PBC Academic

{{Infobox Basketball club | color1 =ffd90a | color2 = 0c2a7e | name =Academic Metropol-Region | nickname =Metropol ''(Метропол)'' | logo = | image_size = | leagues =[[Bulgarian A Group (Bulgaria)|BBL]] | founded ={{Start date and age|1947}} | history ='''PBC Academic''' (1947–2020) | arena = Universiada Hall [https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B0_(%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0)] | capacity = 4000 | location =[[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]] | colors =Yellow and Blue {{color box|yellow}} {{color box|blue}} | president = [[Viktor Vladov]] | manager = [[Viktor Vladov]], [[Georgi Petrov (basketball)|Georgi Petrov]] | coach = [[Eduard Valchev]] | championships ='''26''' [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian Leagues]] '''11''' [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cups]] '''1''' [[Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup|Bulgarian Super Cups]] '''1''' International Students' Cup | website =[https://vladov1991.wixsite.com/academic] | h_pattern_b =_thinyellowsides | h_body =0c2a7e | h_shorts =0c2a7e | a_pattern_b =_thinbluesides | a_body =ffd90a | a_shorts =ffd90a }}

'''BC Academic Metropol Region''' ({{langx|bg|БК "Академик" Метропол-Рийджън}}) is a reestablished [[Bulgaria]]n professional [[basketball]] club based in the capital [[Sofia]].

In April 2022, Academic has been reborn and rebranded by the new owners, the German-Bulgarian ex-professional basketball players Viktor Vladov and Georgi Petrov.

Founded in 1947 as part of the Academic Sofia sports club, they have won the championship of Bulgaria 26 times, won the Bulgarian Cup 11 times and won the Bulgarian Super Cup 1 time. Among their international honours are two [[EuroLeague|FIBA European Champions Cup]] finals (both lost to [[Rīgas ASK]]) in 1958 and 1959 and an International Students' Cup in 1957.

In 2000, the team were renamed Lukoil Academic as a sponsorship deal was signed with [[Russia]]n oil giant [[Lukoil]], and quickly established themselves as dominant in the Bulgarian Championship. Since then they have been a regular [[ULEB Cup]] participant, and won the FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup Conference South in 2003.

In September 2020, Academic withdrew from the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] and announced that it will no longer maintain a professional team.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nbl.basketball.bg/news.php?g=%&id=12958 |title=Академик А1 прекрати дейност|date= 16 September 2020|website=basketball.bg |access-date= 13 October 2020}}</ref>

They played their home games at the [[Universiade Hall]].

After the rebranding and reestablishing to "BC Academic Metropol Region" in April 2022, the club will compete in the Bulgarian A-Grupa in season 2022/23.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Нов проект на име Академик атакува българския баскетбол |url=https://sportal.bg/news-2022012713204728211 |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=Sportal.bg |language=bg}}</ref>

The club colours have been changed to dark blue and yellow, as of being more applieable to the traditional colours of Academic.

== Manager Board and Sponsors == {{More citations needed|section|date=March 2026}} The main owner of the club is the former professional basketball player Viktor Vladov (profession: banker).

Followed up by the manager board members Georgi Petrov, Emmanuel Tady and Mario Yurukov.

Additional founding members are: Plamen Martinov, Nikolay Petkov and Stanislav Michev.

The sponsors are also visible on the jersey and up to date are only minority sponsors with small amounts:

"Porto Greco" Restaurant (Plovdiv, BUL), "Bryagovo Milk", "FruitCorrect", "bling Entertainment", "bikecity", "HCPKS" and "Idea Dent".

The team has also a non-profit with 2K to be implemented in NBA 2K22 and NBA 2K23 PlayStation 5 exclusive Add-Ons, which add various clubs from Europe to the videogame.

==History== {{More citations needed|section|date=March 2026}} Basketball club Academic Sofia was founded in 1947 as a part of the students' sports association Academic and during its history of more than half a century it has won a just place among the best teams in the country. Under the guidance of ones of the most experienced coaches in Bulgarian basketball - Bozhidar Takev, Veselin Temkov, Neycho Neychev, Tzvetan Zheliazkov, Petko Marinov, etc., BC Academic is 20 times republic champion and nine times winner of the Bulgarian Cup. Along with the titles in the domestic championships and tournaments, naturally comes the international recognition. The basketball players of Academic have successfully played in the tournaments for the Cup of the European champions. With the coach Bozhidar Takev they were twice finalists against [[Rīgas ASK]] in [[1958 FIBA European Champions Cup|1958]] and [[1958–59 FIBA European Champions Cup|1959]]. In 1957 in Paris the team of Academic became the world's students champion. During its entire existence basketball club Academic has always been a school for the professional improvement and constructive contribution of some of the best Bulgarian basketball players. Stars like Liubomir Panov, Georgi Panov, Viktor Radev, Nikola Ilov, Mihail Semov. Petar Lazarov, Dimitar Sahanikov, Georgi Barzakov, Nikola Atanasov, Atanas Golomeev, Temelaki Dimitrov, Stefan Filipov, Slavei Raychev, Vladimir Boyanov have left their permanent marks in the history of the Bulgarian basketball.

The excellent training of the Academic players and their complete devotion to the game have always been highly evaluated by our national basketball selectionists. Direct participants in the glorious moments of the Bulgarian basketball - the fifth place at the Olympic Games in Melbourne - 1956 and the vice-champion's title at the European Championship - Sofia'57 are the national players Liubomir Panov, Georgi Panov, Viktor Radev, Nikola Ilov, Mihail Semov, Petar Lazarov.

The tradition of the club was revived again in 2000 when [[Lukoil Neftohim Burgas|Lukoil Bulgaria]] became the main sponsor of the team. The selection of Lukoil Academic was oriented towards young players, who under the guidance of the senior coach Petko Marinov and his assistants built the youngest team in the republican basketball. Renewed was also the work at the adolescents school of the club, from which some players{{Who|date=March 2026}} have already shown considerable success at the home championships. The long-term strategy of Lukoil Academic showed its first results already in season 2001–02. The talented players of Petko Marinov won the cup of the country and played the most attractive final in the play-offs in the championship for the last ten years. Today the name of Lukoil Academic is again a symbol of good basketball. The ambitions of the club are the republican champion's title and the good performance at the European club tournaments.

In 2018, [[Lukoil]] announced its sponsor deal with [[BC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]], while leaving Academic with a smaller budget.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sportando.com/en/europe/bulgaria/259650/lukoil-bulgaria-is-the-new-sponsor-of-levski.html|title=Lukoil Bulgaria is the new sponsor of Levski|date=2 January 2018|access-date=2 January 2018|publisher=Sportando.com}}</ref> Consequently, Academic sent its top players to Levski.

In 2022, Viktor Vladov and Georgi Petrov helped Academic to reborn its basketball team. The record champion of Bulgaria will restart from the season 2022/23 in the Bulgarian A Grupa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Нов проект на име Академик атакува българския баскетбол |url=https://sportal.bg/news-2022012713204728211 |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=Sportal.bg |language=bg}}</ref>

==Honours==

===Domestic competitions=== * '''[[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian League]]''' : '''Winners (26)''': 1957, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, [[2014–15 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2015]], [[2015–16 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2016]], [[2016–17 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2017]] * '''[[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]]''' : '''Winners (11)''': 1952, 1954, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 * '''[[Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup]]''' : '''Winners (1)''': 2016 : ''Runners-up (1)'': 2017

===European competitions=== * '''[[EuroLeague]]''' : ''Runners-up (2)'': [[1958 FIBA European Champions Cup|1958]], [[1958–59 FIBA European Champions Cup|1958–59]] * '''[[FIBA Europe Conference South]]''' : '''Winners(1)''': 2003

===Worldwide competitions=== * '''International Students' Cup''' : '''Winners (1)''': 1957

==Season by season== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%" |- bgcolor= ! Season !Tier !League !{{Tooltip|Pos.|Position after playoffs}} !{{Tooltip|W–L|Wins-Losses}} ![[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] !colspan=3 | European competitions

|- |style="background:#efefef;"| 2013–14 | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=silver | 2nd | | | '''2''' [[2013–14 Eurocup Basketball|Eurocup]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|RS|Regular season}} || align=center|4–6 |- |style="background:#efefef;"| [[2014–15 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2014–15]] | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=gold | 1st |align=center|31–4 | bgcolor=silver | Runner-up | '''3''' [[2014–15 EuroChallenge|EuroChallenge]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|RS|Regular season}} || align=center|2–4 |- |style="background:#efefef;"| [[2015–16 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2015–16]] | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=gold | 1st | align=center|33–2 | bgcolor=silver | Runner-up | '''3''' [[2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup|FIBA Europe Cup]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|R2|Second round}} || align=center|5–7 |- |rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef;"| [[2016–17 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2016–17]] | rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 1 | rowspan=2|[[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] | rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=gold | 1st | rowspan=2 align=center|28–7 | rowspan=2 bgcolor=silver | Runner-up | '''3''' [[2016–17 Basketball Champions League|Champions League]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|QR2|Second qualifying round}} || align=center|1–1 |- | '''4''' [[2016–17 FIBA Europe Cup|FIBA Europe Cup]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|R2|Second round}} || align=center|7–5 |- |rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef;"| [[2017–18 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2017–18]] | rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 1 | rowspan=2|[[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] | rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | 6th | rowspan=2 align=center|10-14 | rowspan=2 |1/4 Final | '''3''' [[2017–18 Basketball Champions League|Champions League]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|QR3|Third qualifying round}} || align=center|2–2 |- | '''4''' [[2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup|FIBA Europe Cup]] || align=center|{{Tooltip|RS|Regular season}} || align=center|2–4 |- |2018-19 |1 |[[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] |8th |4-20 |Semifinalist | | | |- |2019-20 |1 |[[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] |5th |9-11 |1/4 Final | | | |- |2020-21 | | | | | | | | |- |2021-22 | | | | |NALB Cup 21/22 | |- |2022-23 |2 |BBL A Grupa<ref>{{Cite web |title=Академик - Метропол с нова заявка за силно представяне в ББЛ |url=https://sportal.bg/news-2022040120262519405 |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=Sportal.bg |language=bg}}</ref> | | | |}

==Current roster== {{Basketball roster nationality note}} {{Basketball roster header | team=BC Academic Metropol Region | color1 = #0c2a7e| bg1 = white| color2 = navy| bg2 = #ffd90a}}  {{player3| pos = SG | num = 22 | nat = BUL | first = Ivan | last = Gyoshev | m = 1.91 | kgs = 80 | year = 1991 | month = | date = }} {{player3| pos = PF/C | num = 77 | nat = GER | first = Viktor | last = Alexandrović-Vladov| m = 2.04 | kgs = 111 | year = 1991 | month = 08 | date = 18 |note = C|nat2=BUL}} {{player3| pos = PF | num = 13 | nat = BEL | first = Gregoire | last = Krieg| m = 1.94 | kgs = 95 | year = | month = | date = }} {{player3| pos = SF | num = 7 | nat = GER | first = Peter| last = Kushev| m = 1.97 | kgs = 91 | year = 2003 | month = 09 | date = 11|nat2=BUL}} {{player3| pos = F | num = 1 | nat = RUS | first = Maksim | last = Lezginov | m = 1.92 | kgs =105| year =1997 | month =12 | date =04 }} {{player3| pos = PG| num = 3| nat = BUL | first = Stanislav | last = Michev | m = 1.78 | kgs = 70 | year = | month = | date = }} {{player3| pos = F| num = 35| nat = BUL | first = Vasil| last = Mihaylov| m = 2.03 | kgs =90| year =1994 | month =05 | date =25 }} {{player3| pos = PF/C| num = 11 | nat = BUL | first = Nikolay | last = Nedyalkov | m =1.99 | kgs =95 | year = | month = | date = }} {{player3| pos = SF| num = 88 | nat = BUL | first = Mario | last = Yurukov| m =1.94 | kgs =83 | year = 1993| month =12 | date =05 }} {{player3| pos = SF| num = 8 | nat = AUT | first = Nikola | last = Tošić| m =1.95| kgs =95 | year = | month = | date = |nat2=SRB}} {{player3| pos = F/G| num = 0 | nat = BUL | first = Ivaylo | last = Stoyanov | m =1.87| kgs = 95 | year = 1999| month = 09 | date = 16}} {{player3| pos = SG| num = 4 | nat = BUL | first = Georgi | last = Petrov| dab = basketball | m =1.81| kgs = 82 | year = 1990| month = | date = }} {{player3| pos = PG| num = 73| nat = BUL | first = Nikolay | last = Petkov | m =1.90| kgs =90| year = 2001| month = 02 | date = 23}} {{player3| pos = SG| num = 10| nat = BUL | first = Dayan| last = Nikolov | m =1.86| kgs = 85| year = 1993| month = 11 | date = 18}}{{Player3|pos=C/F|num=15|nat=BUL|first=Nikolay|last=Vasilev|m=1.92|kgs=110}}{{Player3|pos=PG|num=12|nat=BUL|first=Kiril|last=Vekov|m=1.70|kgs=70}}{{Player3|pos=G/F|num=23|nat=BUL|first=Plamen|last=Martinov|m=1.85|kgs=75}}{{Player3|pos=SG|num=30|nat=BUL|first=Stoyan|last=Kaynarov|m=1.92|kgs=80|year=2001|month=05|date=30}}  {{Basketball roster footer | head_coach = * {{player||BUL|[[Eduard Valchev]]}} | asst_coach = * {{player||BUL|Viktor Vladov}} | roster_url = https://vladov1991.wixsite.com/academic | accessdate = 5 May 2022 }}

