KK Budućnost (; ), currently known as Budućnost VOLI () for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Podgorica, Montenegro. It is a part of the Budućnost Sports Society. The club competes in the Prva A Liga and the ABA League, and is one of the most successful teams in Montenegro with 21 league titles. Budućnost is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association.
History
1949–1979: Formation and early years The club was founded in 1949 when Budućnost sports society decided to form the men's basketball club. Budućnost participated in its first competition in early June 1949, at the third Montenegrin Championship. The Championships took place in Cetinje, and in addition to Budućnost, three other teams from Montenegro participated. The first success came two years later – in 1951, when Budućnost took the first place in the First Championships of the Cities, which was held in Herceg-Novi.
In 1957, a new outdoor basketball court was constructed in the City Park, on the Morača river's left bank.
Budućnost became champion of Montenegro for the first time in 1958. The championship was played in three zones, and many more teams took part this time. All credit for this achievement goes to: Martinović, Pavlović, Vujović, Đukić, Golubović, Lekić, Belada, Đurišić, Tamindžić and Vukčević. Because of this result, Buducnost got the chance to play in the qualifications for the First League. The qualifications did not take place, because of the decision of Yugoslav Basketball Federation that the team of Zastava from Kragujevac should play in the First League, without any matches being played.
In the 1959–60 season, Budućnost became the Montenegrin basketball champion for the second time. The Qualifications for the First League were played in Podgorica, and the teams of Dinamo Pančevo and Rabotnički Skoplje took part. Dinamo Pančevo eventually qualified for the First League.
Budućnost dominated the Montenegrin basketball scene in 1961. Because of the financial problems, the championships were reduced to a tournament played in Podgorica, and the home team easily won all of its matches.
Budućnost had to wait until 1969 for more success. That year the team won two trophies. In the Republic League, Budućnost won the first place and again became the Montenegrin basketball champion. Budućnost played the qualifications for the Second League group East once more, but in the very strong competition from clubs from Serbia and Macedonia they failed to qualify. The team also won the Championships of the Cities, for the third time in its history.
The year 1970 was the turning point for Montenegrin basketball. The championships were played in the united league for the first time in history, without any zones. Budućnost became the Montenegrin basketball champion. The club managed to repeat the same success in the next year and became the Montenegrin basketball champion for the second time in a row (sixth overall). In the same year, the team finally managed to qualify for the Second League. Qualifications were held in Podgorica. Unfortunately, Budućnost managed to play for only one year in the Second League (1971–72).
In the 1973 Montenegrin champion was determined in a tie-breaker between Budućnost and Jedinstvo from Bijelo Polje, because both teams had the same number of points at the end of the season. The Game was played on the neutral court, and Budućnost proved that it still was the best. Both clubs took part in the qualifications for the Second League, but neither managed to qualify. The tournament was played in Skopje. Next year Budućnost had only one loss in the Montenegrin League and became the Montenegrin basketball champion once again. In the same year, the tournament of the Republics took place. The Budućnost players who played for Montenegro national basketball team were: Blažević, Begović, Pavićević, and Popović. The team managed to qualify for the Second League group South this year.
Because there was no suitable basketball arena in Titograd, Budućnost was forced to play its games in the Second League (season 1974–75) outside its hometown. Budućnost was by far the best team in group South – it had 11 wins and only 3 losses. That year the fusion of the clubs Akademik and Budućnost took place, so the team now had the best players from Akademik. The team roster for this year was: Begović, Brajović, Blažević, Šćepanović, Latković, Đurašković, I. Popović, M. Popović, Vukićević, Leković, Šarkić, Pavićević, Kazić and Martinović, and the head coach was Petar Blažević. The team achieved its first bigger success in Yugoslav Cup, qualifying for the Last 16 stage.
In the 1975–76 season, the Second League was once again dominated by Budućnost. At the end of the regular season Budućnost was tied with the team of Budućnost Peć, with 13 wins and 5 losses. In the tie-breaker that took place in Belgrade, the team from Podgorica was much better and won. The new players this season were Garić and Begović.
Next year the team was tied for the first place with the team of Kumanovo, but this Budućnost lost in the deciding tie-breaker. In the season of 1977–78 Budućnost qualified for the quarter-finals of the Yugoslav Cup, where it was beaten by Bosna. In the same year the team won the Montenegrin Cup.
1979–1986: Yugoslav First League promotion and successes The 1979–80 season is very significant in club's history. Budućnost took the first place in the Second League and automatically qualified for the Yugoslav First Federal League. The players were: Nikola Antić, Dragan Ivanović, Duško Ivanović, Vukićević, Sutulović, Vukosavljević, Petrović, Borislav Đurović, Bojanić, Garić, Slavenko Rakočević, Nesević and Dragović. The team was coached by Rusmir Halilović. As hosts, the team had to play its games in Danilovgrad.
Budućnost's promotion to the First League brought a resurgence of popularity for the game of basketball in Titograd in the summer of 1980. The First League had a representative from Montenegro again after 15 years. Shortly before the debut in the First League, Morača Sports Center was opened and the team played all of its official matches there.
