 February 1995
C 50 Mali Konate, Sagaba 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 26 – (1997-03-19)19 March 1997
F 57 Turkey Baş, Göktuğ 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 22 – (2001-05-08)8 May 2001
C 65 Turkey Şenli, Doğan 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 31 – (1992-07-16)16 July 1992
Head coach
  • Turkey İlker Salman
Assistant coach(es)
  • Turkey Burhan Cihan Özolcay
Team manager
  • Turkey Emre Ekim
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: October 8, 2023

Honours

Turkish Basketball First League

  • Winners (1): 1971–72
  • Runners-up (1): 2022–23

Anatolian Cup

  • Winners (1): 1970

References
  1. Akçay, Resul. Geçmişten Günümüze Samsunspor. Turkey: Canik Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları. p. 13-19. ISBN 9786058323483.
  2. "Baskette Türkiye Ligine başlanıyor". Milliyet. December 3, 1966. p. 8.
  3. "Yarım Kalan Bir Hikaye". halkgazetesi.com.tr (in Turkish). May 21, 2008. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  4. Yılmaz, Mehmet (ed.). Samsunspor: Kırmızı, Beyaz, Siyah. Turkey: İletişim Yayınları. p. 44. ISBN 9789750506406.
  5. "Samsunspor Basketbol 2nci Millî Liginden çekildi". Milliyet. August 13, 1974. p. 9.
  6. "Potada Samsun 1. Lig'e çıktı". hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). April 18, 2005. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  7. "Samsunspor ligden çekildi". hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). August 31, 2005. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  8. "Samsunspor takım aldı". habergazetesi.com.tr (in Turkish). July 12, 2019. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  9. "Gemlik Basketbol ve Samsunspor TBL'de Mücadele Edecek". tbf.org.tr (in Turkish). August 2, 2019. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  10. "Samsunspor'un play – off kabusu!". ajansspor.com (in Turkish). June 15, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  11. "Samsunspor Basketbol'a Yeni İsim Sponsoru". hedefhalk.com (in Turkish). October 10, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  12. "Samsunspor Basketbol Süper Lig'e yükseldi". trt.spor.com.tr (in Turkish). June 22, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  13. "Samsunspor Basketbol Süper Lig'de". fanatik.com.tr (in Turkish). June 22, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
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