Keravnos B.C.

Keravnos Strovolos
Κεραυνός Στροβόλου
Leagues Cyprus Basketball Division 1
Founded 1926 (1926)
History 1926-present
Arena Costas Papaellinas Arena
(capacity: 2,000)
Location Strovolos,
Nicosia, Cyprus
Team colors Yellow and Red
President Paris Papaellinas
Head coach Cyprus Christoforos Livadiotes
Championships 5 Cypriot Championships
9 Cypriot Cups
Website www.keravnosbc.com
Uniforms
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Keravnos Strovolou (Greek: Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Στροβόλου «Ο Κεραυνός») is one of the oldest Athletic Clubs on the Island and was established in 1926. The club is based in Strovolos the largest Nicosia suburb and their home court is the Costas Papaellinas Indoor Arena with a capacity of 2,000 spectators. «The Keravnos name (in Greek =THUNDER) is associated with the football player Savvas Panayides who used to play in the mid-1920’s for the club’s football team and was known as the “Thunder” for his legendary strong shooting and striking ability». Keravnos Athletic Club is one of the most famous and historical clubs in Cyprus sports history. It has been fully committed through τhe years to its core values such as: • Sporting excellence • Youth development • Fair play • Social responsibility.

Club Management

Like most Athletic Clubs in Cyprus, Keravnos is managed by a Committee and a President, directly elected from the members of the club. The club’s president since 1996 is the well known businessman Mr. Paris C. Papaellinas, who is also the main sponsor of the club for the last 20 years. He is a former player of Keravnos basketball team during the period 1972-1991. He was also a member and co-captain of the Cyprus National Team and a Gold Medal Winner at the Games of the Small States of Europe held in San Marino in 1985. Mr. Papaellinas has many professional and sports awards which reflect the values of the Club. Among others, he was appointed as Cyprus FAIR PLAY Ambassador during 2011-2013 and was awarded the ‘’Sport and Social Responsibility’’ Award by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2012.

Basketball

The Men's basketball division was established in 1964. It has a leading role in the sport for more than 30 consecutive seasons. The club was one of the founding members of the Cyprus Basketball Federation in 1966. The men’s team has won 17 trophies in total. The first title however came in 1989 and then in 1997 by winning the Double in those two seasons. The Club won the cup twice in three consecutive years: 1997, 1998, 1999 and again from 2005, 2006 and 2007. It is worth noting that Keravnos holds an unprecedented record of winning nine Cup Titles from 1989 to 2012, remaining unbeaten for 23 years in Cup Finals! Over the years many of the Club’s players have been selected to the Cyprus National basketball team. The current captain of the national team is Keravnos star Panayiotis Trisokkas. Among the Cypriot players that have been important figures for Keravnos other than Paris Papaellinas are the following: • Loucas Kalogirou – A pure athlete, also a champion in track & field • Haris Haritou - the first real center in Cyprus history, • Andreas Kyprianou (currently the vice president of the club) – play maker, played also at POL of Larnaca. • Doros Lemesios – power forward for the national team for a number of years. • The Karagiannis brothers (Frikos and Rakis) – small forwards, played both for the NT. • Darrin Fowlkes (played for six years for Keravnos and became the first American to get the Cypriot citizenship and play in the Cyprus NT). • Christos Stylianides (played for six years for the club and he is now the current Head Coach of the club). The best ever Cypriot play maker. • George Anastasiadis (ex captain - played for nine years winning 5 titles) • Dragan Raca (played for six years with Keravnos jersey in the most astonishing European tour of the history of the club).

European campaigns

With several top trophies to be proud of, the Men’s team has a formidable presence in European competitions and has competed for 18 consecutive years in European Championships from 1995 to 2013. The first time KERAVNOS B.C. took part in European competitions was in 1982, against ZADAR of Croatia, however they had to wait until 1997 – 1998 when the Team reached the Second Round of a European Cup, passing the group stages after eliminating teams like Zelesnik of Belgrade and the Greek powerhouse Panionios. In the Second Round they achieved one of their greatest victories in the history of Cypriot Basketball after defeating Zalgiris Kaunas 61-57 in Nicosia. In the second leg they lost at Kaunas and were eliminated from the competition. Zalgiris Kaunas progressed to win the European Cup that year (1998) as well as the European Championship the following year (1999), known as Euroleague. KERAVNOS also advanced to the second round of the European Korac Cup during the following season 1998-1999. 2001 was a great year for KERAVNOS. The team won the Championship for a second consecutive time and also recorded the greatest success that had ever been achieved by any Cypriot sports team, in Pan-European competitions by qualifying for the quarter finals of the European Saporta Cup. They defeated the Bosnian Team Borac Nektar (Banja Luka), before they were eliminated by Pamesa Valencia. During this campaign the team had unbelievable success defeating Red star of Belgrade and Paris Basket of Tony Parker among others. In 2004, the team qualified to the Final Four of South Conference of FIBA Europe Cup Challenge, where the team finished fourth in the competition. They qualified to the final four again the following year (2005) and this time they finished in third position. In 2007, KERAVNOS again recorded a new Club and National success story. The Team qualified for the final of the EuroCup Challenge after beating in the semi finals BC Dnipro twice in Cyprus and Ukraine. The significance of this is that KERAVNOS is still the only Cypriot Club (from any sport) ever to reach a major European Final (AEL was the first but in a regional final). At the Euro Cup Challenge Final, KERAVNOS faced the Russian Club from Samara defeating them by 85-83 at home but the score was not enough to give the team the trophy after losing in Samara 101-81 away.

