S.S. Felice Scandone


S.S. Felice Scandone is an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A, the first tier of basketball in Italy. The club won one trophy in its existence, as it won the Italian Cup championship in 2008.
Currently, the team plays in the Serie B, Italy's third tier league.

History

The club was founded in 1948 as Felice Scandone Sports Society, merging with Libertas Avellino two years later and CSI-Cestistica Irpina in 1968. After going between leagues from 1974 to 1995, the club settled in Serie B1. Two seasons later, coach Gianluca Tucci guided the team to the second division Serie A2. The turn of the millennium saw the side reach the first division Serie A, placing ninth in 2001 at the end of their debut season.
The next seasons were more complicated, with finishes of 14, 15, 16 and 12th place. When coach Zare Markovski, who had been coaching the side since 2002, left in 2005, the club ended the season in 17th place and should have been relegated if not for promoted Roseto's inability to play in the Serie A. Matteo Boniciolli took over coaching duties following that season and kept Avellino away from the relegation places.
The 2007–08 season saw Boniciolli lead Avellino to their best ever league finish of tied second-best with a 23–11 record and a league MVP title for Marques Green, their playoffs run was cut short in the semifinals by Lottomatica Roma after they had swept Capo d'Orlando in the quarterfinals. Even better for the side, players such as Green, Devin Smith and Eric Williams led Air Avellino to its first ever title ever, the 2008 Italian Cup, in its first participation in the competition, after beating La Fortezza Bologna 73–67 in the final with 18 points from the game MVP Smith.
The 2008–09 season saw Avellino make their European debut, in the elite EuroLeague. The team had a difficult period between 2011 and 2015, missing the playoffs in multiple occasions and changing the head coach almost every season. In 2016, the team led by coach Pino Sacripanti had a run of 20 victories in 26 games and reached the Italian Cup final, losing to Olimpia Milano. Avellino finished the regular season in 3rd place, and eliminated Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia 3–0, reaching the league semifinals against Pallacanestro Reggiana, where the Hirpinian team lost the series in game 7, despite winning Game 4 by a 43 point margin.
In the 2017–18 season, Scandone played its first European final after the team reached the Final of the FIBA Europe Cup. In the all-Italian final it lost to Reyer Venezia.
In the following 2018–19 season, Scandone made its debut in the Basketball Champions League. The team was eliminated after the regular season. In July 2019, the LBA announced Scandone was not able to apply for a league license. The team joined the Serie B Basket, the national third level.

Honours

Domestic competitions

Current roster

Notable players

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as: