APU Udine, officially Amici Pallacanestro Udinese, also known for sponsorship reasons as APU Old Wild West Udine, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Udine, Friuli Venezia Giulia.[1] The team currently plays in Serie A2, Italy's national second league. Despite being a distinct club, APU Udine de facto inherited the fanbase of Snaidero Udine, the historic club of the town dissolved in 2011.
History
2011–2016: Beginnings within the minor leagues
Amici Pallacanestro Udinese was founded on 29 June 2011;[2] the club's aim was to inherit the fanbase of Associazione Pallacanestro Udinese, better known for sponsorship reasons as Snaidero Udine, a historic club of the Italian Serie A.[3] The acronym APU is in fact the same used in the past for the previous city's club.
After five seasons within the minor leagues of Italian basketball, on 11 June 2016, the team, led by coach Lino Lardo, won the Final Four in Montecatini Terme, defeating Forlì and achieving the promotion to Serie A2, Italy's national second league.[4]
2016–present: Years in Serie A2
In the 2016–17 season, coach Lino Lardo and his staff were fully confirmed. Moreover, the backbone of the roster was confirmed too: Manuel Vanuzzo, Joel Zacchetti, Riccardo Truccolo, Mauro Pinton, Michele Ferrari and Vittorio Nobile were joined by Gino Cuccarolo, Andrea Traini and the two American players, Stan Okoye and Allan Ray. The results, albeit fluctuating, allowed Udine to always stay outside the play-out area.
In the following season, the roster was largely confirmed and Udine succeeded in reaching the playoffs for the first time in its history. However, after having ousted 3–1 Derthona Basket in the eightfinals, APU Udine was eliminated 1–3 by Junior Casale in the quarterfinals.
In 2018–19 season, Demis Cavina became the new head coach of the team, while the roster was notably completed with the shooting guard Trevis Simpson, the power forward Marshawn Powell, as well as the Italian point guard Lorenzo Penna and the Serbian-Italian small forward Stefan Nikolić. In January 2019, Cavina was sacked and Alberto Martellossi was signed as new coach. In the following playoffs, Udine was eliminated 3–1 by Pallacanestro Biella in the first round.
In May 2019, Alessandro Ramagli was appointed as new head coach of the team. Moreover, the club signed Michele Antonutti, a veteran Italian power forward, the American center Gerald Beverly and the shooting guard T. J. Cromer. However, the season was later cancelled in March 2020, due to the broke out of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