Hall of fame players

One of the best foreign players that starred at Keravnos was the American player Ira Newble who played during the play-offs 1999-2000 and won the championship with amazing games in Cyprus. The American super star joined the magic world of NBA for 8 years, winning an NBA title with the LA Lakers. Some other American players who left their footprint in the history of Keravnos and Cyprus Basketball are: • Fred Sheppard and Eddie Collins (1988–89), who were the first Americans to win the first double for the club history, • Lance Blanks (1996–97) and George Ackles (1996-98). The amazing duet who won the second double of the club history. • Rodney Monroe (1997–98), the cold blooded scoring machine who helped Keravnos to reach the second round of the European Cup against Zalgiris Kaunas of Coach Kazlauskas. • Ira Newble and Ed Stokes (1999-00) winners of the Keravnos 3rd championship. • Rowan Barrett 2000-01 (the captain of the Canadian NT) who helped the team to win the double, and reach the top 8 teams of the European Cup Winners ( Saporta) Cup. • George Banks (2003-04 / 2005-06). The amazing power forward, the MVP of the unforgettable Cup Final against Ael in 2006, scoring all of his first seven 3-point shots (8-11 overall) leading the team to win by one point. • Dan Cross (2004–05) the fearless combo guard, Cup winner in 2005 vs Apoel. • Patric Lee and Bernard King (2006–08) the unforgettable guards who had the leading role at the journey to the Final of the EuroCup Challenge against Samara. Guy Pnini (2008–09) the Israeli Captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv and the winner of 2014 Euroleaque. Some other notable foreign players of Keravnos, among others: Lowell Hamilton (1994–95), Scottie Thurman (1998-99), Borgo Radovic (2004-2005), Davor Pejcinovic (2005-2006), Alexander Koul (2006-2007), Bryant Smith (2007-2010), Carmelo Lee Anthony ( 2009-2010), Lonnie Cooper (2009-2010), Tony Crocker (2012-2013).

Roster

Keravnos B.C. Roster 2015-16
Players Coaches
Pos. Νο. Nat. Name Ht. Age
G 4 United States Barker, Kenny 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 30 – (1986-06-11)11 June 1986
G/F 6 Cyprus Pilavas, Andreas (C) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 33 – (1983-09-01)1 September 1983
G 9 Cyprus Neophytou, Georgios 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 32 – (1983-12-18)18 December 1983
C 11 Serbia Tomić, Branislav 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 36 – (1980-10-03)3 October 1980
F 12 United States Smotrycz, Evan 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 25 – (1991-08-02)2 August 1991
PG 13 Cyprus Michael, Simon 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 24 – (1992-09-19)19 September 1992
PF 14 Cyprus Theocharides, Georgios 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 31 – (1985-06-04)4 June 1985
SF 15 Cyprus Stylianou, Nikolaos 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 28 – (1988-11-09)9 November 1988
G 20 Cyprus Markou, Panagiotis 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 20 – (1996-02-01)1 February 1996
PF 21 United States O'Brien, Jake 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 27 – (1989-06-03)3 June 1989
F/C 45 Cyprus Georgiou, Alexis 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 20 – (1996-11-15)15 November 1996
Head coach
  • Cyprus Christoforos Livadiotes
Assistant coaches
  • Cyprus Michael Matsentides
  • Cyprus Alexis Zachariou
Legend
  • (C) Team captain

Notable former players

Honours

Women's team

The Women's basketball division was established in 1987 and participates in the Cyprus Basketball Federation competitions ever since. The Women's basketball team competes in the Basketball League - First division, where it has enjoyed considerable success and has also represented Cyprus in European competitions. In 1992, the team qualified to the Cyprus Cup Final for first time but lost by two points to Olympiada. The women won their first Championship in 1994, and then went on to win the championshio for three consecutive years. From season 1998/99 and up until 2005, they dominated the Cypriot basketball winning the double and the Super Cup every year, apart from the Championship in 2003 which was won by AEL.

Titles (23)

Basketball academies

Since 1988, the club is focused nearly 100% in basketball and Keravnos Basketball Academies are considered as being the most dynamic and the most professional all over the island. Currently the Academy has over 300 members. Head of the Academy is Mr. George Vlassopoulos, the ex -coach of Greek National Teams U18 and U19, winners (2008) of the European Championship and runners up (2009) of the World Championship respectively.

Football history

Main article: Keravnos Strovolou FC

The Men’s football division was originally formed in 1926. The team has had its ups and downs over the years, where it mostly featured in the second and third divisions. In 1979 the Team advanced to the first division and remained there until 1982. In 1988-89 the football team advanced briefly to the first division again for one season but dropped back immediately. In 1991, the Club decided to suspend the football division indefinitely and to focus its efforts on developing the Basketball Teams.

Honours

References

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