Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Costa Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna.
The club was founded in 1927, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one of the oldest in Europe. Virtus is the second most titled basketball club in Italy after Olimpia Milano, having won 17 Italian national championships, 8 Italian National Cups and 4 Italian Supercups. Moreover, it is one of the most successful teams in European competitions, having won two EuroLeagues, one EuroCup, one FIBA Saporta Cup, one EuroChallenge and one Basketball Champions League. It currently plays in the Italian first division LBA as well as in the EuroLeague. The club is owned by the coffee entrepreneur Massimo Zanetti.
Some of the club's star players over the years have included: Gianni Bertolotti, Tom McMillen, Carlo Caglieris, Renato Villalta, Marco Bonamico, Jim McMillian, Krešimir Ćosić, Roberto Brunamonti, Augusto Binelli, Micheal Ray Richardson, Predrag Danilović, Cliff Levingston, Arijan Komazec, Zoran Savić, Alessandro Abbio, Radoslav Nesterović, Antoine Rigaudeau, Alessandro Frosini, Hugo Sconochini, Marko Jarić, Manu Ginóbili, Rashard Griffith, Matjaž Smodiš, David Andersen, Travis Best, Keith Langford, Miloš Teodosić, Marco Belinelli, Daniel Hackett and Tornike Shengelia. While some of the club's greatest coaches have been: Vittorio Tracuzzi, Dan Peterson, Terry Driscoll, Alberto Bucci, Ettore Messina, Aleksandar Đorđević, Sergio Scariolo and Duško Ivanović.
History 1927–1956: Beginnings and post-war dynasty Virtus was founded in 1871 as a gymnastics club, forming its first professional basketball team in 1927 — considered the first reunion of members and players — as part of a multi sports club. The club's motto was Forte Franco Fermo Fiero ("Strong Frank Firm Proud") and was inserted in the logo under the Black V, with a cross made by four F;Virtus – Società Educazione Fisica, Storia e Memoria di Bologna the motto is still used by Virtus today.Il mito della "V Nera", Società di Educazione Fisica Virtus The team's home court was the former church of Santa Lucia in the city center, which could host a few hundred people.Santa Lucia, Virtuspedia
The first official championship of Virtus dates back to 1929. From 1929 to 1934, Virtus played in the first and second divisions within Emilia region. In 1934, the Bolognese team won the division tournament, obtaining the promotion in the top tournament after a hard-fought group of playoffs against Unione Sportiva of Milan and Ginnastica Rome. Team's captain was Venzo Vannini, while other important players were Giuseppe Palmieri and Giancarlo Marinelli. After the promotion, Virtus settled permanently at the top of the national basketball league, and achieved a long series of honorable placings: in the nine championships disputed from 1935 to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Black V collected 6-second places, 2 third places, and a sixth place, however Virtus never achieved to win a national title.
From 1943 to 1945, the championship was suspended due to the outbreak of the war in the country and the beginning of the civil war. At the end of the world war, Santa Lucia was no longer available for basketball games and after a brief period of outdoor matches on a field in Via del Ravone, the team moved to Sala Borsa, the city's stock exchange, readjusted in the evening for basketball matches. This unusual venue became the hallmark of a new Italian basketball season, compared to the worldwide famous Boston Garden.Primo scudetto della Virtus pallacanestro, Biblioteca Salaborsa In July 1945, Virtus, led by Achille Canna, Luigi Rapini and Antonio Calebotta, won its first national Serie A title, defeating 35–31 Reyer Venezia in the final.Virtus, secondo conflitto mondiale e dopoguerra , BasketCity
In the following season, Renzo Poluzzi became the new head coach and led Virtus to its second championship.Renzo Poluzzi, Virtuspedia Under Poluzzi, Virtus won the title again in 1948 and 1949, achieving the so-called "four-peat".Almanacco illustrato del basket '90. Modena, Panini, 1989 In 1949–50 season, the Black V arrived second after Olimpia Milano; during these years, the long-time rivalry with Olimpia, known as "derby of Italy", began.Storia e rivalità del derby d'Italia, domani a Bologna con diretta Rai 2, Baskettissimo Olimpia won the title for the next four years too, while the Black V placed second in 1952 and 1953. In 1954, Vittorio Tracuzzi was appointed new head coach; Tracuzzi was a Virtus player too, acting as a "player-coach". At the end of the season, Tracuzzi led Virtus to its fifth national title. The team doubled the next season, achieving a so-called "back-to-back". During the 1950s the first derbies were played against Gira and Moto Morini, the other two teams of Bologna.Il Gira seconda squadra bolognese di pallacanestro in serie A, Biblioteca Salaborsa
Due to the increasing fame of Virtus, the Sala Borsa was no longer suitable for hosting games; so in 1956, the long-time Mayor of Bologna, Giuseppe Dozza, inaugurated a new arena, which was simply known as "Sports Hall" and had a seating capacity of more than 7,000 people. The arena was later nicknamed Il Madison, after New York's Madison Square Garden and, in 1966, after Dozza's retirement from politics, it was renamed "PalaDozza". From 1956 to 1960, Virtus placed second, always behind its arch-rival Olimpia Milan. At the end of the 1959–60 season, Tracuzzi left Virtus after having won two championships in five seasons, with a winning record of 108–22, being widely considered one of Black V's greatest coaches of all time.Tutta la genialità di Tracuzzi in una monografia
