KB Peja

KB Peja
Nickname	Verdh e Zinjët (Yellow and Blacks) Shqiponjat(Eagles)
Leagues	Kosovo Superleague BIBL FIBA Europe Cup
Founded	1993
Arena	Karagaç Sports Hall
Capacity	3000
Location	Pejë, Kosovo
Team colors	Yellow and Black
President	Art Gashi
Head coach	Aleksandar Todorov
Team captain	Rron Grapci
Website	kbpeja.com
Uniforms
Home Away

KB Peja is a professional basketball club based in Pejë, Kosovo.^[1][2] The club currently plays in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague, Balkan International Basketball League (BIBL) and in the FIBA Europe Cup

KB Peja is one of the most successful teams in Kosovo. KB Peja won 6 National Championships, 4 Kosovo Basketball cup and 2 times Supercup of Kosovo. In KB Peja have played big names like Acie Earl, Fred House, Ricardo Marsh, Samir Shaptahu, Dardan Berisha etc.

History

The team was officially formed on 13 March 1993 under the ownership of Ilhami Gashi. The club's first manager was Valdet Spahija and the first roster consisted of Valdet Spahija (himself), Riza Gjakova, Ahmet Nimani, Besim Gjuka, Sebajdin Sylejmani, Agim Lluka, Agim Beqiraj and Turhan Zajmi.

The Former name was KB Peja until 2001, when Ekrem Lluka bought the club and renamed it to KB Dukagjini Pejë (Dukagjini is the company named after the region). In 2005 the name changed back to KB Peja.^[3] In 1996-97 season KB Peja played in second division due to some problems with Basketball Federation of Kosovo. Also in 2003-04 didn't complete in any league organized by Basketball Federation of Kosovo.

In the 2016–17 season, Peja would play in a European competitions for the first time, when the team entered the FIBA Europe Cup.^[4]

Honours

• Kosovo Superleague
  • Champions (6): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2013
• Kosovo Cup
  • Champions (4): 1994, 1997, 2011, 2015
• Kosovo SuperCup
  • Champions (2): 1997, 2015

Current roster

KB Peja roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age PG 2 Rundles, Cameron 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 28 – 27 April 1988 PG 25 Burwell, Kevin 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 27 – 25 January 1989 PG 4 Kadusha, Blendi 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 70 kg (154 lb) 20 – 9 February 1996 G 5 Mekaj, Leonard 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 21 – 27 February 1995 G 6 Ahmetbašić, Mirza 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 29 – 29 November 1987 SG 11 Hajdari, Arti 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 74 kg (163 lb) 23 – 12 May 1993 G/F 31 Reed, Lamarcus 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 28 – 31 October 1988 SF 9 Grapci, Rron 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 26 – 22 August 1990 F Kuqi, Egzon 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 19 – 2 August 1997 PF 13 Muric, Mirza 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 19 – 17 November 1997 PF 8 Veseli, Alban 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 26 – 10 January 1990 F/C Dahlman, Noah 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 27 – 4 April 1989 C Ivshyn, Maksym 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 30 – 10 February 1986 C Nuhanovic, Salih 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 34 – 24 November 1982	Head coach Aleksandar Todorov Assistant coach(es) Bujar Loci Legend (C) Team captain Injured

Depth Chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Salih Nuhanović	Maksym Ivshyn
PF	Noah Dahlman	Mirza Murić	Alban Veseli
SF	Lamarcus Reed	Egzon Kuqi	Rron Grapci
SG	Mirza Ahmetbašić	Leonard Mekaj
PG	Kevin Burwell	Blendi Kadusha

Notable former players

Valdet Grapci Samir Shaptahu Edis Kuraja Dardan Berisha Valdet Spahija Ersid Ljuca Gerti Shima Jozo Brkić Hrvoje Puljko Teo Simović Goran Kalamiža Jan Močnik Dragan Pusic

Nedžad Spahić Mirza Ahmetbašić Adnan Bajramović Carlos Morban Harouna Mutombo George Odufuwa Acie Earl Fred House Mario Edwards Cyril Awere Ricardo Marsh Dustin Scott Nic Wise

Mario Austin Janou Rubin Anthony Knox Theo Little

.

Coaching history

Valdet Spahija 2006/07 Robert Matijević 2007 - 2011 Bujar Loci 2011/12 Ivica Marić 2012/13 Rudolf Jugo 2013/14 Danijel Lutz 2013/14 Boban Savović 2014/15 Borislav Kurtović 2015–present Branimir Pavić

References