==Notable players== {{for|more players|:Category:PBC Lukoil Academic players}} {{Basketball notable players criteria}} {{div col|colwidth=14em}} *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Lyubomir Panov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Chavdar Kostov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Georgi Panov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Viktor Radev]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Hristo Nikolov (basketball)|Hristo Nikolov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Petar Lazarov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Nikola Atanasov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Atanas Golomeev]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Stefan Filipov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Slavey Raychev]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Charles Jones (basketball, born 1975)|Charles Jones]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Lamont Jones (basketball, born 1972)|Lamont Jones]] *{{flagicon|USA}} {{flagicon|Venezuela}} [[Donta Smith]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Lamont Mack]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Dominic James (basketball)|Dominic James]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Travis Peterson]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Antonio Burks (basketball, born 1980)|Antonio Burks]] *{{flagicon|USA}} {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Willie Deane]] *{{flagicon|USA}} {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Priest Lauderdale]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Bryant Smith (basketball)|Bryant Smith]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Larry O'Bannon]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Dee Brown (basketball, born 1984)|Dee Brown]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Taliek Brown]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Brandon Heath (basketball)|Brandon Heath]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Killian Larson]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[David Simon (basketball)|David Simon]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Anthony Beane]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Danny Gibson]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Stephen Zack]] *{{flagicon|USA}} [[Melsahn Basabe]] *{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Pero Antić]] *{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Riste Stefanov]] *{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Gjorgji Čekovski]] *{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Damjan Stojanovski]] *{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Thomas Massamba]] *{{flagicon|NGR}} [[Kenny Adeleke]] *{{flagicon|LAT}} [[Kaspars Kambala]] *{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Kieron Achara]] *{{flagicon|CRO}} [[Mate Skelin]] *{{flagicon|CRO}} [[Željko Šakić]] *{{flagicon|CRO}} [[Jure Lalić]] *{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Nenad Čanak (basketball)|Nenad Čanak]] *{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Nikola Dragović]] *{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Bojan Popović]] *{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Slavko Stefanović]] *{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Branislav Ratkovica]] *{{flagicon|SLO}} [[Saša Zagorac]] *{{flagicon|MNE}} [[Filip Barović]] {{div col end}}

==Head coaches== *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Bozhidar Takev]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Veselin Temkov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Neycho Neychev]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Tsvetan Zhelyazkov]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Petko Marinov]] *{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Željko Lukajić]] *{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Marin Dokuzovski]] *{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Veselin Temkov|Eduard Valchev]]

==References== <references responsive="0" /> * <references responsive="0" />

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061214154119/http://www.basketball-bg.com/team-lukoil-maje.php Lukoil Academic at Basketball-bg.com] {{in lang|bg}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080529220418/http://www.bulgarianbasket.com/men's%20TEAMS.php?team=4 Lukoil Academic at BulgarianBasket.com] {{in lang|en}} * [http://basketball.eurobasket.com/team/Lukoil_Academik_Sofia/2648?team=2648 Eurobasket.com PBC Academic Lukoil Page]

{{DEFAULTSORT:BC Academic Metropol Region}} [[Category:Basketball teams in Bulgaria|Lukoil Academic]] [[Category:Basketball teams established in 1947]] [[Category:Sport in Sofia]] [[Category:Lukoil]] [[Category:1947 establishments in Bulgaria]]