1960–1968: Post-dynasty struggles In 1960, the Spanish coach, Eduardo Kucharski, succeeded Tracuzzi at the head of the team.Eduardo Kucharski, Virtuspedia Virtus, led by its best player Gianfranco Lombardi, took part in its first European Champions Cup, but it was ousted by CCA Bucarest in the second round. At the end of the Italian regular season, the Black V placed second again, behind Ignis Varese.Virtus pallacanestro Bologna – Stagione 1960/1961, Virtuspedia
In 1962 and 1963 Virtus arrived third and Kucharski was sacked, while Mario Alesini, a former Virtus player, became the new head coach.Mario Alesini, Virtuspedia However, in the next three seasons, Alesini did not reach to bring back the title to Bologna. In 1966, Jaroslav Šíp was hired as new head coach, but Virtus never became a real contender for the championship, with Olimpia and Ignis which alternatively won the title until 1968.Una notte per parlare di Simmenthal e Ignis, Olimpia Milano
1968–1991: The Porelli era
The 1960s had been an unfortunate decade for Virtus. The turning point occurred in 1968, when the lawyer Gianluigi Porelli was appointed by the then president of the multi-sport club, Giovanni Elkan, at the head of the basketball section.Addio a Porelli, anima della Virtus, Corriere di Bologna Alternately nicknamed "Torquemada" or "Robespierre" for his quick and often dictatorial methods, or, more frequently, L'Avvocato ("The Lawyer"), Porelli has been one of the most prominent figures in the history of Virtus which, through initiatives often unpopular but almost always winning, definitively carried towards professionalism.Quella volta che l'Avvocato..., la Repubblia di Bologna
1968–1973: Rebuilding As soon as he arrived, at only 38 years old, Porelli sacked coach Šíp and appointed Renzo Ranuzzi, a former player. However, Ranuzzi lasted one year only, due to the poor result of the team, which ended the season at the 10th place. After another poor result in the 1969–70 season under coach Nello Paratore, in 1970, Porelli hired Black V's legendary coach Vittorio Tracuzzi and sold the best player of the time, Gianfranco Lombardi, unleashing a popular uprising that even ended up in court. Despite Tracuzzi's comeback, the team placed 10th once again.Almanacco illustrato del basket '90 Modena, Panini, 1989 In 1970, thanks to Porelli, Virtus was also one of the main proponents and founders of the Lega Basket, the governing body of the top-tier level professional Italian basketball league.Euroleague mourns ULEB founder Gianluigi Porelli.
In the same year, Virtus broke away from the multi sports club, becoming a joint-stock company. Thanks to this choice, which was highly criticised at the time, Porelli definitively healed the club's finances. In 1971, Porelli hired the American player John Fultz who, supported by important Italian players like Gianni Bertolotti and Luigi Serafini, succeeded in placing the team 5th in the national championship, the best result since 1967–68. In the following season, the team, composed by the same players and coached by Nico Messina, arrived 6th.Classifiche dal 1971 al 1975
1973–1978: Peterson's revolution In 1973, Porelli opened a new season of triumphs, thanks to a partnership with Sinudyne, a famous Italian domestic appliances company, and especially with the engagement of the young American coach Dan Peterson, coming from the Chile's national basketball team.Dan Peterson, Virtuspedia Virtus immediately won its first Italian Cup in 1973–74 season, which was club's first title since 1955–56.La Virtus Sinudyne vince il campionato di basket, Biblioteca SalaBorsa
In the following season, Virtus signed Tom McMillen, a 22-years-old player from Maryland University, who was selected with the 9th overall pick by the Buffalo Braves during the 1974 NBA draft. He signed with the Braves but postponed his entry into the NBA to attend the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. McMillen lived and studied in the UK, but he moved to Bologna during the weekends to play basketball. At the end of the season, characterized by outstanding performances by McMillen, the team placed 4th in the national championship and was eliminated at the quarterfinals of the European Cup Winners' Cup.Centomila canestri – Storia statistica della Virtus Pallacanestro, Renato Lemmi Gigli, La Fotocromo Italiana, 1988
In 1975, McMillen started his career in the NBA, so Porelli and Peterson signed Terry Driscoll, a former NBA player and 4th overall pick in 1969 draft.Fairbank, Dave. "Driscoll's Tribe," Daily Press (Newport News, VA), Sunday, 23 February 2003. Retrieved 27 April 2020 Thanks to Driscoll's leadership and the fundamental support of Italian players like Carlo Caglieris, Gianni Bertolotti, Marco Bonamico and Luigi Serafini, Virtus won its seventh national championship, the first one after twenty years.Virtus 1975–1976: dopo vent'anni, lo scudetto , BasketCityLegaBasket, statistiche squadra , www.legabasket.it
In 1976–77, Virtus ended first in the regular season, however it lost the championship finals against Varese, by 2–0. In the following season, the Black V succeeded in reaching the national finals, but nonetheless it lost 2–1 against Varese again.Classifiche dal 1975 al 1980 The team also reached the final of the Cup Winner's Cup, but lost 84–82 against Gabetti Cantù.
In 1978, after two consecutive second places, coach Peterson left the Black V to sign with its historic rival, Olimpia Milan. This move was heavily criticised by Black V's fans, but it was approved by Porelli himself.Olimpia–Virtus: il derby d'Italia , Olimpia Milano However, despite the controversies which rose around his farewell, Peterson's legacy was huge: the American coach deeply changed the team's organization and contributed in bringing back Virtus to the top of Italian basketball after twenty years of struggles.Le pillole quotidiane di coach Peterson: il rapporto con Gigi Porelli ai tempi della Virtus Bologna, Super Basket
1978–1980: Driscoll's back-to-back