Romanian clubs are getting more competitive year after year.
Cluj-Napoca made it to the Basketball Champions league regular season in 2021 and reached quarterfinals in their first ride.
Transylvania club reached EuroCup quarterfinals in 2024 to fell at the hands of London Lions in front of 9000 singing fans.
Oradea advanced to the FIBA Europe Cup semifinals in 2021.
Targu Jiu, Targu Mures, Steaua Bucuresti, Sibiu, CSO Voluntari (2021-2022) and SCMU Craiova (2022-2023) have also played at the FIBA Europe Cup qualifiers or regular season.
In 2022, CSO Voluntari became the third team from Romania to enter the Basketball Champions league qualifiers.
CSO Voluntari defeated the Leicester Riders, 70-61, on September 21, 2022, and made it to the second qualifying round.
A year later Voluntari opened their maiden ENBL campaign with a 77-85 loss at Šiauliai.
They are 7-1 since then.
Voluntari defeated Tartu University in the home-and-away series, denying Estonians their second Final Four finish.
Team statistics
CSO Voluntari are first among the Final Four participants in three pointers made – with 9.6 triples per game.
Šiauliai have 9.3 three pointers made, followed by Liège Basket (8.1) and Bakken Bears (7.9).
Bucharest club trails in two pointers made – with 20.9 field goals per game.
Bakken Bears have 26.1 two point field goals, Šiauliai 24.7 and Liège Basket – 23.3 two point field goals made.
Voluntari held Zastal Zielona Gora to 77 points, Newcastle Eagles to 76 points, Tartu to 69 points and Liège Basket – to 68 points, while playing on the home floor.
Ainars Bagatskis team scored less in away games, despite 92 points at Valmiera and 82 points at Keila.
CSO Voluntari have scored 84.9 points on average, trailing to Šiauliai (92.4), Liège Basket (89.6) and Bakken Bears (88.6).
Player statistics
Seven players – Trevon Allen, KeyShawn Feazell, JT Shumate, Alexandru Olah, Lucas Tohatan, Laszlo Polyak and Titus Nicoara – have played in all ENBL games.
Kwamain Mitchell has eight games under his belt.
Trevon Allen is the first in scoring with 16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
KeyShawn Feazell is the best rebounder with 6.9 boards and 14.0 points.
Kwamain Mitchell averages 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals, while Lucas Tohatan has 3.3 assists.
Allen has been very effective from the three point line – 26/62 or 41.9%.
Alaska born guard Rashard Odomes hasn`t played since March 1.
David Vida and Daniel Ionut Voicu represent Voluntari from 2021.
Lucas Tohatan and Robert Dan joined the team in 2022.
Ainars Bagatskis built a new core in summer of 2023, signing new players from Italy (Kodi Justice, Trevon Allen), NCAA (KeyShawn Feazell, JT Shumate), Czechia (Rashard Odomes), Hungary (Laszlo Polyak), Germany (George Christian Cotoara) and local clubs.
History
CSO Voluntari was founded in 2005.
The club has two first league teams and is represented in 14 other sports.
As of 2023, the club has 1200 people in its system.
CSO Voluntari entered the LNBM in 2019.
In March 2021, the club won the Romanian Cup for the first time and reached the LNBM semifinals.
CSO Voluntari won the second Romanian Cup in 2022 and advanced to the LNBM finals to earn a silver medal after a thrilling 1-3 loss against Cluj-Napoca.
Voluntari have shown cohesion and resilience in their way up, earning respect across all competitions.
The club signed former Latvia and Ukraine national team coach Ainars Bagatskis in January 2023.
CSO Voluntari home court is Sala Gabriela Szabo with a 1100 capacity.
Adrian Moldovan is the president of the club.
The club has many partners: Primaria Voluntari, Consiliul Local Voluntari, Netbet, Kotanyi, Pep&Pepper, Euro Tehno Group, EVamar, Metropola TV, Affidea, Heinner, Lemon Retail Park, Apuseana, SIXT, Fundația Metropolis, Olivina and others.
CSO Voluntari has a mascot – Trouble. You can follow him at Instagram: @TroubleTheMascot .
Final Four 2024
Tuesday, April 9
16:00 Liège Basket – CSO Voluntari
19:00 Šiauliai – Bakken Bears
Wednesday, April 10
16:00 Bronze medal game
19:00 Final
21:00 Award ceremony
Final Four history
Wloclawek 2022: Anwil Wloclawek, Šiauliai, Basket Brno, Tartu University
Ostrów Wielkopolski 2023: BM Stal Ostrów, BC Wolves, Start Lublin, King Szczecin