BC Prienai (Lithuanian: Krepšinio klubas Prienai) was a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Prienai. They played domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League every year since winning the promotion in 2009. During the 2008–09 season, then called Rūdupis, they became the champion of the NKL and won the challenge match for a slot in the LKL. In their debut LKL season Rūdupis took seventh place, while next two seasons brought BC Prienai two bronze LKL medals. BC Prienai played in EuroCup 2011–12 with moderate success; the team won 3 games out of 6, but nonetheless failed to qualify for the next stage. More recently, the team has become a strong competitor in domestic tournaments, more than once upsetting teams such as Žalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos rytas Vilnius. In December 2017, in a highly publicized move, Vytautas signed American basketball players and brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball.
In July 2023, the club declared bankruptcy and ceased all operations.
Contents
History
1994–2010: Early years
The club was founded in 1994 as KK Prienų Taupomasis Bankas playing in the LKAL and were one of the top teams. They joined the NKL ever since its foundation in 2005. During this time period in the NKL, the team would change names as it seemed every season, Prienai had their ups and downs, such as going from third seed in their group to not making the playoffs next season, but the major victories were yet to come.
During 2008–09 season, then called Rūdupis, the club, for the first time in the club history, became NKL champions downing Meresta Pakruojis in Game 7 of the finals. Because of that, BC Rūdupis got their slot in the Lithuanian Basketball League.
The 2009–10 season was Rūdupis' debut in the LKL. The club took seventh place that season as they lost first round of LKL playoffs to Lithuanian powerhouse Žalgiris Kaunas.
2010–2014: Turning heads
During the 2010–11 season, BC Rūdupis won the LKF Cup Bronze medals and was only one step away from gold or silver medals as they lost a thriller against the legendary Žalgiris Kaunas 73–75, but the surprises from BC Rūdupis in the 2010–11 season were not finished yet, as BC Rūdupis defeated Lithuanian Basketball League champions Lietuvos rytas Vilnius with result 96–82, during a LKL match at their home arena on 29 March 2011. On 15 April 2011, BC Rūdupis signed a contract with Rolandas Alijevas until the end of the season. In the LKL semi finals Rūdupis was not able to eliminate Lithuanian basketball powerhouse Lietuvos rytas Vilnius as they lost both matches (first match: 75–88, second match: 69–96). Rūdupis then played against Juventus in the LKL Bronze final, they won the first game at Prienai with a result of 79–65, then won the second game, this time on the road in Utena with a result 98–73. The third game took place in Prienai where Rūdupis won a thriller 84–83, thus winning the series 3–0 and becoming Lithuanian Basketball League bronze medalists for the first time in the club's history.
In 2011–12 season, the team played in the EuroCup competition, finishing 3rd in the group, though failing to qualify to the playoffs. They repeated as bronze medal winners, this time defeating Šiauliai 3–1.
The 2012–13 season was moderately successful for BC Prienai. The team played in the EuroCup, but again did not move past the group stage. The team also reached the BBL finals, and won the LKF Cup against Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys. Despite home court advantage, Prienai lost to Neptūnas Klaipėda in the bronze medal series.
In the 2013–14 season, Lithuanian businessman Antanas Guoga sponsored the newly renamed BC TonyBet, the team once again won the LKF Cup when they pulled off a double upset, defeating Lietuvos rytas Vilnius in the finals after upsetting Žalgiris Kaunas in the semifinal. Prienai finished second in the LKL regular season, which even included a blowout win against Žalgiris Kaunas 101–83 at home. BC TonyBet made it to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year, this time with a chance to qualify to the LKL finals for the first time ever, but lost the series 0–2 to Neptūnas Klaipėda. In the bronze medal series, the team lost to Lietuvos rytas. Apart from the disappointing finish, it was one of the most successful seasons in club history.
2014–2023: Setbacks, debts and bankruptcy
The 2014–15 season was more of a write-off, as it started a rebuilding phase for the team. The team, having lost their main sponsor, longtime coach and much of the previous season's roster, played poorly. The team barely avoided relegation in the LKL, with a 23-game losing streak plummeting the team to the bottom of the standings. The team played better in the BBL, reaching the playoffs. Because of poor play, the team failed to qualify for the LKF Cup, losing it to Žalgiris Kaunas after their successful previous two seasons.
In the 2015 off-season, BC Prienai announced a sponsorship deal with Birštonas mineral water company, will be changing their name to BC Birštono Vytautas for sponsorship reasons. Having proper sponsorship, the club hopes to return to their competitive ways in the upcoming season. It was later corrected that the name will be BC Vytautas and that the club is going to be shared with the neighboring city of Birštonas, which hopefully would also expand the fanbase. Furthermore, on 29 July 2015, the club was invited to join the 2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup tournament, which is the alternative version of the 2nd tier European tournament EuroCup, organized by FIBA. Although, just before the drawing ceremony, it was announced that 56 teams will participate instead of 64 and Vytautas is not one of these 56. In this off-season BC Vytautas brought back former players Povilas Butkevičius, Vaidas Čepukaitis and Laimonas Kisielius, also resigning Prienai natives Domantas Šeškus, Paulius Ivanauskas and bringing in major reinforcement with Šarūnas Vasiliauskas, Vilmantas Dilys, Vytautas Šulskis, Gytis Sirutavičius. On 16 September 2015, Prienai announced their new logo and color change to blue and white as part of the sponsorship deal, though blue has been a traditional sports team color in the Prienai–Birštonas area.
On 30 December 2015, Prienai native Edvinas Šeškus was cleared to play for Vytautas, joining his father the head coach and his older brother Domantas. Because of injuries ruining the rotation, on 26 February 2016, Vytautas signed Tauras Jogėla. In the BBL playoffs, they lost to Nevėžis Kėdainiai in an upset. Vytautas finished the LKL regular season with a 19–17 record, but lost 2–3 in the quarterfinals to Juventus Utena.
Before the 2016–17 season, the team signed longtime Lithuanian national team player Tomas Delininkaitis. In addition to the LKL, the team also played in the FIBA Europe Cup. They easily finished 1st in the regular season group, defeating Mureș and TLÜ/Kalev Tallinn. In the second round, the team finished second, losing only to Telekom Baskets Bonn. The loss at home, however, cost the team a place in the playoffs. BC Vytautas then entered the BBL playoffs, as one of the potential favorites to win. They easily defeated Pärnu in the first round, before defeating Latvian champions Valmiera in the quarterfinals and Estonian champions Kalev/Cramo Tallinn in the semifinals. In the finals, Vytautas faced LKL rival Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys. After losing the first game at home 85–88, they won the away game 89–74, winning the series 174–162 on aggregate, and winning their first BBL championship. Injuries started hurting the team, and in the quarterfinals Vytautas lost the series 0–3 to Lietkabelis Panevėžys.
Players
In
HC - Head coach
Out
HC - Head coach
Team staff
General Manager - Adomas Kubilius
Team and Communications Manager - Erikas Kirvelaitis [1]
Honours
Domestic competitions
LKAL
3rd place (1): 2003
NKL
Winners (1): 2009
Lithuanian Basketball League
3rd place (2): 2011, 2012
LKF Cup
Winners (2): 2013, 2014
3rd place (1): 2011
Regional competitions
BBL Championship
Winners (1): 2017
Runners-up (2): 2013, 2014
BBL Challenge Cup
Runners-up (1): 2010
Season-by-season
Detailed information of former rosters and results.
Head coaches
Virginijus Šeškus: 2008–2014, 2015–2019
Tadas Stankevičius: 2014–2015
Mantas Šernius: 2019–2021
Marius Leonavičius: 2021–2022
Tomas Gaidamavičius: 2022
Marius Kiltinavičius: 2022–2023
Sponsors
The club is very closely related with the Royal Spa Residence in Birštonas. All of the team members are living there and the season closing events are also taking place there. In January 2018, weeks after Vytautas signed American brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball, their father's sports apparel company Big Baller Brand was named an official team sponsor. The brand was also the sponsor of two exhibition competitions Vytautas took part in early 2018: the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games in January and the Big Baller Brand International Tournament in February.