In its First League debut season, the team achieved a significant success finishing eight with a 9–13 record. Team roster for this year was: Dragan and Duško Ivanović, Nikola Antić, Žarko Knežević, Kovačević, Slavenko Rakočević, Goran and Milorad Bojanić, Borislav Đurović, Petrović, Milatović. The coaches were Čedomir Đurašković, with assistants Vukićević, Garić.
In the 1984–85 season, the team managed to qualify for the play-off quarter-finals after beating Jugoplastika Split in three games. In the quarter-finals the team met with Crvena zvezda, who won twice in Belgrade, while Budućnost triumphed in Titograd.
Over its five top-tier seasons Budućnost fought hard to remain a First League participant, finding itself several times in relegation danger, but managing to overcome it. The big breakthrough would unexpectedly come in the 1985-86 season, its sixth in the top flight, although in the summer 1985 off-season it looked like Buducnost was in for another season of desperate struggle to stay up. Head coach Vlade Đurović left, taking an offer from KK Zadar and the player situation wasn't much better – club mainstays 26-year-old Goran Bojanić, 24-year-old Žarko Đurišić, and veteran Goran Rakočević left while even talented youth players joined the exodus as 18-year-old Zdravko Radulović transferred to KK Bosna, 21-year-old Saša Radunović took an offer from Wichita State University, and 17-year-old Luka Pavićević did the same with University of Utah.
Still despite all hardship, the incoming young head coach Milutin Petrović with a roster consisting of the Ivanović brothers, Nikola Antić, supreme young talent Žarko Paspalj, Milatović, Jadran Vujačić and Veselin Šćepanović, managed to lead the team to a 13–9 record and 3rd place in the league thus qualifying for the next season's Korać Cup, the club's first ever participation in the European competition.
1986–1998: European debut and domestic permanence
In its European debut Budućnost had three wins and five losses, overall. It began the competition in the first round, played over two legs, against Karşıyaka S.K., winning both games and qualifying for the round robin group where it got drawn with JuveCaserta, Estudiantes, and Challans. Out of six round robin games, Budućnost managed only a single win, which meant elimination from the Korać Cup.
Following a few years of historic success for the club, Budućnost got relegated at the end of the 1987–88 season finishing dead last with a 6–16 record. However, the very next year Budućnost was promoted and never lost its place in the First League again.
In the 1995–96 season, Budućnost won the Yugoslav Cup for the first time. In the final tournament, held in Nikšić, Budućnost defeated BFC Beočin and Partizan. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Tomović, Đaletić, Mudreša, P. Popović, A. Ivanović, Đikanović, Darko Ivanović, Simović, Vukčević and Mugoša. Head coach was Živko Brajović.
The Yugoslav Cup was won for the second time in the 1997–98 season, also in Nikšić. In the final tournament Budućnost was better than Partizan and Beobanka. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Krivokapić, Vukčević, Ostojić, A. Ivanović, M. Ivanović, Ćeranić, S. Peković, Radunović and Dragutinović. The team was coached by Goran Bojanić.
1998–2003: Prominent years After wins in the Yugoslav Cup, Budućnost won three successive YUBA League championship titles. The first came in the 1998–99 season, in which the club had significant success in European competition. Budućnost qualified for the Saporta Cup semifinals, though lost to Benetton Treviso. Roster: Vlado Šćepanović, Gavrilo Pajović, Goran Bošković, Dejan Radonjić, Đuro Ostojić, Blagota Sekulić, Dragan Vukčević, Saša Radunović, Dragan Ćeranić, Nikola Bulatović, Balša Radunović and Željko Topalović. The team was coached by Miroslav Nikolić.
Budućnost won its second straight title without a loss (both in the regular season and in the play-offs) – a total of 27 wins. In the 1999–2000 season, Budućnost participated in the Euroleague for the first time. Due to the UN sanctions on FR Yugoslavia, Budućnost had to play its home game away from Podgorica (in Sarajevo and Budapest), but still managed to qualify for the Last 16 stage, where they lost to future champion Panathinaikos 2–1 after taking a great fight to the champion. Roster: Šćepanović, Pajović, Haris Brkić, Radonjić, Sekulić, Vukčević, Radunović, Vladimir Kuzmanović, Bulatović, Dejan Tomašević and Milenko Topić. The head coach was Miroslav Nikolić.
Budućnost won its first "double" in the 2000–01 season. The Final 8 tournament of the Yugoslav Cup was held in Vršac. In the quarterfinals Budućnost defeated Hemofarm, in the semifinals it defeated Lovćen, and in the finals, Budućnost outplayed Partizan, whom Budućnost also played and beaten in the play-off finals. In the modern Euroleague the team qualified for the Top 16 stage, losing to Real Madrid 0:2. Roster: Bojan Bakić, Brkić (went to Partizan at the half of the season), Saša Obradović, Radonjić, Igor Rakočević, Sekulić, Vukčević, Radunović, Kuzmanović, Dejan Milojević, Tomašević, Topić and Jerome James. Head coach of the team was Bogdan Tanjević (the team was coached by Nikolić for three months in the first half of the season).