Universo Treviso Basket

Universo Treviso Basket (diminutive TvB), known for sponsorship reasons as NutriBullet Treviso, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Treviso, Veneto. Founded in 2012, it plays in the Italian basketball first division Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2019–20 season. Despite being a distinct club, Universo Treviso de facto inherited the fanbase of Pallacanestro Treviso, the historic club of the town.

Universo Treviso Basket
Leagues	LBA
Founded	2012; 12 years ago (2012)
History	Treviso Basket 2012 (2012–2014) Universo Treviso Basket (2014–present)
Arena	PalaVerde
Capacity	5,134
Location	Treviso, Veneto, Italy
Team colors	White, blue, orange
President	Paolo Vazzoler
Head coach	Francesco Vitucci
Ownership	Consorzio Universo Treviso
Championships	1 Italian LNP Cup
Website	TrevisoBasket.it
Home Away

History

2012–2014: Beginnings

See also: Pallacanestro Treviso

Following the Benetton family's planned withdrawal from professional basketball that would occur in July 2012 and see Benetton Treviso without backing, the Universo Treviso consortium was launched in March 2012 with the goal to assure the club's continued presence as a professional outfit. Former players, led by Riccardo Pittis who served as the consortium's guarantor, were at the basis of the initiative.^[1]

After overcoming some economic struggles, thanks to the efforts of Pittis, Claudio Coldebella and Paolo Vazzoler (who was named president), the consortium managed to obtain enough funding to create a new club on 4 July 2012, thanks to five local businessmen and the sixty-seven firms involved in the consortium. The new company, managing the club, Treviso Basket s.r.l., was given Benetton Treviso's sporting rights for free, though the latter had earlier withdrawn from the first division Serie A in order to apply for the amateur leagues (as a youth club).^[2][3] However, the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP), who decides which clubs are admitted into the national leagues, refused Treviso Basket's application to join the Serie A, a decision upheld by the Federal Court on 2 August 2012.^[4] The explanation by FIP's president Dino Meneghin was that admitting the newly created organisation would go against league rules and create an unsustainable legal precedent. Meneghin also bemoaned the lack of reaction since Benetton announced its withdrawal eighteen months beforehand and the fact that the two entities did not merge.^[5]

The club grown up slowly, winning the amateur Promozione (the seventh division) thanks to support from Benetton Treviso, which transferred them their Under 19 squad and personnel.^[6] Treviso Basket earned promotion to the Serie D by winning the 2012–13 championship playoffs.^[7] At the end of the season, the team got a wild card for the National Division B, the fourth level of the Italian championship. Treviso ended the regular season at the 4th place in the group, but it was immediately eliminated in the first round against APU Udine.^[8]

2014–2018: Second league's powerhouse

After buying the sporting rights of B.N.B. Corato, Treviso moved to the Serie A2 Silver, the nominal third division, which was soon merged with the second division, Serie A2 Gold.^[9] The club also changed its name to "Universo Treviso Basket". Treviso arrived first in the Serie A2 Silver regular season, moving on to the joint Gold/Silver playoffs where they lost in the first round.^[10]

In the 2015–16 season, Treviso won the Eastern group of the Serie A2 championship, qualifying for the playoffs where it ousted Junior Casale and Ferentino, but it was eliminated in the semifinals by Fortitudo Bologna. In the 2016–17 season, led by coach Stefano Pillastrini, the team qualified for the playoffs as the front-runner in the Eastern group. The team eliminated Trapani in the first round, while in the quarterfinals it faced once again Fortitudo Bologna, being ousted 3–1. In the 2017–18 season, he ranked third in the Eastern group, qualifying for the fourth consecutive year to the second league's playoffs, where it eliminated Trapani 3–1 and Ferrara 3–0. However, it was ousted 3–0 in the semifinals by Pallacanestro Trieste.^[11]

2018–2022: Menetti era

In June 2018, the club hired a new coach, Massimiliano Menetti.^[12] Menetti built up a good team, signing important players like David Logan, Amedeo Tessitori and Dominez Burnett, and renewing good Italian players like Matteo Imbrò.^[13] At the end of the regular season, Treviso arrived second behind Fortitudo. However, on 17 June 2019, after beating Benfapp Capo d'Orlando in the finals, it achieved the promotion to the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).^[14]

Arena

During the first two years of its existence, Treviso Basket played in the Centro Natatorio and PalaCicogna (in Ponzano Veneto) respectively. In 2014 it moved into the PalaVerde (capacity: 5,144), the state of the art former home of Benetton Treviso.^[8]

Head coaches

•   Goran Bjedov (2012–2014)
•   Gennaro Di Carlo (2014)
•   Stefano Pillastrini (2014–2018)
•   Massimiliano Menetti (2018–2022)
•   Marcelo Nicola (2022–2023)
•   Francesco Vitucci (2023–present)

Players

Current roster

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

NutriBullet Treviso roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age PG 0   Bowman, Ky 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 26 – (1997-06-16)16 June 1997 PG 6   Zanelli, Alessandro 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 31 – (1992-06-07)7 June 1992 G 7   Harrison, D'Angelo 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 30 – (1993-08-14)14 August 1993 G 9   Torresani, David 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 18 – (2005-06-05)5 June 2005 SG 10   Faggian, Leonardo 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 20 – (2004-02-06)6 February 2004 PG 12   Robinson, Justin 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 28 – (1995-04-12)12 April 1995 G/F 13   Young, James 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 28 – (1995-08-16)16 August 1995 F/C 23   Mezzanotte, Andrea 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 25 – (1998-04-08)8 April 1998 PF 25   Allen, Terry 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 30 – (1993-12-29)29 December 1993 C 29   Camara, Gora 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) 114 kg (251 lb) 22 – (2001-04-12)12 April 2001 F 31   Olisevičius, Osvaldas 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 31 – (1993-01-10)10 January 1993 F 33   Paulicap, Pauly 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 26 – (1997-05-09)9 May 1997	Head coach   Francesco Vitucci Assistant coach(es)   Alberto Morea   Mattia Consoli Legend (C) Team captain   Injured Roster Updated: November 24, 2023

Honours

• Serie A2 Silver (3rd tier) champions: 2015
• Serie A2 Basket (2nd tier) champions: 2019

Sponsorship names

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as:

• De' Longhi Treviso (2012–2021)
• Nutribullet Treviso (2021–present)

References

1. Valente, Matteo (16 March 2012). "Pallacanestro Treviso riparte da Pittis" [Pallacanestro Treviso picks up from Pittis]. CorrieredelVeneto.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 August 2015.
2. Canfora, Mario; Mariutto, Alberto (5 July 2012). "Treviso: accordo per il futuro. Ora tocca alla Federazione" [Treviso, agreement for the future. Up to the Federation now]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 August 2015.
3. Focarelli, Silvano (5 July 2012). "Titolo rilevato, Vazzoler presidente" [Title taken over, Vazzoler president]. TribunadiTreviso.it (in Italian). Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
4. Focarelli, Silvano (2 August 2012). "Ultimo "no" della Fip Treviso senza basket" [Final "non" from FIP. Treviso without basketball]. TribunadiTreviso.it (in Italian). Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
5. "Meneghin: "Non ho ucciso il basket, non hanno voluto ripartire dalla Lega2"" [Meneghin: "I did not kill basketball, they didn't want to start from the LegaDue]. IlGazzettino.it (in Italian). 16 July 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
6. Valente, Matteo (10 September 2012). "Treviso, è ripartito il basket" [Tresivo, basketball has restarted]. CorrieredelVeneto.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 August 2015.
7. Valenti, Stefano (31 May 2013). "Treviso torna a far festa con il basket. Un mese per continuare il progetto" [Treviso celebrates basketball again. "One month make the project continue]. Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 August 2015.
8. "Storia" [History]. TrevisoBasket.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 August 2015.
9. "Basket, Treviso riparte dalla Silver. E giocherà nel mitico Palaverde" [Basketball, Treviso starts from the [Serie A2] Silver. And will play in the legendary Palaverde]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). 30 June 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
10. Focarelli, Silvano (19 April 2015). "De' Longhi, favola diventata realtà" [De’ Longhi, fairy tale made real]. TribunadiTreviso.it (in Italian). Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
11. Trieste è tornata in Serie A dopo una stagione straordianaria: ora è lecito continuare a sognare, Basket Universo
12. Max Menetti è il nuovo coach di TVB: Qui per sognare insieme, Lega Pallacanestro
13. Treviso Basket Serie A2 2018/19, Play Basket
14. "Playoff Finale Gara 3 - La decide David Logan, Treviso vince con fatica e ritorna in serie A!" [Final Playoffs Game-3 - David Logan killed the match, Treviso wins and returns to Serie A!]. pianetabasket.com (in Italian). Retrieved 17 June 2019.

External links

• Official website (in Italian) Retrieved 12 August 2015
• Lega Nazionale Pallacanestro profile (in Italian) Retrieved 12 August 2015
• Eurobasket.com profile Retrieved 12 August 2015