Serie A2 (basketball)
Professional men's basketball league in Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with promotion/relegation occurring between these leagues.
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| Organising body | Lega Nazionale Pallacanestro (LNP) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1974 |
| First season | 1974–75 |
| Country | Italy |
| Confederation | FIBA Europe |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | LBA |
| Relegation to | Serie B |
| Domestic cup | Coppa Italia LNP |
| Supercup | Supercoppa LNP |
| Most championships | 18 teams (1 title each) |
| TV partners | LNP |
| Website | legapallacanestro.com |
It is run by the Lega Nazionale Pallacanestro (LNP), itself regulated by the FIP, the Italian federation.
Names
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History
The league was created in May 1974, by the Lega Basket, the organisation in charge of running the LBA (to this day), that decided to create a new second division with 10 clubs. The two that were relegated during that season, and 8 from the now-former second tier Serie B, chosen with an on and off the court criteria.
The 1975–76 season saw 12 clubs take part, after a complicated system had seen a transfer of clubs from the Serie A1 to the A2.[1]
In June 2001, the LegaDue was created to replace the Serie A2. Lega Basket now took part in running the league, though a system of promotion and relegation between the leagues remained.[2]
During the 2013 summer, another revamp was decided. The LegaDue was amalgamated with the third division DNA, to form a two-tiered league, the DNA (Divisione Nazionale A) Gold and DNA Silver. The two DNA's had separate season's, but the first ranked team in DNA Silver joined the seven best Gold teams to compete for the single promotion spot in the Serie A. The next best eight Silver squads fought for one spot in the next Gold season, whilst the three worst teams were relegated.[3]
The next season saw the league retake its Serie A2 moniker, keeping a similar but tweaked hybrid model, with the eight best Gold and the four best Silver teams taking part in the promotion playoffs (still for the one spot), whilst the last two Gold and the penultimate and ante-penultimate Silver squads play a relegation play out (the last ranked Silver team was relegated outright).[4]
Competition format
For the 2015–16 season, the Serie A2 Basket is composed of 32 teams with a regional subdivision in two equal groups of sixteen, East and West.
Each team plays the others in its subgroup twice, the first ranked team of each group then plays the eighth ranked team of the other group (e.g. East #1 against West #8), then the second best against the seventh, and so on, to form a promotion playoffs (for one place) of sixteen teams.[5]
Since the 2018–19 season the Playoffs winner is the third promoted team to LBA. The two other promoted clubs, which are also the top seeded on the League Table at the end of the Regular Season, have to face a final of two matches to decide the winner of the Serie A2.[6]
Since the 2019–20 season the Playoffs winners (2 tournaments) are promoted to LBA.
Current clubs (2024–2025)
| Team | City |
|---|---|
| Avellino Basket | Avellino |
| Fortitudo Bologna | Bologna |
| New Basket Brindisi | Brindisi |
| Pallacanestro Cantù | Cantù |
| Benedetto XIV Cento | Cento |
| UEB Cividale | Cividale del Friuli |
| Juvi Cremona 1952 | Cremona |
| Pallacanestro Forlì | Forlì |
| Libertas Livorno | Livorno |
| Urania Milano | Milan |
| Nardò Basket | Nardò |
| OrziBasket | Orzinuovi |
| Victoria Libertas Pesaro | Pesaro |
| Unione Cestistica Casalpusterlengo | Piacenza |
| Real Sebastiani Rieti | Rieti |
| Rinascita Basket Rimini | Rimini |
| Basket Torino | Turin |
| APU Udine | Udine |
| Scaligera Basket Verona | Verona |
| Nuova Pallacanestro Vigevano 1955 | Vigevano |
League champions
| Season | Champions | Other promoted team |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Pastificio di Nola Napoli | – |
| 2002–03 | Sanic Teramo | Pallacanestro Messina |
| 2003–04 | Bipop Reggio Emilia | Sicc Cucine Jesi |
| 2004–05 | Upea Capo d'Orlando | Caffè Maxim Bologna |
| 2005–06 | Eurorida Scafati | Premiata Montegranaro |
| 2006–07 | Sebastiani Rieti | Scavolini Pesaro |
| 2007–08 | Carife Ferrara | Pepsi Caserta |
| 2008–09 | Pallacanestro Varese | Vanoli Soresina |
| 2009–10 | Enel Brindisi | Dinamo Sassari |
| 2010–11 | A.S. Junior Pallacanestro Casale | Reyer Venezia |
| 2011–12 | Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia | Enel Brindisi |
| 2012–13 | Pistoia Basket 2000 | – |
| 2013–14 | Aquila Basket Trento | – |
| 2014–15 | Manital Torino | – |
| 2015–16 | Centrale del Latte Brescia | – |
| 2016–17 | Segafredo Virtus Bologna | – |
| 2017–18 | Alma Pallacanestro Trieste | – |
| 2018–19 | Lavoropiù Fortitudo Bologna | Virtus Roma & Treviso |
| 2019–20 | Not assigned[a] | – |
| 2020–21 | GeVi Napoli & Bertram Tortona | – |
| 2021–22 | Scaligera Verona | – |
| 2022–23 | Vanoli Basket | Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia |
| 2023–24 | Pallacanestro Trieste & Trapani Shark | – |
| 2024–25 | APU Udine | Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù |
MVP
| Season | MVP | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 |  Omar Thomas | New Basket Brindisi |
| 2010–11 | Ricky Hickman | Junior Casale |
| 2011–12 | Dwight Hardy | Pistoia Basket |
| 2012–13 | Casper Ware | Junior Casale |
| 2013–14 |  Davide Pascolo | Aquila Basket Trento |
| 2014–15[7] | Darryl Monroe | Tezenis Verona |
| 2015–16[8] | Damian Hollis | Centrale del Latte Brescia |
Best Coach
| Season | Coach | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Fabrizio Frates | Pallacanestro Reggiana |
| 2004–05 | Giovanni Perdichizzi | Orlandina Basket |
| 2005–06 | Luca Dalmonte | Basket Club Ferrara |
| 2006–07 | Giampiero Ticchi | Basket Rimini Crabs |
| 2007–08 | Sandro Dell'Agnello | Basket Livorno |
| 2008-09 | Andrea Trinchieri | Veroli Basket |
| 2009–10 | Luigi Garelli | Nuova Pallacanestro Vigevano |
| 2010–11 | Giulio Griccioli | Scafati Basket |
| 2011–12 | Massimiliano Menetti | Pallacanestro Reggiana |
| 2012–13 | Alberto Martelossi | Basket Brescia Leonessa |
| 2013–14 | Maurizio Buscaglia | Aquila Basket Trento |
| 2014–15[7] | Alessandro Ramagli | Scaligera Basket Verona |
| 2015–16[9] | Eugenio Dalmasson | Trieste |
| 2019–20 | NOT ASSIGNED | |
| 2020–21 | Alessandro Ramagli | Scaligera Basket Verona |
Topscorers
By scoring average
Regular season, play-offs not included.
Distinctions
These players have played in the Serie A2.
FIBA Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
See also
Notes
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic