Pallacanestro Varese

Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian first division LBA.

For past club sponsorship names, see sponsorship names.

History


Basketball was introduced in Varese in 1945, with the creation of the historical club, Pallacanestro Varese. The first sponsors were introduced 8 years later in 1954, including Storm and Ignis, followed by Emerson, Turisanda, Cagiva, Star, Ciaocrem, Divarese, Ranger, Metis, Whirlpool, and the most recent, Cimberio. Varese is also famous due to the lack of its having a main sponsor in the mid-1990s (something unusual in the Italian basketball league), and the choice of its franchise name, the Varese Roosters.

Since their creation, Pallancanestro Varese has won 10 Italian first-tier level LBA titles, in the years 1961, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, and their last Italian League title, won 21 years after the previous title, in 1999. With 10 titles, Pallacanestro Varese is the third most winning team ever in the Italian League, after Olimpia Milano and Virtus Bologna.

As it is shown by its roll of honors, Varese was extremely competitive in the 1970s, when the club played in the European-wide first-tier level FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague), and played in ten finals in a row, winning 5 of them, in the years 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1976. Between 1970 and 1975, the club was named Ignis Varese. What was the club's golden age had begun some years before, as Varese conquered the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 1966, and repeated the same title 4 and 7 years later, in the middle of the club's greatest decade in 1970 and 1973. Varese accomplished the great feat of winning the Triple Crown, winning all the trophies available in 1973, with the legendary Professor Aca Nikolić as the team's head coach. Varese also won two championships of the European-wide first-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, in 1967 and 1980, and four Italian Cups, in 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1973.

Varese's great age ended in the early nineties, when the team dropped down to the Italian second division. Soon, the club took its revenge, coming up once again to the Italian top-tier level league, and after 5 years time became the real team to watch in the Italian League's playoffs, as it succeeded in winning its historical 10th Italian League title in 1999, with Carlo Recalcati (who later coached the Italian national team), leading the way as the club's head coach. Varese has never repeated that triumph so far, but that success is still remembered to this day. Varese has been trying to return to the top of the Italian League and European-wide competitions in the years since.

Honours
Total titles: 25

Domestic competitions

 * Italian League
 * Winners (10): 1960–61, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1998–99
 * Runners-up (10): 1948–49, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1989–90


 * Italian Cup
 * Winners (4): 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73
 * Runners-up (5): 1971–72, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1998–99, 2012–13


 * Italian Supercup
 * Winners (1): 1999
 * Runners-up (1): 2013

European competitions

 * EuroLeague
 * Winners (5): 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76
 * Runners-up (5): 1970–71, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79
 * Semifinalists (1): 1964–65


 * FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct)
 * Winners (2): 1966–67, 1979–80
 * Semifinalists (2): 1967–68, 1980–81


 * FIBA Korać Cup (defunct)
 * Runners-up (1): 1984–85
 * Semifinalists (1): 1985–86


 * FIBA Europe Cup
 * Runners-up (1): 2015–16

Worldwide competitions

 * FIBA Intercontinental Cup
 * Winners (3): 1966, 1970, 1973
 * Runners-up (4): 1967, 1974, 1976, 1977
 * 3rd place (1): 1979
 * 4th place (1): 1978


