Serie A2 (basketball)
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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.
It is run by the Lega Nazionale Pallacanestro (LNP), itself regulated by the FIP, the Italian federation.
Names
| 1974–2001: Serie A2 2001–2013: LegaDue Basket 2013–2014: Divisione Nazionale A Gold Basket 2014–present: Serie A2 |
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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 | – |
| 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
Best Coach
| Season | Coach | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Italy Fabrizio Frates | Pallacanestro Reggiana |
| 2004–05 | Italy Giovanni Perdichizzi | Orlandina Basket |
| 2005–06 | Italy Luca Dalmonte | Basket Club Ferrara |
| 2006–07 | Italy Giampiero Ticchi | Basket Rimini Crabs |
| 2007–08 | Italy Sandro Dell'Agnello | Basket Livorno |
| 2008-09 | Italy Andrea Trinchieri | Veroli Basket |
| 2009–10 | Italy Luigi Garelli | Nuova Pallacanestro Vigevano |
| 2010–11 | Italy Giulio Griccioli | Scafati Basket |
| 2011–12 | Italy Massimiliano Menetti | Pallacanestro Reggiana |
| 2012–13 | Italy Alberto Martelossi | Basket Brescia Leonessa |
| 2013–14 | Italy Maurizio Buscaglia | Aquila Basket Trento |
| 2014–15 | Italy Alessandro Ramagli | Scaligera Basket Verona |
| 2015–16 | Italy Eugenio Dalmasson | Trieste |
| 2019–20 | NOT ASSIGNED | |
| 2020–21 | Italy Alessandro Ramagli | Scaligera Basket Verona |
Topscorers
By scoring average
Regular season, play-offs not included.
Source:
Distinctions
These players have played in the Serie A2.
FIBA Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
- Brazil Oscar Schmidt
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dražen Dalipagić
- United States Bob McAdoo
- United States Alex English
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
See also
Notes
Sources
- playbasket.it
External links
- (in Italian)