Start Lublin

Start Lublin, officially Polski Cukier Pszczółka Start Lublin for sponsporship reasons, is a Polish basketball club based in Lublin. The team plays in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since 2014.^[1] Its home arena is the Globus, which has places for 5,000 people. The basketball team is a part of MKS Start Lublin, which also holds chess and athletics sections.

Polski Cukier Pszczółka Start Lublin
Leagues	PLK ENBL
Founded	1953; 71 years ago (1953)
Arena	Globus
Capacity	5,000
Location	Lublin, Poland
President	Arkadiusz Pelczar
Head coach	Artur Gronek
Team captain	Mateusz Dziemba
Website	www.startlublin.pl
Home Away Third

History

MKS Start Lublin was founded in 1953, along with the basketball team. After seven years of existence, Start promoted to the Polish Basketball League (PLK), the national highest league. In the 1964–65 season, Start captured its first bronze medal. In 1978, Start was the first Polish club to sign an African-American played in Kent Washington. Washington was named PLK Most Valuable Player in 1980.

In the 2002–03 season, Start returned to the PLK after winning the First Division. After two years, the team relegated once again.

In the summer of 2014, Start Lublin received a wild card from the PLK because of the expansion from 12 to 16 teams.

Lublin had its most successful season in the 2019–20 PLK season, which was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the season was ended, the team was in second place with a 17–5 record. As such, it qualified for a European competition for the first time in the 2020–21 Basketball Champions League.^[2]

Honours

Polish Basketball League

•   Runners-up (1): 2019–20
•   Bronze medal (3): 1964–65, 1978–79, 1979–80

Polish Basketball Cup

•   Runners-up (2): 2022, 2023

Sponsorship names

Due to sponsorship reasons, the club has been known by several names:

• Start Jadar (1992–93)
• Start Instal (1993–96)
• Start Faelbud (1996–98)
• Gala Start (1998–99)
• AICE Start (2000–01)
• Start Lublin (2002–2005)
• Start AZS Lublin (2005–2008)
• Start Lublin (2008–2009)
• Olimp Start Lublin (2009–2011)
• Start Lublin (2011–2012)
• Wikana Start S.A. Lublin (2012–2015)
• TBV Start Lublin (2015–2019)
• Pszczółka Start Lublin (2020)
• Polski Cukier Pszczółka Start Lublin (2021–present)

Season by season

 

The Globus, home arena of Start Lublin

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Polish Cup	European competitions
2006–07	2	I liga	10th
2007–08	2	I liga	16th
2008–09	3	2 Liga	1st
2009–10	2	I liga	9th
2010–11	2	I liga	12th
2011–12	2	I liga	12th
2012–13	2	I liga	8th
2013–14	2	I liga	4th^[a]
2014–15	1	PLK	14th
2015–16	1	PLK	17th
2016–17	1	PLK	15th
2017–18	1	PLK	9th	Quarterfinalist
2018–19	1	PLK	10th
2019–20	1	PLK	2nd^[b]
2020–21	1	PLK	6th		2 Champions League	RS
2021–22	1	PLK	12th	Runners–up
2022–23	1	PLK	13th	Runners–up	R ENBL	SF^3rd
2023–24	1	PLK	9th	Quarterfinalist	R ENBL	RS

1. Lublin received a wild card to play in the PLK, due to the expansion of the league.
2. The 2019–20 PLK season was cancelled prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.

Players

Current roster

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

Polski Cukier Pszczółka Start Lublin roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. SF 0   Krasuski, Michał   1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (2000-05-21)21 May 2000 G/F 1   Durham, Jabril (C) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 30 – (1994-01-23)23 January 1994 G 2   O'Reilly, Liam  1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1996-03-19)19 March 1996 G/F 3   Dziemba, Mateusz  1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 32 – (1992-04-25)25 April 1992 PF 5   Wade, Trey  1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1998-07-28)28 July 1998 G 7   Pelczar, Bartłomiej  1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 24 – (2000-02-05)5 February 2000 PF 8   Gabrić, Tomislav  2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 28 – (1995-08-17)17 August 1995 G/F 9   Karolak, Jakub  1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 30 – (1993-09-26)26 September 1993 G 17   Kępka, Wiktor  1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 21 – (2003-04-05)5 April 2003 C 19   Szymański, Roman 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 33 – (1991-04-09)9 April 1991 PF 21   Put, Filip  2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 31 – (1993-04-08)8 April 1993 C 40   Benson, Barret  2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 26 – (1997-12-25)25 December 1997	Head coach   Artur Gronek Assistant coach(es)   Marcin Woźniak Athletic trainer(s)   Hubert Śledziński Legend (C) Team captain   Injured Roster Updated: September 23, 2023

Individual awards

PLK Most Valuable Player

• Kent Washington – 1980

Notable players

See also: Category:Start Lublin players

• Brynton Lemar, basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Chavaughn Lewis (born 1993), basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Devonte Upson (born 1993), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Kent Washington (born 1956), basketball player

References

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Start Lublin.

1. Eurobasket.com profile
2. "Strongest BCL lineup to date ahead of season 5". Basketball Champions League. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.