 * McDonald's Championship
 * 4th place (1): 1999

Individual club awards

 * Triple Crown
 * Winners (2): 1969–70, 1972–73

Notable players

 * 🇮🇹 Ivan Bisson
 * 🇮🇹 Paolo Conti
 * 🇮🇹 Marcelo Damiao
 * 🇮🇹 Fabrizio Della Fiori
 * 🇮🇹 Giacomo Galanda
 * 🇮🇹 Andrea Meneghin
 * 🇮🇹 Dino Meneghin
 * 🇮🇹 Aldo Ossola
 * 🇮🇹 Gianmarco Pozzecco
 * 🇮🇹 Stefano Rusconi
 * 🇮🇹 Romeo Sacchetti
 * 🇮🇹 Paolo Vittori
 * 🇮🇹 Marino Zanatta
 * 🇺🇸 Anthony Bowie
 * 🇺🇸 Frank Brickowski
 * 🇺🇸 Bill Campion
 * 🇺🇸 Geno Carlisle
 * 🇺🇸 Tim Bassett
 * 🇺🇸 Toney Douglas
 * 🇺🇸 Derek Hamilton
 * 🇺🇸 Delonte Holland
 * 🇺🇸 Frank Johnson
 * 🇺🇸 Jalen Jones
 * 🇺🇸 Anthony Gennari
 * 🇺🇸 Kevin Magee
 * 🇺🇸 Stan McKenzie
 * 🇺🇸 Billy Keys
 * 🇺🇸 Rusty LaRue
 * 🇺🇸 Pat Cummings
 * 🇺🇸 Bill Edwards
 * 🇺🇸 Wes Matthews
 * 🇺🇸 Jerry McCullough
 * 🇺🇸 Larry Micheaux
 * 🇺🇸 Miles Simon
 * 🇺🇸 Corny Thompson
 * 🇺🇸 Eddie Lee Wilkins
 * 🇺🇸 Leon Wood
 * 🇺🇸 Charlie Yelverton
 * 🇺🇸 Reggie Theus
 * 🇺🇸 Tyrone Nesby
 * 🇺🇸 Charles Pittman
 * 🇺🇸 Bob Morse
 * 🇺🇸 DeJuan Collins
 * 🇦🇷 Daniel Farabello
 * 🇦🇷 Gabriel Fernández
 * 🇦🇷 Luis Scola
 * 🇭🇷 Arijan Komazec
 * 🇭🇷 Mate Skelin
 * 🇭🇷 Veljko Mršić
 * 🇸🇮 Boris Gorenc
 * 🇸🇮 Sani Bečirović
 * 🇸🇮 Aleksandar Ćapin
 * 🇫🇷 Alain Digbeu
 * 🇫🇮 Antero Lehto
 * 🇫🇮 Teemu Rannikko
 * 🇪🇪 Kristjan Kangur
 * 🇪🇪 Janar Talts
 * 🇪🇪 Siim-Sander Vene
 * Daniel Santiago
 * 🇸🇰 Richard Petruška
 * 🇷🇺 Pavel Podkolzin
 * 🇲🇽 Manuel Raga
 * Nikola Lončar
 * Fedon Matheou
 * 🇧🇪 D. J. Mbenga

Head coaches

 * 🇮🇹 Vittorio Tracuzzi (1948–54)
 * 🇮🇹 Valerio Giobbi (1954–55)
 * 🇺🇸 Yogi Bough (1955–56)
 * 🇮🇹 Enrico Garbosi (1956–62)
 * 🇮🇹 Vittorio Tracuzzi (1954–55 & 1966–68)
 * 🇮🇹 Nico Messina (1968–69 & 1977–78)
 * Aleksandar Nikolić (1969–73)
 * 🇮🇹 Sandro Gamba (1973–77)
 * 🇮🇹 Edoardo Rusconi (1978–80, 1993–97 & 2003–04)
 * 🇺🇸 Joe Isaac (1986–89 & 1992–93)
 * 🇮🇹 Carlo Recalcati (1997–99 & 2010–12)
 * 🇮🇹 Valerio Bianchini (1999 & 2007–08)
 * 🇮🇹 Gianfranco Lombardi (2000–01)
 * 🇫🇷 Grégor Beugnot (2001–03)
 * 🇦🇷 Ruben Magnano (2004–07)
 * 🇭🇷 Veljko Mršić (2007–08)
 * 🇮🇹 Stefano Pillastrini (2008–10)
 * 🇮🇹 Francesco Vitucci (2012–13)
 * 🇮🇹 Fabrizio Frates (2013–14)
 * 🇮🇹 Stefano Bizzozi (2014)
 * 🇮🇹 Gianmarco Pozzecco (2014–15)
 * 🇮🇹 Attilio Caja (2015 & 2016–20)
 * 🇮🇹 Paolo Moretti (2015–16)
 * 🇮🇹 Massimo Bulleri (2020–21)
 * 🇮🇹 Adriano Vertemati (2021–22)
 * Johan Roijakkers (2022)
 * 🇮🇹 Alberto Seravalli (2022)
 * 🇺🇸 Matt Brase (2022–2023)
 * 🇺🇸 Tom Bialaszewski (2023–present)

Sponsorship names
Through the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been also known as:


 * Storm (1954–56)
 * Ignis (1956–75)
 * Mobilgirgi (1975–78)
 * Emerson (1978–80)
 * Turisanda (1980–81)
 * Cagiva (1981–83)
 * Star (1983–84)
 * Ciao Crem (1984–85)
 * Divarese (1985–89)
 * Ranger (1989–92)


 * Cagiva (1992–97)
 * No name sponsorship (1997–99)
 * Varese Roosters (1999–01)
 * Metis (2001–04)
 * Casti Group (2004–05)
 * Whirlpool (2005–07)
 * Cimberio (2007–2014)
 * OpenjobMetis (2014–present)